Downloads window always blank

DEVONagent Tips
1

Can’t use the downloads window in DA – it is always empty, even when the text below it says ``2 downloads complete’’ or whatver. Anyone else have this problem? Is there a fix? I am using the brand new DA update on OS 10.3.8

Thanks!

David

2

DEVONagent immediately clears completed downloads. Check your downloads folder (see preferences) and hopefully you’ll find your files there.

Best,

Eric.

3

Thanks, that does take care of it. I didn’t realize DA’s relationship to the Finder is different than is Safari’s.

D

4

OK, with a little more experience . . . the thing is, this means exiting DA and looking in the downloads folder that I guess I must have created when I set up Safari. Perhaps I’m just acclimated to Safari, but I find it very handy to be able to go directly from a downloads window to the downloaded file. File names are so cryptic (``aGzz8Q91.pdf’') that it’s reassuring and helpful to be sure of the link between download and a particular piece of data. What purpose is serve by clearing the downloads window immediately? Just curious.

best,

David

5

The purpose is to keep the download manager always clean and nice. But, technically, it’s just a preference without an interface. The download manager is identical to the one we use in DEVONthink Pro, but it lacks some of the interface gadgets and preferences to keep it more simple and easier to use. So, we may eventually add this feature.

Best,

Eric.

6

First, I must say that DevonAgent is an incredible tool that lives in a class of its own. Nothing else comes close.

Ok, that said, I can’t believe that topic seems to have been left unattended for 2 years! It is extremely difficult to find obscurely named files downloaded by DevonAgent in the download folder. I strongly believe that the download manager sorely needs the following basic preferences:

  1. The ability to select manual-only clearing of the download manager history. To my knowledge there are few if any other programs that do not offer this.
  2. The ability to select a download location. Again, most other internet applications offer this necessary feature.
  3. The parsing of download url’s for the actual filename. It is extremely difficult to find files that, in the download manager, are merely listed as url’s. Once again, most modern internet applications provide this feature, as well as options for revealing or opening files directly from the manager.

Thanks,
-b

7

Hi, Bart. If I wish to save a page as either HTML or WebArchive to the Finder, I choose File > Export. The title of the page is parsed (if possible) and I can save the file anywhere I wish in the Finder.

But almost always I’m using DEVONagent as a companion to DT Pro.

If I wish to download a PDF or .doc file to my database, I use Save As to my choice of location in the Finder. In the case of PDFs, I save them to a folder that has a Folder Action script attached, resulting in saving the PDF to my DT Pro database.

While viewing a page, a Control-click (right-click) provides contextual menu options to capture (previously selected) text/images, or to capture as HTML or WebArchive. The title of the page is parsed (if possible) and the URL is stored in the document’s Info panel. Still another option (Print > PDF > Save to DEVONthink Pro.scpt) allows capture to the database as PDF.

There are additional options provided by scripts to capture ‘pieces’ of the page to DT Pro, e.g. linked images.

And Services provides the opportunity to select text and do a Lookup in the DT Pro database, perhaps to check whether the page has already been captured.

The only time I use the Downloads window is to check the download progress of a large application that I’m downloading. Those downloads go to the Desktop, and I can find the most recent ones by clicking in the Finder toolbar to display recent additions. I try to keep the Desktop reasonably uncluttered.

DEVONagent searches are a major strength of this application. When a search has been completed, the Digest page provides a list of all the captured pages, with the page title, a summary of the content of each page and of course the page URLs. The Pages tab displays a ranked list of results, with the title of each page, etc.

Search results can be archived in DEVONagent and the search results and/or Digest summaries can be sent to the open DT Pro database, either as selected items or in whole.

So while the Downloads window may seem sparse, there are unique provisions in DEVONagent to assist information captures from the Internet. Those features have received a great deal of development attention since DEVONagent first appeared.