I’ve been relying more and more on favorites (that mirrors my usage of the sidebar on the mac’s Finder, btw).
Wonder if we could have something like the great XMenu, populated with the favorites - so I can access them even with DT windows not in front.
I do use XMenu for items that are outside of DT, such as Lightroom catalogs, important folders on the mac, etc. - and so I would not use it to store the DT favorites.
Another question: are favorites scriptable? (guess not, couldn’t find anything in the Applescript dictionary)
Not directly. They might be stored as property list, and those are accessible for scripting. But doing that while DT is running is probably a very bad idea.
thanks Christian! - I think I’d be most interested, in scripting, is just reading the values, not messing with them - where would the relevant plist(s) be?
I warned you… Check out ~/Library/Application Support/DEVONthink. I have no access to a Mac right now, so can’t check for myself.
And make a backup of the plist first!
Tx Christian - You are referring to populating the XMenu with items / groups by placing references to their locations in the Custom folder - is there a way to create a reference in XMenu for a Favorites “group”?
set rsrc to (path to application support folder from user domain as string) & "XMenu:Custom"
tell application id "DNtp"
if (selected records) is {} then return
repeat with theRecord in (selected records)
set {name without extension:recName, reference URL:theURL, thumbnail:theThumb} to theRecord
tell application "Finder" to make new internet location file to theURL at rsrc with properties {name:recName, icon:theThumb}
end repeat
end tell
Note: the thumbnail doesn’t function as this point. I left it in there as a reminder.
I have been quite impressed with this recently introduced app by a small independent developer. It is similar to XMenu with considerable more ability to customize its appearance. You can add Devonthink Item Links to its menus as well as scripts so there are lots of ways to achieve what you want.
I downloaded ExtraBar and am finding it to be super useful!
I was able to replicate my list of DEVONthink favorites externally as deep links inside a folder in one of ExtraBar “presets’“ - super happy!
In fact, I am giving them (Matan) some UX and User Manual feedback. It is a small team in Sofia, Bulgaria, and they obviously work hard as heck. And are super nice.
I have hesitated to post this previously because it applies only to users of Alfred. However, as I use it many times a day I thought it might be worth mentioning in case there are other users of Alfred here. (Full disclosure: I am a moderator on the Alfred forum—although I have no other link with or interest in Alfred, other than being a devoted user).
Using a List Filter in Alfred—and taking advantage of DEVONthink’s wonderful programmabilty—it’s really easy to set up something like this:
All I have to do is to type the keyword GODT in Alfred’s window and the menu appears—with items sorted with the most recently used at the top. (Obviously most of the items in the list link to DEVONthink Item Links. Reload Diaries Database links to a short AppleScript that closes all DT windows and reloads my Diaries database with the current year in focus in the navigation bar. Open Specific Database links to a further List Filter listing all of my DEVONthink databases—with appropriate Item Links to them.)
Thank you Stephen, this looks great - I’ve been using Keyboard Maestro, never tried Alfred - but just because you posted it I will take a look at it. I like the “godt” command
@uimike Since you already use KM: You can automate everything with it.
Create a smart group in DT, for example with the name “Favorites.”
In KM: Select a shortcut that adds a document to the Favorites group based on certain criteria.
In KM: Select a shortcut that removes a document from the Favorites group when you no longer need it.
In KM: Select a shortcut that takes you directly to the Favorites group in DT from anywhere.
That’s how I do it.
I also have a shortcut that creates an RTF document directly in the smart group. Of course, this is only apparent. The document is created in another group, but immediately appears in Favorites, where I can start writing.
