Moving, refiling or trashing groups inside an indexed folder leaves empty folders in Finder

DEVONthink
1

Hi,

On my MacBook Air M2 with the latest Ventura version, I’m encountering the following behaviour with an indexed folder, for which it is not clear from the manual whether it is the expected behaviour.

Basically, when moving groups inside the indexed folder by dragging or by using the context menu, or when trashing a group (and emptying trash), DT3 leaves empty folders in Finder in the original location of the groups. Those empty folders, in turn, are automatically picked up and re-indexed by DT3, which causes confusion. Only when physically removing those empty folders in Finder, I can get rid of them.

Strangely, when trying to debug this behaviour using dummy groups/files created in the terminal (mkdir & touch), the problem does not appear. I compared the corresponding Finder folder properties (permissions, etc.), but could not find any difference with those encountering the issue.

Any suggestion about how to resolve this issue with empty folders?

Thanks,

BA

2

Are these folders indexed multiple times, e.g. also in other databases? Or do they contain any hidden files?

3

Hi,

Each folder is indexed in only one database. They do not contain any hidden file.

I’ve encountered the issue with several of my databases (each with different indexed folders).

One peculiarity of my setup is that for a given Finder folder X with sub-folders Y, Z and W, one database would index Y and Z, while a second database would index W. The parent folder X is not indexed.

BA

4

Are you able to reproduce this using a new test database using some test folders?

5

Hi,

I’ve tried a couple of things, and can’t reproduce the behaviour with a new database.

It also seems like the behaviour in my existing database only happens with groups containing at least one file created (in Finder) in 2023 or before. Groups containing only newer files seem safe.

Furthermore, after one of the groups with older files is moved around, leaving behind an empty folder, any further refiling of the group is safe (i.e., no additional empty folders).

Kind regards,

Bram Adams

PS: I created my indexed databases in December 2023. The indexed folders were only manipulated by DT3.

6

Actually the only ideas coming to my mind are that either the folder is indexed multiple times, there are unusual invisible files inside the folder or its permissions are insufficient.