It’s only UI scripting (as I didn’t find another way) and it’s a little bit slow… But maybe that helps if your folder hierarchy isn’t “too deep”
-- reveals the file or group, similar to how “reveal” works from the context menu of a search result
-- expands the sidebar (but only with UI scripting so it's quite slow)
tell application "Finder"
set theSelection to selection as alias list
end tell
if theSelection ≠ {} then
set theFile to first item of theSelection
set theFilePath to POSIX path of (contents of theFile)
end if
tell application id "DNtp"
try
set theDatabases to databases
set theResults to {}
repeat with thisDatabase in theDatabases
set thisDatabasesResults to lookup records with path theFilePath in thisDatabase
set theResults to theResults & thisDatabasesResults
end repeat
if theResults = {} then
display notification "Pfad nicht in offenen Datenbanken enthalten!" with title "Lookup DEVONthink"
return
else
set theRecord to item 1 of theResults
set root of viewer window 1 to root of database of theRecord
set selection of viewer window 1 to theRecord as list
activate
set thisParent to parent 1 of theRecord
set theParents to {} & name of thisParent
repeat until thisParent = root of database of theRecord
set thisParent to parent 1 of thisParent
set beginning of theParents to name of thisParent
end repeat
if type of theRecord = group then
set isGroup to true
else
set isGroup to false
end if
tell application "System Events" -- expand sidebar with UI scripting
tell process "DEVONthink 3"
try
repeat with thisGroup in theParents
set thisGroupName to contents of thisGroup
set theUIElement to (a reference to (UI element 2 of UI element 1 of (first row of outline 1 of scroll area 1 of splitter group 1 of splitter group 1 of window 1 whose value of static text 1 of UI element 1 is thisGroupName)))
if value of theUIElement = 0 then -- database / group is closed
click theUIElement
delay 0.15
end if
end repeat
if isGroup = true then
select (first row of outline 1 of scroll area 1 of splitter group 1 of splitter group 1 of window 1 whose value of static text 1 of UI element 1 is (name of theRecord))
else
select (first row of outline 1 of scroll area 1 of splitter group 1 of splitter group 1 of window 1 whose value of static text 1 of UI element 1 is (item -1 in theParents))
end if
on error
if isGroup = true then
select (first row of outline 1 of scroll area 1 of splitter group 1 of splitter group 1 of window 1 whose value of static text 1 of UI element 1 is (name of theRecord))
else
select (first row of outline 1 of scroll area 1 of splitter group 1 of splitter group 1 of window 1 whose value of static text 1 of UI element 1 is (item -1 in theParents))
end if
end try
end tell
end tell
end if
on error error_message number error_number
if the error_number is not -128 then display alert "DEVONthink" message error_message as warning
end try
end tell
Perhaps @cgrunenberg would consider this a feature request?
@pete31 Thanks for taking a crack at it. I really appreciate it.
Unfortunately, I think it might be time to throw in the towel on this one. I added a couple of short delays to help get rid of the errors, but the new script only seems to work intermittently. It also clicks the wrong things in the sidebar sometimes (e.g., Tags or Favorites sections, instead of Open Databases). Thanks for trying though. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!!
Assuming it’s not possible to do what I described previously, how do people quickly search within a given group?
It seems odd to require selection in the sidebar to search within a specific group (using search prefix - scope:selection), if you can’t also script it (or at least rely on the selection within main viewer (i.e., instead of sidebar’s selection). While I prefer to see the sidebar expand when revealing the file/folder/group anyways - to have a better sense of location or geography in the database’s hierarchy - it seems to make even more sense, given its importance to subsequent searches. I’ll keep my fingers crossed they address this one in the next beta…
But that’s what you experienced before. While testing with a real database (no indexed files) I’ve also found that I couldn’t figure out which replicant would reveal. That’s something the DEVONthink people could comment on (would be very interesting to learn the logic behind it).
The macro is triggered from a conflict menu that appears only in Finder. The script I posted is located inside the “Execute Applescript” action in the macro shown below.
The macro loops through each selected file in a selection (the “collection”). Of course a collection can have one member – the single selected file – or multiple.
I was wondering if I could get the group’s help with this script again? By way of reminder, one of the scripts that I originally posted was intended to “reveal” files from Finder in a new DEVONthink window (first, find the file in DEVONthink; then, open a new window for its parent folder/group in DEVONthink; finally, select the file in the new DEVONthink window). However, I’ve never been able to figure out how to get this particular script to work with more than one file at a time.
