Syncing database with indexed files/folders

DEVONthink Tips
1

Hi,

I’ve noticed a small issue with a database containing indexed files/folders when I try to sync it across macs. For files and folders that I’ve stored in dropbox, a sync from one mac to another (where both are linked to my dropbox) completes without error. However, I just tried to sync a database that has files stored only on one mac (and indexed on that mac), which, when I try to sync to the other mac reports a ‘file or folder not found’ type error.

Is this expected behaviour? - I’m guessing it probably is (i.e. doesn’t have a corresponding path for those files on the second computer). If so, does that really limit the functionality of syncing to databases with imported (rather than indexed) files?

Thanks,

Paul

2

Your guess is correct. DEVONthink does not create aliases to files that you index, it merely records the path to that file in the file system. If the file is moved, or if the path doesn’t exist on another machine, then the index is broken and “not found” is the result.

“Limit”? Not at all. If you maintain the same document paths relative to the root on all machines, indexing works the same on each machine. I don’t think you would want DEVONthink making these decisions for you. (This is discussed at length in the forum, see for example this thread)