Indexed Database Errors

I am running with a large (6500 files) indexed database on my laptop. Today, suddenly I noticed that the option “Move into database” and “Move to external folder” was missing. Looking at the file system, about 90% of the files are now missing as well. They are in the database and I can access them via Devonthink, but I can’t write them to disk. The remaining 10% of files are only on disk, but not in the Devonthink library any more at all. There isn’t any clear pattern which files are on disk and what’s in the library.

What can I do here? I need the files back on disk. I can’t write them via “Move to external folder” as that option is gone. When I do an “Export”, will that play nicely with the 10% of files that are still on disk or will it over write directories? If I do an export and re-index, will this preserve tags and other meta information? Any help is appreciated!

Also, any idea how this could happen?

Guido

PS: I already tried a repair. It lists one missing file, otherwise no errors.

Where is the location you are indexing?

It’s on a Mac in /Users/username/Documents-Private. It’s a regular directory.

Have you renamed the indexed folder in the Finder?

No. Name of that folder has not been changed since installing DevonThink.

I managed to get back to a working setup by (1) exporting the database to a new directory (2) using Goodsync to sync the 10% of files that remained in the folder in the directory hierarchy and (3) indexing that folder into a database. It was somewhat painful and I had to re-create/re-configure smart folders and favorites.

I am still trying to understand how this can happen. How can an indexed library do a partial move from disk into the library and then lose it’s path?

I would turn Off Goodsync and see if the behavior recurs. We can’t account for what that application may (or may not) be doing. It’s certainly not a built-in part of the operating system, so it has to be considered in this case (especially as you are reporting abnormal behavior).

Goodsync is not constantly running. You can think of it as a file copy tool that gives you a UI that shows you exactly what is happening. It was not running when the database corruption occurred.