I Cannot Find Where the Files Are Stored

When I look in Finder for DT files, I see that they are here:

Home> Library> Caches >Metadata > DEVONthinkPro2> D5xxxx[long number> 1d> [pdf file]

That’s a bit strange, but what is even stranger is that I cannot backtrack the file. When I go to home, I do not see any Library folder. Any pointers?

I have MacBook Air OS X 10.11.5. The DT database I am using is saved on my desktop.

Hi. I don’t know the answer to your question, but I think the general advice would be not to mess around in the folders, because it could cuase issues in your database. If you need to access files outside of DT, you might want to consider indexing, or contact support so you make sure not to cause any problems.
christopher-mayo.com/?p=2376

That is not where your files are located. What you have there are the cache files for the Spotlight index.

Your documents that have been imported into DEVONthink databases are located in those databases. You can locate databases by looking at the File menu, Database Properties… and you can locate individual documents in the database by looking at the Data menu, Show in Finder. However, as @FROBGOBLIN mentioned, you really don’t want to work directly with the documents in the Finder database folders as you will damage the database structure.

Thanks! It takes me awhile to get used to DT’s features.

I saw an article online discussing where the pdf files should be stored for DT, but now i cannot find it. According to the article, my computer is not storing the documents in the correct folders.

Can you access the documents through DevonThink? If so, then they’re in the correct folders.

There’s quite a bit of commentary about how best to set up DTP - managed versus referenced databases and so on. There’s no “one size fits all” approach, and the best way for you depends on what you’re actually using the app for. My advice would be to stick to the default settings until you find something that this does not allow you to do, then solve that problem when it arises. You can spend days upon days fiddling with the set up of this app and get no actual work done…

In the meantime, remember all of these articles you might read are valuable, but they do reflect the workflow of the author, who might have very different requirements from yours.

And to follow up on @terrydev’s comment: There are plenty of article with misinformation / misunderstanding about DEVONthink and how it works. It is always best to take it with a grain of salt and come here for confirmation / rebuttal.

I think that this is the article I saw on where the actual files are stored:
tech-knowhow.com/2015/06/ho … -metadata/

The reason why I was looking for this article is to find out information on how to back up the DTPO database. So far I have had all my important articles stored on google drive. This made me comfortable because I can technically access them from anywhere, and I know that if my computer crashes or if the two external drives on which I do TimeMachine backups also fail me, I always have the most current and important files on Google Drive.

So how do I back up the actual files stored into DTPO? Do I have to reply only on the TimeMachine backups? Is there a way for me to have the files stored on Google Drive, index them into DTPO, and at the same time have them accessible on DT On the Go (at least some of them).

The total storage that I use on Google Drive is 3.5 GB. I am not interested in storing all documents on DTPO or DT On the Go since some are Word Documents in which I write, but I would like to store/or index articles and reference materials on DTPO on my mac and have access to (which I guess means store as in download on my phone) documents on DT on the Go.

I found that linked article full of misinformation and opinion. I suggest forgetting it. Looks like clickbait anyway.

These three are the common approaches to backup: Time Machine, an online backup service like CrashPlan, and a separate hard drive or other machine that you own. I use all three: I use Time Machine for backups of DEVONthink databases without problems. I also back up all my computers to CrashPlan and I’ve had no trouble restoring data from there, either. And you can always backup your databases to a network hard drive if you want. In fact I have several local backup destinations on my local network. Altogether I backup to five different locations. There is no need to be so compulsive, but I worked hard to get these data and don’t want lose any of it.

For a full backup, you’ll want to locate the databases in your file system (their extension is .dtBase2) and copy the whole thing to your backup destination.

If you index files on an cloud drive, those files are not stored inside your database – they remain on GoogleDrive or wherever. The database contains metadata about those indexed files – thinks like their location, their tags, the place in the database where the file is indexed, and a concordance of the words in those files which is used for See Also and Classify and some other features. It’s a good idea to backup your database in order to get a backup of these metadata, but if your database got destroyed for some reason your files would remain safely where they are on GoogleDrive etc.

I feel it’s always a good idea to have a backup for cloud storage somewhere else than other than that cloud – you can decide what to do about that, or not.

There are dozens of other threads in the forum on different backup protocols that other users follow. Or read Bill DeVille’s posting on backup here. Definitely read the Joe Kissell book that Bill mentions in his article.

Can you suggest alternative ways to find the files. When I search for .dtBase2, the only thing that comes up are the two databases that I have created as well as one zip file for one of the databases.

Also, once I find the files, and copy them to other places (eternal drives etc), can I just select the files, or the folder or I need to copy something else with the files?

Not sure what “alternative ways” means. If you search with Finder for .dtBase2 your are going to find the databases, not the files stored in the databases. If you want to search for the files in the databases, then you open the databases and use DEVONthink’s Search feature to locate them. If you want enable Spotlight indexing for your database(s) – as Greg described above – then you can also search for the file in Spotlight, then double click to open in DEVONthink.

So, is there another search you want to do?

If you search in DEVONthink you can copy/export to other places as you listed (local drive, external drive, email, and so on). Select, drag the file to a folder in Finder, or use File > Export.

Not sure what “something else” might be – but you can, for example, drag whole folders to Finder and that action will create a folder in Finder with copies of your files.