In the script below, it seems clear to me that the problem lies in the way that I’ve set the window (when opening it and setting its selection). However, I’ve never understood how to deal with this issue in DEVONthink. Because I’ve set the window’s name, in order to make a selection, when there is more than one file, they all open in the same window. Does anyone know how to fix those last couple lines of code, so that each file opens in its own window and is selected appropriately (i.e., the lines beginning with “set theWindow…”)?
Thanks again for all of your help!! To make things easy for everyone, I’ve also uploaded the script here: Download Script.
tell application "Finder"
set theSelection to selection as alias list
end tell
if theSelection ≠ {} then
set my text item delimiters to tab
set theFilePaths to {}
repeat with i in theSelection
set end of theFilePaths to POSIX path of (contents of i)
end repeat
end if
if theFilePaths ≠ {} then
repeat with i in theFilePaths
tell application id "DNtp"
try
set theDatabases to databases
set theResults to {}
repeat with thisDatabase in theDatabases
set thisDatabasesResults to lookup records with path i in thisDatabase
set theResults to theResults & thisDatabasesResults
end repeat
if theResults is not {} then
set theResultsParent to (first parent of first item of theResults)
set theWindow to open window for record theResultsParent
set theWindow's selection to theResults
else
display alert "the file/group does not exist in the current DT database"
end if
end try
end tell
end repeat
end if
I’ve no idea at the moment why your script doesn’t work over here but maybe using a “dummy” record in your global inbox to create new windows will do what you want to do
set newWindow to open window for record (get record with uuid "1A2A6304-21C2-4B7F-9932-3956C799462B") -- "dummy" record uuid
set record of newWindow to theResultsParent -- https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/set-record-for-window-random-article/8256/2?
activate
Hi @pete31 - Thanks for taking a look at this for me. It’s had me puzzled, in large part, because it seems like it should be easy enough to do in DEVONthink (especially since I can do it with one file without any problems).
I tried your suggestion but, unfortunately, was not able to have any luck with it. I might be doing something wrong, but, on my end, your amendment to the script just opens the dummy file (i.e., it doesn’t open the parent group in a new window and then select/highlight the file in the window - similar to how you might “reveal” it from search results, etc.). Thanks for taking a crack at it though.
Sorry I missed that you want a selection. This should work (but I didn’t try it in a repeat loop)
set newWindow to open window for record incoming group
set root of newWindow to root of (database of theResultsParent)
set selection of newWindow to theResultsParent as list
activate
Ok I tried a repeat loop - and all windows appear over each other.
As you (probably) want to have them visible try something like this (but you’ll have to experiment on your own)
tell application id "DNtp"
try
set theBounds to bounds of window 2
set bounds of window 1 to {(item 1 of theBounds) + 22, (item 2 of theBounds) + 22, ((item 3 of theBounds) + 22), (item 4 of theBounds) + 22}
on error error_message number error_number
if the error_number is not -128 then display alert "DEVONthink" message error_message as warning
end try
end tell
@pete31 I can’t thank you enough!! It works!! This has been driving me crazy for so long. Thank you so much for all of your help!! You’re the best.
I made one very small change to your code so that the target file is selected in DEVONthink, and not its parent. So for others who are looking to mimic a “reveal” like action for files, especially when dealing with indexed files, the following works (i.e., substitute these lines with the ones you see in my previous post above):
if theResults is not {} then
repeat with theRecord in theResults
set theResultsParent to (first parent of first item of theResults)
set newWindow to open window for record incoming group
set root of newWindow to root of (database of theResultsParent)
set selection of newWindow to theResults as list
activate
end repeat
else
I’ve also uploaded the full working version of the script here: Download. If you index files in Finder and want to quickly reveal them in DEVONthink, this script is great! And, if you’re an Alfred user, it’s very easy to just add the second half of the script to a workflow’s file action, making things even more convenient!
@pete31 I haven’t tried setting the bounds of the windows yet (in order to avoid the overlap issue). That’s a great idea for improving the script! I’ll tinker around with it a bit. To be honest, just opening the window is more than enough for me, however! You’re a lifesaver. I really appreciate your help with everything!
While testing with a real database (no indexed files) I’ve also found that I couldn’t figure out which replicant would reveal. That’s something the DEVONthink people could comment on (would be very interesting to learn the logic behind it).