Hello!!
I am starting to use DEVONthink to go a lot of and I can’t be happier with all the possibilities that have this cool piece of software.
I need to write long texts and edit during the time and I use Ulysses Editor to do. I like the design, the use of markdown and the export functions.
I want to create the document in Ulysses or directly in DTTG in plain text and have the possibility to edit in Ulysses and save in Devonthink database.
I can open the document in Ulysses and edit but I get and error saying the I can’t write or I don’t have rights to do on Inbox folder (The place I have the document)
I config Ulysses to work with the document as external file.
Is there a way to use this workflow working?
This question is important to me because maybe I can apply to other external apps that I want to use with Devonthink.
I am using iPad Pro with iOS 11 if this is useful with the last versions of both apps.
Thanks in advance!
First, Ulysses 12 seems to have problems with its External Files feature. It tries and fails to access an external file, crashes, and then stops accessing external locations. I’ve had to restart my iPad Pro (iOS 11) several times because of this.
Second, the Files services (which manages iOS 11’s access of other apps’ file space) is seriously broken when it accesses DEVONthink databases especially the Global Inbox. Since iOS 11’s release I have never been able to get Files working with DEVONthink to Go.
No doubt others have had different experiences – but for me I can confirm your difficulties We’ll just have to wait until someone finds and fixes these bugs.
Thanks for your answer Korm,
I will try to make more tests. Maybe in other dastabases I will have more luck.
I hope someone can fix the problem as I like the combination of Ulysses and Devonthink to Go a lot of. Meanwhile… Do you know or someone knows another similar writing app that works better with DTTG on iOS 11?
korm is correct. The Files.app is still very buggy and unreliable at this point. We are hopeful Apple’s point releases will address this (and we are not the only developers having problems with this).
After seeing what Dropbox did to my Files app I realized that we must be careful what file providers we have loaded. I was just testing dropbox so removing it wasn’t a problem for me.
With that said, I only use iCloud, WorkingCopy (for git stuff), and DEVONthink. Using Files has been great for me. I routinely edit DEVONthink text and markdown files with Textastic without any issues. Same for PDFexpert for editing PDFs stored in DEVONthink.
I try to only install and use very high quality and stable app.
So if I understand correctly, it’s not possible to reliably edit a file using an external app yet? I’ve looked at the options on the share sheet and I can only see “Copy to Ulysses” (or to iAWriter, or Editorial), but I don’t want a copy, I’d like the external app to edit the DT file in place.
It’s not on us to make that happen. DTTG2 is a document provider but the other apps need to support that, essentially as a client. Also, the other app may convert a file into its own format, leaving you with an extraneous file. Some apps also cache their own changes and those changes may not propagate back to DTTG2.
You need to test the specific apps for how and if they function in this way.
Thank you. Would you by any chance know of a markdown-capable app that does this? I mean one that does MD syntax highlighting & preview, until DTTG implements this feature?
I haven’t tested this with files in DEVONthink To Go, only with iCloud Drive, but the next version of iA Writer, which has not yet been released (currently in beta), will allow for opening files in place. This has worked really reliably with iCloud Drive files, should, in theory, work just as well with files from DEVONthink To Go since it’s all coordinated by the OS’s file provider (e.g., the Files app). iA Writer is a generally well-liked editor with syntax highlighting etc.