From my issue above:
I reported this as a possible bug and it’s fixed in V2.5.
I can flip back and forth between the built in editor and the Markdown editor accessing via the Files browser and everything’s fine 
1Writer, which recently received a nice update of its own, also works much better with DEVONthink to Go 2.5.
Any further progress on this. Currently, I am using the iA Writer approach, but would love to be able to select a note while perusing DTTG and open it in iA Writer to make changes/additions.
Specifically, is this possible in 1Writer?
The behaviour is the same now as it was when the last post was made on this thread: if you want to edit DTTG Markdown file with an external editor, the best way is to open it from the Files app/document picker built into the editor you like.
1 Like
Got it. Thanks for the help.
1 Like
FYI I can edit in Textastic with the same method that works for PDF Expert.
Select the markdown file in DTTG and then Share “Copy to Textastic”. Once the edit is done in Textastic, Share…Open In…“Copy to DEVONthink”.
I admit it is not perfect and you have an extra copy in Textastic that needs to be removed, but sometimes it is really a pain to find that particular file in Files, which is why I use DTTG in the first place.
It would be really nice if I could figure out if a Shortcuts share extension could take me from the DTTG object into Files at the location of the object. Basically an Open in Files extension.
If it is a writing project I am working on, then I use git via gitlab on the Mac and DTPO on the mac indexes the directory. On ios I use Working Copy (git client) and that allows me to edit markdown files in place and also iThoughts mind maps I use for my initial draft of markdown.
Since this is an often discussed topic. With maybe an exception using Shortcuts and some kind of Markdown parser, there is no way to begin in DTTG and edit externally and have the changes since —— unless you use the “index” files feature in DEVONthink (Pro/3) and make those files available in the cloud somehow (iCloud/Dropbox/etc).
This would be perfectly fine, EXCEPT you need to have your main DEVONthink database running on your mac for it to sync. For example, I can open an “indexed” document in iA Writer, make some changes, but they WILL NOT update until I open my laptop and allow DEVONthink to sync.
I could be wrong. But I thought this discussion should at least get a little update.
but they WILL NOT update until I open my laptop and allow DEVONthink to sync.
Im curious what is the issue with that? If you’re not at the Mac and have no one working on it, why would it matter if the Mac is synced until you’re there?
PS: Apps like Dropbox, etc. work the same way. If the Dropbox app isn’t open, it’s not syncing to your Mac either.
Because the technique described is to edit your iCloud file on your iPhone, and then have your desktop pick up the indexed file and sync it to the DEVONthink sync store, so the updated version is reflected in DTTG.
My specific use case:
I use DTTG as an on-demand storage for the college classroom (I am a professor). I have notes, images, sources, etc stored in DTTG.
However, I am not fond of the text editor in DTTG. So I use iA Writer as my editor.
I wanted it to be easy to access the files in DT from an outside app (like iA Writer) so I indexed an iCloud folder with all my notes.
But if I make some edits in iA Writer before class, then jump to my DTTG in class — if I didn’t open my MBP, the changes will not sync. So it adds a step, and if I am without my MBP, then it won’t work until I do have acces.
It is not really a big deal on my end. I have just gone back to using the file picker inside iA Writer to work on files within the DT database. But it was nice to have those files better organized for retrieval (foldable folder structure, etc) in the file browser pane in iA Writer (or any other picker pane of an app that uses that API).
I think, all of this would be solved with proper “Open In” support, where you can search some file within DTTG and just open it from there directly in your target app, not creating a copy, just working on the original file.
And the best solution is asked for here:
2 Likes
And the best solution is asked for here:
Hmm… I don’t know if it’s necessarily the best solution 
Not?
Is there even a better solution?
What, please?
There are many applications such as 1Writer, Editorial, Dropbox app itself, etc that sync directly to a Dropbox folder. If you modify a file with 1Writer on iPhone and then open the Editorial with Dropbox, you’ll see the same changes. If you have indexed the same folder in DEVONthink Mac, the notes will get synced to DEVONthink sync store and therefore to iOS devices as well. But what you see in iOS devices after this in DEVONthink is a “stale” version of the actual files instead of the current Dropbox situation, until you again open DEVONthink on Mac and let it sync the indexed folder.
I’ve also struggled to find some optimal workflow for this. Browsing to DEVONthink folder in iOS from other app seems like too much hassle. It’s not optimal, but currently I have my main Markdown (etc) notes folder in Dropbox. I have it indexed on Mac, but modify the files in it only when working on Mac. On iOS I use 1Writer and some other apps to directly modify the files. I use DEVONthink to Go basically for searching data from this source along with other data I have in DEVONthink, but I’m careful not to modify these notes in DEVONthink To Go. I have some other databases that I primarily manage on DEVONthink, such as a scientific documents database and office/receipts kind of database that I can modify on DEVONthink Mac and iOS. It’s not optimal and takes some mental burden to consider what is editable on DEVONthink, etc.
