I added some photos to DEVONthink today just to see how it responded, and then I deleted the folder from the sidebar. I looked in the Trash bin, and I found the whole folder with contents sitting there. However, the folder was also still in the original location in the Finder.
When I import items into DEVONthink is a copy of the whole folder made, and is it safe to empty the photos from the trash and keep the original folder intact?
Thanks for helping out a new guy!
If you Import (File > Import > Files & Folders, or drag & drop) items into your database, they are copied into the database (except for Word files). You can safely delete them without any impact on your Finder files.
If you Index (File > Index) files or folders from the Finder, you can safely delete them from your database. But two cautionary notes: [1] If you affirmatively respond to the request to also delete them from disk, the Finder files will be sent to the Trash from the Finder; [2] If you have Indexed files from the Finder and subsequently delete those files/folders from the Finder, information will be lost in the database. Note that Index-captured groups and documents are indicated in your database by a blue circle with white mark inside it, to the right of the group or document name.
First of all, thanks for the reply.
So it seems like the default response is similar to iTunes’s “Import items into iTunes library”. And indexing gives me the same functionality as importing except that the files within Devonthink are simply aliases of the originals?
That’s pretty much it.
Personally, I Import (copy) Finder items into my databases so that they are self-contained and easily moved among my computers.
Thanks. That’s a helpful hint, and I’ll keep it in mind if I’m ever in a situation where I’ll be using more than one Mac at a time. I’m just getting started with DEVONthink, and it’s good to know about those little quirks.
Thanks again!