I am new to DtP and noticed I can only pull folders/groups to the sidebar. But I want to put files there that I use daily or frequently - just like I can do with the sidebar in PathFinder and Finder. No way?
How do you access such files fast? Do you make a detour via a group, click the group in the sidebar and then access the file?
Ok, I could let DtP show me the original and make an alias for the Finder or could pull it into a DragThing dock or the Apple dock and edit it with the default application. But I would like to stay within DtP.
I have a group named “- quick links” that I have under favorites. Anything I want to access quickly I replicate to it by holding command+option and dragging over the group in favorites. It’s an extra step but it works. Note that if you drag over a file that’s in a different database from the “- quick links” group, it will duplicate rather than replicate it.
Thank you, that’s a very good one and helps me to make decent use of DT ‘right out of the box’! And thanks also for the note - have not been much into replicants yet and the many options with modifier keys.
I still would like to have the option to drag files to the sidebar and see no reason, why that is not implemented. Maybe DEVONtech includes this someday.
[Edit: I have asked this now on the scripting board]:
have another question and as it belongs to the topic I don’t want to start a new one:
Is it possible (scriptable) to access a group in DT via a script from outside DT?
That would give me even faster access to frequently used files. Instead of bringing DT to front, click on the group in the sidebar and clicking on the file I could call the group via a script directly and open the file.
I use LaunchBar and love - and also need - fast access and that would be real great. If that was possible and not too much to ask, I would love to know, what the command in the script would have to be as I am really poor at scripting.
Another fast access method – use DT’s search feature. Put ‘qqq’ (or some other unusual combination of letters) in the Comment field for files you want fast access to. When you want to bring them up, type ‘qqq’ in the search field and you’ll get a list of the files you need fast access to. I’ve been doing a variation of this for years until I read a recent blogpost from Merlin Mann who puts ‘qqq’ in the title of his notes in Notational Velocity or some iPhone notes app.
I like this method because 1) it doesn’t matter where the individual files are stored, 2) using the comment field doesn’t mar your data, 3) the same files show up in Spotlight as well as DT, and 4) search is what DT is all about. If you need a reminder, you could create a Smart Group for ‘Comment=qqq’ and keep it in the left sidebar.
Still, I agree that putting links to files in the Favorites area would be nice.
I add my vote to having control over what’s on the sidebar like we do in the Finder menu. Since that’s not an option right now, I’d like to use the suggestion to “add qqqq” to the comments field in a document, but how do I do this? As far as I can tell, you can only add comments to data bases, and even here three choices come up that don’t make sense in terms of this suggestion: “Assemble,” “convert to tags,” and “speak.”
Somewhere in here I’m not understanding the difference between tags, comments, and keywords in devonspeak. Thanks!
You can edit a file’s Spotlight Comments by selecting the file in DT and pressing command-shift-i. You will get a panel (the information panel), at the bottom of which you’ll see “Spotlight Comments.”
The other three items you asked about are AppleScripts supplied by DT. Select the file and pull down the script menu. I assume Convert to Tags will make a tag out of the text you’ve added to Spotlight Comments. Assemble will create a file listing the names and comments of the files you selected.
There’s a much simpler solution. Just FLAG the files you want quick access to. Then set up a smart group to find all flagged files. Bingo. Plus it does so across all open databases.
If you want quick access from outside DT:
1. Select the item and Copy Item Link (from the Edit menu — works for both files and groups),
2. Save this as a bookmark in DT
3. Drag or export this bookmark to the desktop (or wherever). Double-click, and it opens DT at the desired location. I have a couple of these in my dock.
Here’s a script based on @acoyne’s excellent suggestion to make a bookmark linking to a DT item. Put the script into the scripts folder, give it a shortcut, select as many records as you want to bookmark, and bookmarks with the same name as the record are created in the incoming group of your database (set in Preferences).
tell application id "com.devon-technologies.thinkpro2"
set theSelection to the selection
if theSelection is {} then error "Please select something"
repeat with thisItem in theSelection
set myName to name of thisItem
set myURL to reference URL of thisItem
create record with {name:myName, URL:myURL, type:bookmark} in incoming group
end repeat
end tell
Beautiful, thank you! With smart groups I could also set a tag or use a dedicated label for those files. Any option is great anyway.
That’s big, thanks! I am still organizing my digital mess with DT and have not been thinking much about my topic here lately. I had already learned about bookmarks from korm, but didn’t consider that I can not only use them for groups, but also for items.
This is exactly what I need (will call them with LaunchBar and/or DragThing).
Now, that helps to speed up creating bookmarks. Gorgeous, thank you!
