Understanding tags and Finder

DEVONthink Tips
1

I have items which I imported into a database. They were not tagged in Finder.

I know that I can create tags within DevonThink Pro, but from what I have read (primarily in the Take Control book):

  1. A tag created in DevonThink Pro will no be recognised as a tag outside of the DevonThink Pro unless I export the document to which the tag relates;
  2. A (untagged) document imported into DevonThink Pro which is then shown in Finder (e.g. within DevonThink Pro, right click, Show in Finder) and the tag added then, will not show the tag within DevonThink Pro.

That the only way to show a tag in Finder for a document is to tag the document outside of DevonThink Pro and then import it in to DevonThink Pro. Also the same is true for documents already in DevonThink Pro which are not tagged or tagged is to export them all and then import them.

I would grateful to know if any or all of the above is true.

2

I believe that pretty much sums up the tags behavior. Is there anything in particular about how tagging works that is a challenge?

3

Indexed items behave differently:
If an indexed item is tagged in DEVONthink, that tag will be created (if needed) in Finder and will be an attribute of that file visible in Finder too.

If an indexed item is tagged in Finder, that tag will be created (if needed) in DEVONthink and will be visible as an attribute of that file in DEVONthink too.

This also applies to a file that exists in Finder, is tagged in finder, and THEN indexed into DEVONthink. Once that file is indexed, the tags will be created (if necessary) in DEVONthink, and be visible as an attribute of that document in DEVONthink.

4

Thank you for the replies.

There is nothing that it is particularly challenging, but I wish to understand the implications of how tagging works.

Ideally, it would be good if DevonThink Pro worked so that a tag added to a document (whether imported or indexed) also, automatically, created a Finder tag.

5

When the documents are imported, automatically adding a Finder tag at that time adds no functionality for as long as the document remains imported in the database. A Spotlight search, or any apps that use the Spotlight index, would not find them. If you add a Finder tag manually (not recommended, but what is possible using the document’s location in the database from Show in Finder), the same applies-the tag will not be found in a Spotlight search.

If you turn on Spotlight searching for your databases, then the tags for imported documents will be located in a Spotlight search, even though the tags have not yet been written to the document in the Finder. Once an imported document is moved out of the database (or as is the case automatically with indexed documents the Finder tags are created.