I have been using DT3 since June of last year, but have not tried linking any files until just today. When I used DT2 I had a number of occasions to link files and didn’t seem to have the difficulty I’m having now.
When I link to a file by either selecting Insert/Item Link/File Name or Link to/File Name, I get a blue link to the file I want. But when I click on the link, all that happens is that the text from the linked file now appears in my view/edit pane, but the file listed in the file name pane has not changed. So, it appears that I am still in the file in which I inserted the link rather than in the file I linked to. What this means is that I have the text for the linked file, but I can’t tell where it came from because its name does not appear in the file name pane. As I recall from DT2, when I would click on the link it would take me to the linked file itself, so I would see both the name of the file and the contents in the view/edit pane. By the way, the same thing happens when I instead use Copy Item Link and paste the link into the view/edit pane of the file which will have the link. I have this problem when using rich text or markdown text.
Attempting to solve the problem, I closed DT3 and reopened it, with no change. I also rebooted my computer but nothing changed. Finally, I downloaded and reinstalled DT3, but that didn’t change anything either.
It’s hard to believe that the linking function is supposed to work the way I am seeing, but I don’t see any way to change things either. I would appreciate any suggestions.
This seems to be correct, clicking on Wiki links doesn’t not change the selection of the main view. You can e.g. navigate back to the previous document via the Back item of the navigation bar.
Thank you for the information. Apparently I have always misunderstood how the link function works. I thought it took you to the other file itself, not just to a view of the other file. I was trying to set up a slip-box system of note taking as suggested in Taking Smart Notes with DEVONthink by Kourosh Dini. I don’t understand how a slip-box system can work properly if you don’t really know the name of and location of the file you have linked to. Is there some other way in DT3 to establish a link that actually takes you to the other file, not just to a view of the file’s contents?
For all purposes, you are viewing the file. Just look at the inspector (press ⌃1).
Also, if you want to reveal the file, you can also press ⌘R (assuming that the cursor is in the text area; if it is in the list of files, it will reveal the selected file in the viewing area).
Finally, if you really want to reveal the file by clicking on a link you can append ?reveal=1 to the end of the link. E.g. x-devonthink-item://AAF31EF1-00EF-4D63-AE64-FE78D34BC04C?reveal=1.
cgruenberg, I don’t understand your comment: “The name is shown in the window’s title (only if the toolbar is not visible or not in icon-only mode).” Once I click the link, the name of the linked file does not appear anywhere even if I have the toolbar turned off and view not in icon-only mode.
Bernardo_V, thanks for the suggestions. The last recommendation, appending with ?reveal=1, gives me what I want, at least for the linked file. However, when I then use the back arrow to return to the file that has the link, I have to use Command-R to reveal its name. A bit clunky, I think, but it gets the job done.
There is a lot about DT3 I don’t know about, but I’m surprised that there is not a way to do what I. had in mind without tinkering with things like appending to the link or pressing Command-R.
I don’t see that in your screen capture though. @cgrunenberg or @BLUEFROG will know why it is not there.
I can totally see your point, but this is not so different from other applications such as Scrivener or Tinderbox. It actually allows you greater freedom to move around without having the original selection getting lost. This in turn allows you to quickly getting back to where you originally were.
Bernardo_V, thanks for the additional information. To see what cgrunenberg was talking about, I had to customize my toolbar. I wouldn’t have known to do that without seeing the images you posted.
And thanks again for the suggestions on to how to identify my files as I move around to one or more links and back again. I see your point about not getting lost from the original file.
