Dropbox Professional and Indexing

DEVONthink Tips
1

I have a terabyte of reference PDFs. I will need a couple every few months.

An idea is to build a few special purpose DT databases and index files that are stored in Dropbox using smart sync. This means they are filed on the DB server, but only an icon is on my hard drive.

Using latest DTPO on latest OSX.

Is there a strategy that allows DTPO to index these files, for me to browse their index and collect similar files without downloading gigabytes from DB just for that operation?

2

There are two methods of putting data in a DEVONthink database.

  • Importing copies files into the internal structure of the database. This creates a portable, self-contained database that can be moved as a single file. This is the default behavior of DEVONthink.
  • Indexing creates links to files outside the database. This allows more direct access to the files in the Finder by other applications or people. (A common example is people using a cloud service like Dropbox and indexing folders in the local Dropbox folders.) This should be approached carefully, and a search on these Forums is advisable, paying attention to posts by Greg Jones, as he uses indexing almost exclusively.

Also, note: the files being indexed on a server should still be on your network. Any network has inherent weaknesses, but if it is a server off your network, especially in the cloud only, you should not index those files.

3

So DTPO cannot be used for this purpose.

Thanks for the speedy response. Saves a lot of wasted time.

4

Not if the files only live in the cloud. Local resources are always the fatest and most reliable to use.
You’re welcome.