DT and OpenMeta Tags

DEVONthink Tips
1

Hi all,

I am trying to formulate an overall document storage strategy and am seriously considering upgrading to DTPO. One of the things I have not been able to successfully get working is finding documents stored in DT with external programs. I have found that Spotlight can find (and open in DT) my documents based on text in the documents, but it seems to be oblivious to the tags for those documents. I’d love to be able to use Spotlight or HoudaSpot to be able to do a tag search and locate DT documents. Is this possible? Thanks!

2

There is one application that is able to search on OpenMeta tagged documents in a DEVONthink database, and that is Ammonite. It works very, very, well if you can work with its dark, HUD-style interface. I could not, so I switched all my databases to use indexed documents which then does work with Punakea (my choice), Spotlight, HoudaSpot, etc.

3

Thanks for the reply, Greg. I like to have as many options as possible, so I would certainly prefer to keep my data out in the open and not have to use a specific search application. I really like the indexed option. How well does that work in general? Two scenarios I can think of in particular might be problematic:

  • web clipping via DT’s clipper: where do these documents go on disk?
  • creating a note: If I create a quick note, but want it to go somewhere in a generic folder, do I have to create it in the specific place, then ask DT to index it?

Thanks for bearing with my newbie questions!

4

To answer both questions-anything that you create in DEVONthink, capture to DEVONthink’s Sorter/Global Inbox, html documents via RSS feeds, etc. will need to be moved out of the database to an indexed folder. There is a way to automate this so that it is no more trouble than it is to file documents in groups contained in the database. If you attach this script to your indexed folder/groups, then each time you select the group the script is triggered. All documents that were put in the Finder folder will be indexed into the database and all documents that were put in the corresponding database group will be exported to the Finder folder.

--Full sync indexed folder script written by korm
on triggered(theRecord)
	try
		tell application id "com.devon-technologies.thinkpro2"
			deconsolidate record theRecord
			synchronize record theRecord
		end tell
	end try
end triggered

You attach scripts to groups by bringing up the info panel (command-shift-i), click on the Select button, and navigate to the script’s location on your hard drive. Repeat for each of your indexed folder/groups. Note-you do not attach the script to folders in the Finder!

I really like having my databases indexed but there are a couple of important points to be aware of. First, DEVONthink cannot re-link a in indexed folder that has had its location and/or name changed in the Finder. If you move it (in the Finder), you lose it (in the database). Next, if you move indexed documents in the database, they will not be moved in the Finder. So if you have the Finder folders named ‘FolderA’ and ‘FolderB’ indexed in the database and you move an indexed document in the database from group FolderA to group FolderB, the document will still appear in FolderA in the Finder. Also, replicants of documents will not appear in folders in the Finder. So if you replicate an indexed document in group FolderA to group FolderB, you will not see an alias of the document in the Finder folder FolderB.

These limitations are really not an issue as long as you are not trying to navigate the Finder’s folder hierarchy to locate and organize existing documents. That’s why the indexed approach works well for me-I want to use Dropbox for storage of some of my documents and I want to use Punakea to search on tags, but beyond that the actual Finder hierarchy is unimportant to me.

It’s probably also obvious that this approach requires more planning and ongoing ‘attention’ from the user. I’d recommend that new users become comfortable with the basics of using DEVONthink, or at least try this on a small scale, before converting multiple databases and thousands of documents to an indexed system.

5

Wow, great answer, Greg! Pardon me while I scoop my brains back into my head :slight_smile:

OK, so it sounds doable; that is good. I agree that this is certainly not a beginner task!

My eventual plan was to have two databases: one for long-term storage and the other for current work.

  • The long-term database would be on an external drive, as it does not need to be portable and would contain bills, invoices, and other items that I would rarely access. Hazel would be used to file in a hierarchical folder structure and long-term accessibility is key.

  • The other database would be for entering current notes, clipping web pages and generally stuff that I want to refer to quickly and would travel with me on my laptop. I suppose I could work in DT for this material.

I just get nervous about any proprietary format for storing long-term documents. While I don’t think that DT will go away anytime soon, its availability after a decade is questionable :slight_smile: