Morning.
How can I find all PDF files in a database which have duplicate files in order to replace the duplicate files by replicants?
And how can I replace the duplicates automatically, because my database contains appr. 25’000 PDF files?
Thanks in advance for your support!
Kind regards, Friedrich
Smart Group… Kind IS PDF and Instance IS Duplicate.
Script icon menu > Data > Dupes to Replicants
Do I understand it correctly: The script »Dupes to Replicants« moves the original file to a hidden place anywhere in the database, and in the visible groups remain only the replicants?
Unless I’m mistaken, the original file won’t be moved to a “hidden place somewhere”, since all that the suggested script would do, would be to convert what was formerly a duplicate of that original file, into a replicant of that original file.
To find duplicates, or replicants for that matter, a smart group would simply display all those within the database. If you invoked a smart group that was designated to find all duplicates in the DB, and it displayed [for example] 10 duplicates >> if you used that script to convert half (5) of those duplicates to replicants, then there would only be 5 ‘remaining’ duplicates on display in the duplicate smart group, since half of them had been converted to something else (i.e. a replicant, that does not match the criteria of the smart folder, and therefore, won’t be displayed).
The smart group doesn’t move any of the files at all – it simply collects and displays the files that matches the criteria specified – it’s more of a “search” than anything. The files are where they always were, you simply use a smart-group or search to “see” them collectively.
Hope that makes sense.
So, coming back to your original question, if you ran that script, they would’nt be moved, they would simply be converted from a duplicate in location ABC, to a replicant in location ABC.
Put differently, you would use the smart group to identify the relevant duplicates, then select them, and run the script to convert those duplicates to replicants. The original files would still be where they always were, it’s the duplicates/replicants of those files, that are being affected.
[As an aside, you can select a duplicate/replicant and call up the “more info” window. Down to the bottom, you will be able to see the locations of the original/duplicate/replicant files.]
Trust that helps!
