Spotlight also provided a link to an apple support page that included this: “If you try to open a file saved as a package and you get an alert that says “[Document] can’t be opened right now,” the file might be damaged. A document saved as a package can get damaged if it was sent with email or uploaded to a third-party cloud sharing service like Box or Dropbox using a web browser.”
Saving as a “package” is foreign to me.
So I learnt (earlier) how to not lose Pages files in DT, but now I seem to have lost a Pages file (there seem to be more) in Pages.
Help, please. If this is gone, it’s gone. But I need to understand what I did wrong so I don’t do it again. TIA
Like @DTLow, I notice no issues with Pages documents imported into DEVONthink.
How did the Pages file get into DEVONthink? Indexed? Imported? Did you ever open it in Pages successfully?
Does it show up in DEVONthink’s Preview? If so, then it means it exists in DEVONthink. If not then probably not there.
Assuming you had the file open before, in Pages, does it show up on the Menu: File → Open Recent list?
Impossible from this perch to locate it for you as we do not have access to your computer, know what you did, etc. If the file actually already exists somewhere uncorrupted, do you have a backup to restore from?
From the screen shot, Spotlight seems to think it is in the folder “Biola”. Where is that?
Concerning that Spotlight shows the Pages files as “Zero KB”. Spotlight spot on to suggest the file “might be damaged”. Unlikely that DEVONthink damaged it.
Perhaps a better way to look for it, if indexed or imported to DEVONthink, is to right-mouse click on the name in DEVONthink, and use the “Get Info” or “Show in Finder”
As an aside, I rarely double click on files in DEVONthink, unless I know for sure what will happen. For Pages files (and most everything else using an external editor), I right-mouse click and pick “Open with …”.
Pages does that with Menu → File → Advanced → Change File Type → Package. I’ve never done that. I looked into internet documentation about this to see what that’s about and why one would do it and unless you did that, I don’t think it’s anything to do with your issue. It’s just Spotlight saying the as maybe the issue or something.
Edit: perhaps do a verify and repair on the database?
I created a test file this AM and it is in DT; I am able to double click and reopen it in Pages. So my workflow, that has been successful until this anomaly, is working and that’s reassuring.
rmschne: How do I get Pages files into DT. I think this is convoluted/excessive but following/seeing it at every step, I know it’s ok: create doc in Pages > Command Save > File: Move To Favourites Inbox > drag it into DT Global inbox > double check by double clicking and seeing it open in Pages.
And thank you for asking about a backup; I didn’t think of that, and yes (via Time Machine).
I saw that link to the Biola file; I didn’t find it there (I did find an “Orphaned Files” folder there which I’ll check out in my “Take Control…” PDF and learn about today).
Thank you for your “Perhaps a better way…” suggestion; I’ll do that today too. And thanks for the alternative to double-clicking the Pages file.
Good point about the “package” being a flag from Spotlight.
I am unable to open either of the bottom 2 and wonder if they might be a clue. I’m also curious about the “Test One - 3d.” From Pages > Move To options I get others like this, blue folder with a 3, or a 4… I don’t know why they pop up or where files would end up so I avoid them. Just a curiosity. Perhaps I’ll run another Pages test document and see if I can find them.
When I do a “Move To” from inside Pages, this is what I see.
The DEVONthink Pro 2 at the top was a surprise. I did a Finder search for DEVONthink Pro 2 and found files from my Pro 2 years and some from my current Pro 4. I find none of those Pro 2 files in my Pro 4 databases. If I want some of the Pro 2 files, do I drag them into my DT 4 global inbox, or…?
Why are you doing “Move To” inside Pages? Why not keep the file where it is in DEVONthink. Open via DEVONthink, work on it, then save back into same place.
Frankly, I can’t get my head around what you are doing. You seem to have files in multiple places in and out of DEVONthink, and I’m still not sure if “in” means indexed or imported.
Sorry… I do that Move To because it is a newly created doc in Pages; I don’t want it stored where Pages automatically stores it (iCloud); I just want it stored in one place, locally.
“files in multiple places” surprised me; I have been trying/am working to get them all into DT.
Pages does not have to store things in iCloud Drive. You can easily choose other locations, as the situation dictates.
And you actually don’t have to create new documents in Pages if you ant them stored in DEVONthink. See DEVONthink’s Help > Tutorials > Using Templates…
“Pages does not have to store things in iCloud Drive. You can easily choose other locations, as the situation dictates.”
Which is what I think I am doing when I select “Move To” > Inbox > DT (global inbox).
I would suggest that’s not only awkward but potentially problematic, e.g., if you opened a Pages file from within DEVONthink, forgot, and used that command.
To Create a New Pages Document: In Pages, use the “New” document method. Menu: File → Save … into the DEVONthink Global Inbox. Close the file in Pages. In DEVONthink, move from the Global Inbox to whatever DEVONthink Group you want. Or save into anywhere on your computer, e.g. Desktop, then with Finder, drag and drop the file to import into the Group you want.
To Edit a Pages Document Already Imported to a DEVONthink Group: in DEVONthink right mouse click on that document, then “Open with …” and pick Pages. Save occasionally. Save when done editing and close the file.
Don’t use the Move To function in Pages for any file residing as an imported file in DEVONthink.
This same workflow works for using pretty much any external-to-DEVONthink editor for creating and/or editing files.
I click on Save (right under “Close” near the top; the only Save I see); I don’t see a choice re DEVONthink Global Inbox. I then go into DT and the file is not in the Global Inbox. I can’t locate it via Finder.
If I go back to File > Move To, I am shown these options. If I choose the “Inbox” that is the first under Favourites the file does go there. I don’t know why I have a second Inbox at the bottom of the Favourites list; I choose that Inbox instead, and the file doesn’t go there (so I’ve deleted that).