With the current iOS options, I guess to make this kind of Dropbox workflow work seamlessly, it would require DEVONthink To Go support directly indexed folders through Dropbox API, or something to that extent.
I realy have no interest to use Dropbox for anything.
I want DTTG to work!
It is a local content management system with tagging and search and it allows for encrypted remote storage!
Dropbox is even EXACTLY what i dont want to use.
It just needs proper “Open In” and “External Files” or “External Folders” support.
So that other Apps can simply use the content!
1 Like
I am using Drafts as my note taking app on the iPad. Because of its flexibility it has the power to be THE text hub on iOS/iPadOS devices. But in my case most of the notes created in Drafts I sent to DEVONthink To Go. Simply because DEVONthink is the place to be for informations of all kinds, as you all well know.
Most of these notes I do not edit on my iPad and for the almost always minor edits of the rest the editing capacities of DTTG suffice. So my usage scenario is just one-way. Nonetheless I dare to contribute to this thread because I think there might be a way to go both directions. I just haven’t tested it because I did see no need to.
Say, you have written this note in Drafts:
Test Note
Content
When you use the DTTG action provided by Agile Tortoise, the creators of Drafts, the first line will become the title, the rest the content of the note. I modified it because I rarely do write notes with headings and want the whole of the note to become the content. So all of the above Drafts note will be the DTTG note.
So far, so good, but again, just one-way.
To edit this DTTG note not in DTTG but in Drafts you should NOT use “Open In” but use Draft’s Share icon in DTTG. If you do so the note opened in Drafts looks something like this:
Test Note
x-devonthink-item://A11266CE-54D2-8911-A24F-ADC1FDFC3A66
Test Note
Content
Then you can edit the note in Drafts and it should be possible to create a second Send to DTTG action that does not create a new note but uses the provided x-devonthink-item informations to alter the linked DTTG note. Of course this action should only hand over everything below the x-devonthink-item line as note content.
If it works it would also be possible to combine the Create New Note in DTTG action with the Edit Note from DTTG action by letting the script look if there are x-devonthink-item informations in a specific paragraph of the note (trigger Edit Note action) or not (trigger Create New Note action).
Of course this would not be the same as notes in a place where different apps simply have access to them and each of them can always display the latest state of these notes, no matter in which other app they have been edited. The Drafts action scenario described requires DTTG as the starting point. But it does not require DEVONthink on the Mac.
In addition while the Drafts action would allow to edit the same DTTG note over and over again in Drafts each editing iteration would create a new version of that note in Drafts. Maybe this could be prevented by using the link of the Draft note so both apps only have one version of the note and Drafts not many.
But two questions pop up: Where should DTTG store the link of the Drafts note? In And: Why? Keeping versions of a note in Drafts isn’t a bad thing at all. Add Move to Archive as the final step to the action and the versions of the notes are out of the way but always accessible if necessary.
For everyone unfamiliar with Drafts I want to add that creating and customizing actions is only possible with the for-pay version.
I told of the workflow I currently have to use. I think a major issue is that you can’t implement a native “Open in” button to open the document in other app with the current iOS system. That then gets saved to the app where you pressed it. It just cannot be done without some major hacks. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Do you think, that such many people would ask for „Open In“ support if that would not exist?!?
Astonishing 
It is one of the standards of Apple:
https://developer.apple.com/document-based-apps/
And quoting from there more details:
Open in Place
By implementing Open in Place, you empower your users to organize and work on documents in the way that works best for them. You can store documents in your own app container, in a folder on iCloud Drive, or even in a third-party cloud provider’s app container. Open in Place lets multiple apps simultaneously edit an individual document, freeing users from the burden of keeping track of multiple copies in different locations. By supporting Open in Place, you can create a truly seamless document editing and collaboration experience your users will love.
5 Likes
And to add an this, the next step is „External Files“ or „External Folders“.
Which add a way to use whole directories as local content without having to manage single files.
DTTG needs those!!
2 Likes
What you write about is the „old“ way of doing such things.
And yes, what you write may well be possible …
But it requires something like Drafts that can trigger such actions.
That means, it is not possible for other Apps, without support for „X-URL“ …
Sadly, Drafts does not seem to support „Open In“ at all.
Therefor, this can only work with such actions.
The „Open In“ system and „External Files“ are the new way to handle such things.
And editors like Textastic and iA Write support them well, as documented in the links to MacStories which i posted elsewhere.
DTTG just needs to get improve a bit to be the central hub for content on iOS!
ALL people want to encrypt their cloud storage, if possible.