It seems it’s not possible to just link to text files while importing, or am I wrong?
If this is the case I’d like to suggest that for the future. I have a large number of text files that are in the 1MB range and my database is now at 360MB. All my pdf files are merely linked and don’t contribute much to the size of the db. The reason I’m requesting this is to keep the db to a more managable size.
Thanks!
That really wouldn’t save space. If you are capturing the text, and there’s 1 MB text, there you go. PDFs are different. DT has captured the text only, and PDFKit on the fly displays the PDF page, including layout and images, from the linked PDF file.
Using Index import, e.g., of PDF files, results in a smaller document size in the database than if the same file is imported using File > Import > Files & Folders. The downside to that, however, is that Phrase searches, which assume a specific string order in the search string, don’t work currently with Index imported documents. With index-imported documents, the database knows all of the words that occur in the original, and how many times they occur, but would have to reread the original to determine the order of a multiword search string.
Gee! Only 360 MB? That’s tiny compared to mine. 
If you have sufficient HD space, I prefer importing PDFs to the database Files folder, as that makes the database much more portable. It’s easier to move it to another computer, external drive, or even (read-only) to a CD or DVD. When I’m on travel, I usually copy my databases to an external drive and run them from the FireWire drive from my PowerBook. By the way, if you are using DT Pro, I highly recommend the Backup Archive script in DT Pro’s Scripts menu, in the Export folder. Backup Archive automatically runs the Verify & Repair and Backup & Optimize routines, then exports and compresses the smallest possible archive of your database, and appends the date of backup to the filename.
Files stored in the database Files folder are really stored in the Finder, inside the database package. If your database were to become corrupted, they would still be OK (assuming no serious hard drive failure). As an experiment, temporarily set Preferences > PDF & PS to import a PDF to the Files folder. Then go to the Finder, select the database package, press the Action (cogwheel) button in the Finder’s toolbar and select View Package Contents. Look inside the Files folder. There’s your PDF file.
In version 2.0, all documents will be stored in the Files folder, and Spotlight will be allowed to index them.