Item Location, Folders & Top Group

Hi,

I am struggling to wrap my head around the concept of folders in DEVONthink Pro. When I’m done processing the items in my inbox (keywords, creation dates, etc.), I mostly use to move them to Top Group and rely on tags for organisation (and a very small number of folders for some of the items).

I wanted to make an AppleScript for “Move to Top Group”, but in researching how that could be done, I read that actually, moving items to the Top Group isn’t recommended. (I may end up defying your sound advice in the end, because this particular database is very small 8) )

Now I’m experimenting with a clever folder structure that works for me, but:

[*] I have a few folders already, but I can’t find an easy way of seeing only items that are not already in a folder

[*] If I accidentally move an item into a folder where it already is represented, I will have duplicates in that folder. That is why I try to sort out only the items that do not have a folder.

[*] I tried to click at the Home-icon and go to Top Group, and enabling the “Location” column. This column seems to show which folder the items are located in - some of the time. I get several items where no location is listed, while I know the item is in a folder. Help?

Help and guidance much appreciated.

Are you referring to looking at the contents of a Smart Group? Items at the root of the database will show a blank location as they’re not in a group.

Sorry, I should have explained better.

In the picture below, I’ve opened up the database in question and clicked on the “Top Group” icon (blue circle). Does this view show all items in the database - including in sub-folders - or does it just show the items in the top level group?

The Location-column is all the way to the right. Does this show where in the folder structure the item belongs? The reason I’m asking is that the highlighted item also belongs in the “Jobb”-folder but the Location-column is blank for this item?

Are there any specific reasons why items need to be placed in a folder and not just lie flat at the top level? Is it possible to have an AppleScript move an item from the inbox to the top level group?

Thanks for your patience. I see that some of these questions got a bit “wooly” and difficult to answer. I’m happy if you just answer what you can. I’ll figure out the rest on my own :wink:

The Home button shows items at the root of the database. You will not see anything in the locations unless you have a group opened, showing the contents. If you select View > Collapse All at the top level, you should have nothing in the Locations column all the way down.

PS: The double-square icon to the right of the file’s name denotes you have replicants of the file.

I guess it depends on what structure you want to use and if you want to leverage the AI for classification purposes.

Yes, but since it can be done easily with a drag and drop, why employ an AppleScript for this task?

I wondered about that, thanks! One of the replicants is probably not in the “jobb” folder, then. I’ll do some playing around with this to to get to know it better.

Will I inadvertently ( :mrgreen: ) have created the replicants myself or are there any circumstances where DEVONthink will create replicants for me? I know I have created replicant tags (just to make the tag visible two different places - for instance a tag may be both in the tag group “hobby” and in the tag group “projects”). Could that potentially create replicant items as well?

This makes sense - if I absolutely want an AppleScript, I could use “auto classify” in place of “move to top group”.

Thank you for useful input. As you can understand, my use of DEVONthink is a work in progress, and it doesn’t always progress in a straight line. I’ll do some thinking about the way I structure the database.

There really isn’t any circumstance under which DTPO will create replicants without some action from you.
Even if you replicate a group or tag, the child documents or groups will not themselves become replicants.

It is possible you’ve accidentally created replicants if you happen to be holding cmd-opt while you drag. You can also use the cmd-L shortcut to create a replicant. Either one of those could reasonably easily be accidentally invoked if you’re moving quickly!