Feature request: export of documents

DEVONthink To Go Feedback
1

For user which don’t have a Mac there’s no possibility to export the database content to the file system, e.g. to use multiple files with Windows.

A file by file “send to” export is a nightmare for large databases. So you decide carefully what to put in - but I want to use the database for everything with this great App on my IPad…

Please help to free DTTG of it’s island.

Thanks in advance.

Best regards
Steven

2

The request is noted but remember: iOS ≠ macOS (and macOS > iOS). What may seem trivial on a laptop is not necessarily so on a mobile device.

3

I’m not sure if I exactly understand your issue but it sounds like what you’d like to do is basically batch-send files to some other location. DTTG does actually allow you to select and perform actions on multiple files, which makes some form of what you’d like possible when used with an application like Workflow.

One way you could “export” a large number of files would be to create an Action Extension in Workflow (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/workflow-powerful-automation-made-simple/id915249334?mt=8)
that:

  1. Accept “Anything” as its input
  2. Creates a zip archive of the input
  3. prompts for either an Open In… or Share sheet (depending on where you want to send the zip file).

With this capacity you can send that zip file to any cloud service, or share it via email, messages, or AirDrop. This means if you need to move your files to basically any other computing platform, you can do so in batches (where a “batch” = the contents of any given group).

Now, there are limitations, obviously:

  • You cannot select a Group in DTTG, only the contents of a group, so this is a bit cumbersome, particularly if you have a lot of groups you want to export.
  • You are moving a zip file around which adds a step on the receiving end (unzipping).

Don’t know if this helps at all, but DTTG is not quite an island! :slight_smile:

4

If you just want to upload a bunch of files “there’s an app for that” :slight_smile:

Transmit by Panic, Inc.
https://appsto.re/us/IPUR2.i

It uploads multiple files to your Webdav or FTP Server. No need for Zip or a Workflow. I use this already. It’s a work around. Without this I already would have had to stop using DTTG. But it gets more painful from day to day, if you store more stuff into your cool full indexed database, which you really like.

Imagine a szenario where you want to export, let’s say 2000 documents. There’s no “select all” button, meaning 2000 times selecting in the list … That’s not a thing you do on a regular basis to have your documents in quick access within windows or other devices.

The ZIP idea is great for another reason. It could preserve the valuable folder (group) structure you created. But maybe there’s another way: There’s already a backup mechanism for the database onto a Webdav server included. If you could configure this, so that it exports everything cleartext to folders, this would also be a great solution.

I know that DTTG was mainly developed as a companion for the much more powerfull Mac apps. But even without them its doing a great job “stand alone” as my master database (working on an Ipad :stuck_out_tongue: ). For this scenario (not coming from the Mac environment) a better connectivity to the outside world would make it much more complete. In my eyes this would be a “killer feature”, which would really seperate this app from closed storage solutions like Evernote etc.