Need Feedback For New Evernote-to-DTP AppleScript

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working on a rewrite of my Evernote to DEVONthink Pro AppleScript this week! In addition to making some bug fixes, I wanted to tweak the import process to bring more data from Evernote into DEVONthink Pro… and I could use your input about how best to do that.

One example: A single Evernote item (potentially) comprises several different “attachment types”. You can have PDFs, text notes, snapshots, voice memos, etc. as part of a single note. My thought was an AppleScript could either:

  • Use some sort of file-naming convention to show “relatedness”, i.e., “Attachment 1 to Note Named ‘Lorem Ipsum’”;
  • Use Groups in DEVONthink Pro to collect everything together.

I think using groups would create more Evernote-like entries in DEVONthink Pro, but I think it could be really messy – especially if you’re already using groups in other ways to organize your data.

What do you think? How would want your data to look in DEVONthink Pro after being imported?

Any other thoughts / wishlist items / etc.?

Justin

A problem with groups is that they can get changed over time and the relatedness to the root note will get lost. The file-naming convention is difficult to maintain over time. Plus, many users have their own naming conventions with various affixes and it would be difficult to introduce a new scheme that satisfies everyone. Of course, a work around would be to have the import script ask whether an affix is wanted (Y/N) and if Y, then what’s the format. That can get really messy really fast, though. Another approach is to use special tags - but not every user does tagging and many who do also have their own structure for tags, which you don’t want to step on.

The one thing about a DT document that is persistent as long as the document is in the database is the x-devonthink-item:// reference URL. If the import script created an index document, say an RTF, that listed the names of the imported attachments with a link to them (using the DT reference URL behind the scenes), then you’d have a more persistent record of the import. That RTF could include the text of the root Evernote note.

I believe you can have rtf files with attachments embedded, this seems like it would most clearly replicate the fashion in which Evernote stores info.

I have several wishlist items btw :slight_smile:

First, I really wish you could simply pass your current Evernote selection to the script instead of having to reselect from a pop-up menu.

More ambitiously, I would LOVE a script that was based on syncing an Evernote notebook with a dt database. Here is my standard workflow that doesn’t work well with the current scripts. Evernote = main inbox, everything is scanned/clipped into it, then I export that “inbox” notebook into dt as often as possible for sorting, tagging, and storage (which is great because of the AI features). Well, currently I just move those notes still left in my Evernote inox to a “reference” notebook, and that’s as best I can do since I can’t push the classifications made in dt back to Evernote. Unfortunately this makes my Evernote kind of worthless, but I dream of Evernote’s instant access being made available to all my carefully sorted info, but this would of course require some kind of sync mechanism which may be beyond the scope of your project I realize, but hey, I’m just putting it out there since you asked :slight_smile:

Is there any way I can PLEASE get access to your progress, I am very curious to see what you have been up to :slight_smile: You can always e-mail me at jpburt@gmail.com

Thanks for your contributions!

Hi Justin,
I´ve had Evernote for some time now and love it! I just got DevonThink and has now transferred a lot of stuff from my macbook pro to DT. Including my Evernote notes. In Evernote I was able to search my notes and locates words in my notes. I can’t do that in DT! Here I can only search the headline text in my notes not the words inside the notes. I downloaded your apple script so now I should be able to transfer my Evernote notes to DV in a searchable form right?
But how do I do that? Please be pedagogic and tell me step by step how I do it.