folder alias - possible or not?

DEVONthink Tips
1

Hi,

I guess this must have been asked, but I can’t seem to locate the answer:
Is it possible to create a (sum)link to a group within the group structure?

I’d like to create a kind of omnipresent ‘group’ structure that would allow for a group to be present at different locations, but show the same content:

-wood
|_trees
|_building material

-house
|_building material
|_wood

Can we do this with (sym)links?

Thanks for helping out!

Erwin

2

No, because the groups don’t actually exist so there’s nothing to symlink (or alias) to. The closest you could do is replicate a group but that will only work within the same database.

3

You may not be able to symlink, but you CAN use Replicants.

For example, select the “Wood” group, right-click, choose “Replicate To…” and select “House”.

4

Thanks guys!
I new I was missing something obvious…

Would indeed be nice to be able to do this across DB’s.
Any chance this will be developed?

Any way to set the formatting different? e.g. a different group / folder icon?
I believe the replica’s are differentiated by colouring their name red + italic.
Can we set this format ourself?

Also: Is there any distinction as to which is the original? (Date of creation seems identical)

Erwin

5

Erwin, if you index an external folder in more than one database you can (sort of) achieve the result of having the same document(s) available in more than one database.

6

Heck, there’s a lot to DEVONthink Pro Office, and as someone whose read the manual several times, and used it for years, I still find myself learning new things or forgetting things!

You don’t have any significant control over the appearance of replicants and duplicates other than to toggle colour and italics/bold (for replicants, duplicates, respectively) on or off in the application preferences.

7

No (not that I’m aware of anyways). Replicants depend on other replicants in the same system to achieve and maintain their status. Databases are isolated from each other so it wouldn’t be a replicant if the other database wasn’t open.

8

This is very true…
I’ll think about whether this might be helpful.
Maybe some smart combo of Hazel + tags + DTPO…

[size=150]Anyone doing that already today??[/size]

9

Very true - I see your logic.
If sufficiently desirable a kind of sidecar DB with replicant info may be a selectable option.
Not?

10

I find > Preferences > General tab > Appearance > Mark duplicates and replicants in color
But not where I can choose the color?

11

Sorry if I caused confusion. It is not possible to change the colour.

12

Certainly Hazel would be of some help in organizing things. It’s trivial to have Hazel sort files into folders that are already indexed by DTPO, so having a hazel rule along the lines of:


If tagged as "X" move to "~/some indexed folder"

where ```

“~/some indexed folder”


It is slightly trickier if you want hazel to create a new directory that is indexed in multiple databases. The way to make that work is to ensure that the new directory is within an already-indexed directory.
13

Everyone, thanks for the help & hints!