Is there a way to set a custom metadata identifier (or any other type of custom metadata) to only accept a value that does not appear elsewhere in that field?
I’m using a custom metadata identifier field to save a unique ID that identifies a given record (it’s used outside Devonthink as well, as part of a larger project, so using an internal DT-generated unique
file identifier won’t work), and at the moment, I have to search each time before entering a new person to make sure I’m at the right number. Not the worst thing, but I was wondering if I couldn’t improve it.
In your screenshot all IDs start with B except the one of the currently selected record which starts with J (the one whose ID is shown in the inspector).
Are you only interested in incrementing the number, no matter with what character the ID starts?
The identifiers are the first letter of the last name of the individual in the record, plus a numerical sequence.
So, the first individual entered into the record set (long before Devonthink got involved) with a last name starting with S was S-001, the first with a B was B-001, the seventeenth with an S was S-017,
Let’s say that the current records have individuals whose last name started with S, up to S-097. I find a new individual and start a new record. S-… . At that point at the moment, I have to look up what the last S was, and hope I don’t make a mistake and duplicate. I’d like a way where, if I were to type in S-090 (since there is already someone with that in their ID field), it will kick back an error, but if I type in S-098, it won’t.
This script increments the highest custom meta data ID and sets it for the selected record.
If it doesn’t find an ID for a given last name it starts with “001”.
-- Increment Custom Meta Data "ID"
use AppleScript version "2.4"
use framework "Foundation"
use scripting additions
tell application id "DNtp"
try
set theRecords to selected records
if (count of theRecords) = 0 or (count of theRecords) > 1 then error "Please select one record."
set theRecord to item 1 of theRecords
set theRecord_CMD_ID to get custom meta data for "id" from theRecord
if theRecord_CMD_ID = missing value then
set theRecord_Name to name of theRecord
set theID_Character to character 1 of theRecord_Name
set theDatabase to database of theRecord
set theCustomMetaData_all to custom meta data of contents of theDatabase whose location does not start with ("/" & (name of trash group of theDatabase))
set theNewID to my incrementID(theID_Character, theCustomMetaData_all)
add custom meta data theNewID for "id" to theRecord
else
error "This record already got an ID."
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
return
end try
end tell
on incrementID(theID_Character, theCustomMetaData_all)
try
set theArray to current application's NSMutableArray's arrayWithArray:theCustomMetaData_all
set thePredicate to "!self = " & (current application's NSNull's |null|()) & " AND " & "self.mdid BEGINSWITH " & quoted form of theID_Character
set theArray_filtered to (theArray's filteredArrayUsingPredicate:(current application's NSPredicate's predicateWithFormat:thePredicate))
if theArray_filtered's |count|() ≠ 0 then
set theIDs to theArray_filtered's valueForKey:"mdid"
set theIDs_sorted to theIDs's sortedArrayUsingSelector:"localizedStandardCompare:"
set theLastID_string to (theIDs_sorted's lastObject()) as string
set theLastIDNumber to ((characters ((offset of "-" in theLastID_string) + 1) thru -1 in theLastID_string) as string) as integer
else
set theLastIDNumber to 0
end if
-- https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6390706/how-can-i-pad-an-integer-on-the-left-with-zeros/6390835#6390835
set theNumberFormatter to current application's NSNumberFormatter's new()
theNumberFormatter's setPaddingPosition:(current application's NSNumberFormatterPadBeforePrefix)
theNumberFormatter's setPaddingCharacter:"0"
theNumberFormatter's setMinimumIntegerDigits:3
set theNewIDNumber_String to theNumberFormatter's stringFromNumber:(current application's NSNumber's numberWithInteger:(theLastIDNumber + 1))
return theID_Character & "-" & (theNewIDNumber_String as string)
on error error_message number error_number
activate
if the error_number is not -128 then display alert "Error: Handler \"incrementID\"" message error_message as warning
error number -128
end try
end incrementID
