Replicating a folder: behavior of subfolders/items

DEVONthink Tips
1

When I replicate a folder that has a number of subfolders and items in those folders, it appears that those subfolders/items are not replicated in the same manner as the folder I replicated.

I can trash the replicated folder, of course, and the original folder remains in place.

BUT…if I go to a subfolder or another item inside in the replicated folder, THOSE items are not replicants. If I delete an item in the subfolder which is inside the replicated folder, for example, the original item disappears as well.

SO…here’s what I’m looking to do…

I want to be able to replicate a folder AND ALL of its contents at once. That way I can modify/cull/purge/etc. the new replicated folder and it’s contents but the original folder is left alone with all it’s contents. Note: I don’t want to have to COPY a new set of folders, since I’d like to be able to modify any replicated documents I choose to keep in the new location and have those documents be changed in both locations.

Ideas??? Thanks, John

2

hi!

I know what you need and understand the need for it (that would be quite nice) but I guess it can be pretty hard to manage or even to imagine… or even to analyse - have a look below :slight_smile:

example:

folder A has 2 children: B,C.

we create a replicant of folder A.

let’s assume it’s possible to remove B, C items from the replicant of A.

now we create the REPLICANTS of B, C inside the replicant of A.

but this should create the replicants of B, C inside the ‘real’ A - according to the rule ‘what goes to the replicant goes to the ‘real’ folder, too’ - that’s the meaning of replication.

the end result would be:

  • the replicant of A contains ‘replicants’ B, C
  • the real folder A contains ‘real’ B, C AND ‘replicants’ B, C

that would be pretty messy - that’s why the current implementation of replicants works like now…

but maybe there’s a different approach to this issue, I’ll give it some thought…

3

it seems to me that actually this behavior can be achieved in a totally different way:

  • let’s take the folder A and its contents
  • you should create a new folder (NOTa replicant of the folder A) -> let’s call it A1
  • now you should replicate all the items in folder A and move the replicants to folder A1

this will let you edit the documents in A1 with bidirectional updates, remove the documents you no longer need from A1 etc.

If you need a script to automate this, please let me know :slight_smile:

4

bartekb81,

What you’re suggesting might be cumbersome/confusing if replicating non-group items from larger nested hierarchies. Though I suppose it’s possible to script creating a shadow group hierarchy of the original one to contain the replicants regardless of the size.

5

sjk,

I was just looking for the best implementation of the devamag’s concept… :slight_smile:

yes, it’s possible. The script should follow the rule: folders (and their subfolders) should be duplicated (not replicated) and their documents - replicated.

This way you’ll get a ‘new structure’ where you can move your documents around and organize them in a totally different way than before. Since documents are replicants, you may change them or delete them. But the groups in the new structure stay ‘real’ groups and you can rename them, add new subgroups, move them around without influencing the original structure.