Question about tags and also one about creating a database

DEVONthink Tips
1

Hi,

Just got onto Devonthink yesterday and spent a whole day trying to figure it out.
I have two questions, one about about tagging, and the other about creating a database with the trial version.

  1. How do I move tags between databases without moving the whole file itself? For example, if I have a database with newspaper articles, to which I create a few tags, like “policy”, “political party” etc, but then want to use those same tags in a database for journal articles, is there a way to drag and drop all of the tags I’ve created in one database to another without doubling up the file (i.e., I dont want newspaper articles in my journal article database)?
  • a subsidiary question: If I duplicate a file from one database into another, does that mean there are now two of the same file in on my HDD, taking up twice as much space?
  • also, why cant you “replicate” files across databases?
  1. I have started using the trial version of DTPro. I want to create a new database and put it in Dropbox. However, the popup box wont allow me to do so when I choose the Dropbox folder. Is this because I cant sync up with DP on the trial version?

I did a test where I created two folders on the desktop, and then created a new database within one of those folders. Then I drag and dropped the database from one folder into the other (without doing anything through the app itself), which did not seem to affect the file at all in the DTPro application. Is this advisable as a way to move large databases? If I create a database now, and then drag and drop it into Dropbox later, is there chance I will corrupt my database at all? If so, what is the recommended way for moving databases to different locations?

I have many more questions about this product, but for now I’d appreciate help with these two first.
Regards,
Jake

2
  1. No, you can’t drag and drop Tag groups between databases without including their contents.
  2. Yes, duplicates create new copies of files.
  3. Replicants can’t be made across databases as the databases are isolated from each other. A replicant is not a copy of a file. It is an instance, a bit of recordkeeping. If the originating file is in one database and that database isn’t open, the replicate in another database couldn’t exist. If it could, it would become a normal file and consume space, just like a duplicate does, and have no connection with the other database.
  4. You should never put your databases in any cloud-synced folder (including the Documents or Desktop folders if you are using the disk management feature in macOS 10.12 Sierra) or you could irreparably damage them. Never. DEVONthink now explicitly disallows this too, so it will not let you open a database in a cloud-synced location, but instead offers the option of relocating it to a safe place.