Remove or rename indexed items

DEVONthink
1

I realize there’s been improvements in indexed folder behaviour in DEVONthink 3. However, when renaming or files in the indexed folder with Finder or other application location still leaves it hanging in the DEVONthink database with “missing link”, etc. Update indexed items doesn’t fix this issue. I’d like to use DEVONthink as a kind of aggregator engine for files I modify in other applications. I have a notes folder that I manage in other applications, then I think about adding scientific PDFs database from another application, and maybe ebooks from calibre. But it doesn’t seem like worth the effort if the removed or renamed files don’t stay in sync.

2

I find the same thing as you (sometimes, but not always). I put DTPO links into my lab notebook files so that I have static links to documents even if I move the files around in finder. Unfortunately, if I move a file with finder, sometimes the DTPO link breaks, and sometimes it doesn’t. I do find that DTPO always properly tracks the finder changes within its own filesystem, it’s just that the link stops working. And this doesn’t always happen… sometimes the whole thing just works perfectly. I can’t figure out when it will/won’t work.

3

DEVONthink 2 does not have the same level of integration with the Finder.

4

You should not use indexing without careful consideration of the ramifications.

  • If you rename files in an indexed folder, the change will be reflected in DEVONthink.
  • If you rename the indexed parent folder, you will end up with missing files, so obviously you shouldn’t do this.
  • If you move files out of an indexed folder in the Finder, they will logically be missing.

DEVONthink isn’t going to follow files all around your system.

I suggest reading posts on these forums from @Greg_Jones, as he has likely has more real-world experience indexing files than anyone here.

1 Like
5

I think I understand the basic way indexed items is supposed to work. I had basically added an indexed folder with Markdown files and other notes to a DEVONthink 3 database. I was moving and deleting files within the indexed folder from outside DEVONthink. Now I tested renaming the files with terminal and from another application, and DEVONthink seem to stay in sync with the renames. However, at least if I remove a file from outside DEVONthink, then the DEVONthink keeps a reference to the file in its database. If I select try to select the file in DEVONthink, then it says “File missing: /path”. I don’t see any automatic way to clean these either.

1 Like