DTTG and Indexed groups

[lutefish]

Hi, All -

New to DevonThink and DTTG, so my apologies for a basic question. When I set up a bunch of databases in DT, I chose to “index”, rather than import, a dozen folders that each contain up to a gigabyte or two of PDF files. My understanding was that “Index” left the files in place.

The issue arises with DTTG - does it treat indexed groups differently than imported groups? Or does it download/duplicate the items in indexed groups? This seems to be the case, which is a bit frustrating for 15-20 GB of documents that already exist elsewhere on my device (in iCloud Drive or Box.com local storage). Is there any way to control this?

Thanks in advance.

[BLUEFROG]

does it treat indexed groups differently than imported groups?

Yes. DTTG does notsupport indexed files. iOS ≠ macOS and DTTG can’t browse other filesystems, so no there’s no way to control this.

[scottlougheed]

The behaviour with DTTG depends on how you set up your sync store.

In DEVONthink on your Mac, Preferences>Sync>[your sync store], tap the blue (i) info icon. You’ll see a setting for “Synchronize Indexed Items”.

If this is checked, then indexed items will be uploaded to whatever sync service you use with DEVONthink and will make the items available in DTTG.

If this is un-checked, then the files are NOT uploaded and will NOT be available in DTTG, only their metadata will be available.

On the DTTG side of things, you can can control what content gets downloaded and stored locally on the device. So if you want, you can “Synchronize Indexed Items” and then only download the ones you want in DTTG on demand. That way you don’t have the entire mass stored on your mobile device, but it will all be potentially available.

EDIT

Actually, this post from Jim/BLUEFROG lays it out pretty clearly:

Will this work

Hello, My current DEVONthink Pro Office DB file is 14GB consisting almost entirely of PDFs. The main index and metafile files compress down to around 500MB when I perform a DB backup, and the PDFs themselves are around 12GB. Big file. I store it all in an iCloud Drive folder. I’m considering purchasing the “To Go” iOS app, but since I can’t try it out before I buy I want to ensure I understand how the app works. If I download the app, will it be able to access this existing DB file in iClo…

[lutefish]

Thanks, both of you. As a longer term question, I see there’s some ongoing discussion about DTTG supporting iOS’s “Open in Place” functionality. In my case (which may or may not be common - I’ve no idea), the indexed groups in DT that are duplicated in DTTG are on 1) iCloud Drive (and thus replicated on the iOS device in Files), and 2) Box.com (and thus potentially replicated on the iOS device in Files). So, the indexed groups in DT, at least for iCloud Drive, might possibly be brought over to DTTG.

I have no doubt it’s non-trivial, just a thought.

Thanks again for the replies.

[BLUEFROG]

You’re welcome

So, the indexed groups in DT, at least for iCloud Drive, might possibly be brought over to DTTG.

But they will still not be indexed, meaning you will not have files in a DTTG database that act as the original files but are really only pointing to files in another location, like iCloud.

Also, technically speaking, the folders you see in Files.app aren’t duplicated in the application. You are just viewing the contents of those locations, similar to macOS’ Finder.