DT2 and DT3 interoperability

DEVONthink
1

It’s very exciting that DT3 is out. It looks great so far. It’s wonderful that DT3 supports the database format created for DT2. What does this mean for DT2 - DT3 interoperability?

  1. Can the two versions of the application share the same database files on the same machine?

  2. Can the two versions of the application share the same database files on two different machines using the existing sync technology (e.g. via dropbox)?

  3. If the answer to question 2 is yes, can changes from DT2 be reflected in DT3? What about changes from DT3 to a shared db being reflected in DT2?

  4. Are there any planned changes changes to DT2 - DT3 compatibility over the course of the beta period, or can we expect compatibility to remain constant across the beta – and maybe even for years to come?

2

While both versions can be used concurrently, e.g. open the same databases, it’s definitely not recommended beyond the beta test as version 2 does not support metadata introduced by version 3.

See also https://www.devontechnologies.com/apps/devonthink/upgrade

3

Thanks for the quick reply and clarification.

Just to confirm, one should not anticipate being able to use DT2 on one machine and remotely sync the database with DT3 on another machine because the metadata is incompatible, correct?

If one were to open a database that has DT3 metadata on a machine running running DT2, is there any warning or other indication of metadata incompatibility and the risks associated with it?

On a related note, is there any difference between a database that has been newly created using DT3 and one that was imported to DT3 from DT2?

Thanks again!

4

Metadata supported by version 2 is compatible to both versions. Ratings and tag colors too (requires v2.11.3). But custom metadata is only supported by version 3 and therefore any modification of items having custom metadata in version 2 will remove it.

No.

The basic structure is the same but version 3 uses additional files in the *.dtBase2 package for the new metadata.

5

Thanks for clarification. It’s a beautiful application, and the years of hard work by you and your team really shows. I was over the moon yesterday when it was announced yesterday. Good stuff! :slight_smile: