Thank you for helping me solve this problem. In conclusion, I’m offering to the DT community this guide and piece of advice. Maybe it could be included in the user’s guides? ()
Databases health
In order to keep a DEVONthink database healthy, it’s a good idea to verify it from time to time. Here’s a proposed walkthrough:
Tools > Verify & Repair
This can also be invoked with [Shift – Cmd – y].
If a dialog box appears offering to repair the database, by any means, proceed with the repair. Some “orphaned files” might have been found. These are files that were actually present in the database but not referenced anymore. Now, they are indexed and referenced and they can be found in an “Orphaned files” at the root of the database. Check that you still need them and either trash them or file them.
Now comes the problem of the “Missing files”.
Missing files
After a “Verify & Repair” operation, DEVONthink might tell you that there are still “x” files missing. You can see in the Log window which files they are. If the Log window did’nt spontaneously appear, you can find it under “Window > Log”.
In the Log window, you can double-click the mentioned files, in order to go to their reference in the database and take the appropriate action. I.e. either:
- delete the reference or
- find the file somewhere — in a backup, in an archive or on any disk you might have copy it to — and import it again in the database.
Sometimes, files are mentioned “missing”, but they are not. This might be corrected by rebuilding the database. So, the last maintenance step should be…
Rebuilding the database
Select “Tools > Rebuild Database…” and every data will be exported, the indexes will be cleared, and everything will be imported back into the database, effectively recreating all the indexes afresh.
This “rebuilding” of the database should be performed from time to time, as a preventive measure. However, it’s not 100% garanteed that any “missing file” is not irremediably lost in the process. So, as always, it’s a good practice to keep a duplicate of your datafiles somewhere, just in case you have to desperately look for a file in one or many years from now…
I hope this helps anyone having the same problems as me in the future.