Smart groups versus groups (folders)

I guess I don’t fully understand the concept of a smart group, so am requesting help.

This is what I’m trying to accomplish: I have various smart groups set up with rules / criteria for each. For example, for 1 particular smart group I have a tag designated as a rule so that anything with that tag will go into that particular smart group. This is being accomplished, however, what I don’t want to happen is for the files to still remain (or show up) in the inbox as well. In other words, I’m trying to clear everything out of my inboxes and into the smart groups.

Thank you,
Dr. King
Mac OSX-Snow Leopard 10.6.5 /MacBook Pro
DevonThink Pro Office

Smart groups are nothing more than saved search criteria. If you want to move/replicate/duplicate/delete documents from the actual, non-smart groups you’ll need to do that yourself either manually or with a script.

Do you want the Inbox files to be moved to a specific group or groups, or do you just want them out of the Inbox after they have been tagged?

Greg,
Thank you for replying so quickly. Actually, both ways you mention would probably accomplish what I’m looking for. However, would you mind posting both scenarios, just in case?

Thanks a bunch!
Dr. King

To move the documents manually from a smart group, select them and drag them to another group, or right click and select a group from the ‘Move To>YourGroups’ menu. As I mentioned, scripting is a possibility also, but I would suggest getting comfortable with a manual workflow first. What type of folder structure are you working with in addition to tagging?

Okay, I see how the move>Yourgroups works. That seems simple enough. As far as folder structure, I’m using smart groups, groups and tags. I do use scripts quite often, but couldn’t find one for this type of action? Could you steer me in the direction of finding a script? Again, thanks.

You’ll need to create your own script, and/or search in the scripting forum here. I don’t have anything like this made up for this myself, although I do attach some scripts to groups, for example to automatically synchronize an indexed group when it is selected. Scripts can be attached to a group via the info panel (command-shift-i).

Thank you. This was very helpful.

Dr. King