What happened to "Link to" in DT Pro 1.1

DEVONthink Tips
1

Hello. I use DT Pro for a professional archive. A feature I used in version 1.0.x was File > Link to… This option was listed right after Import Site… in the File menu. Since upgrading to 1.1.x I can’t find the Link to… option anywhere. I still see the links I created in my database - and they work fine - but I’m can’t figure out a way to create new links. Has anyone else had this problem??

Thanks,
Heidi

2

I’m glad to hear someone else had the same experience (missing file menu item). If you select a word or phrase and press control-click, you will get a contextual menus with the option Link To…

3

Heidi:

DT Pro 1.1.1 simplifies the user choices for capturing or linking external files. This is a step towards the data capture modes of DT Pro 2.0, which will be released at a future date.

The File > Link command is now redundant and has been eliminated.

File > Import (equivalent - drag & drop to the Names column of a view window, to the DT Pro Dock icon, or to the Groups panel) copies the external file into either the ‘body’ of the database, or to the Files folder inside the database package. Exception: MS Word .doc files are not copied; only the rich text is captured and the .doc file remains externally linked.

  • All recognized text type files (plain text, RTF, RTFD, HTML and others listed in the documentation as recognized) are copied into the ‘body’ of the database.

  • PDF, postscript, image and QuickTime media files are copied into the Files folder inside the database package.

File > Index (equivalent - Command-Option drag & drop to the Names column of a view window, to the DT Pro Dock icon, or to the Groups panel) captures recognized text and links to the files, which remain external to the database package.

Important note about “unknown” file types: Examine DT Pro Preferences > Import. Under the subheading “Files” if the option “Unknown file types” is unchecked, DT Pro will ignore unknown file types. If that option is checked:

  • Index will create a ‘blank’ document linked to the external file.
  • Import will create a “blank” document linked to the file, which is copied into the database Files folder.
  • If you are batch-capturing a folder with mixed file types, and have checked the “unknown files” option, Tools > Log will list the unknown files.

So if you wish to link to external files, use the Index mode. If you wish to be able to link to “unknown” file types, be certain that the Preferences > Import/Files option is checked.

Note to users of DT Personal 1.9.7: The discussion above applies also to DT PE 1.9.7.

4

This command is creating cross-links between documents inside the database.

5

OK - now I understand why “Index” didn’t work when I tried that - “Unknown File Types” was not selected in Preferences. I was on the right track with trying Index - but nothing happened because the preference wasn’t set. This is a big relief to have this “working” again. Thanks!

  • Heidi
6

The fact that MS Word files are the only files that don’t import should be mentioned loud and clear (or at least louder and clearer to me); I just imported most of my files into DT, then proceeded to erase everything from Finder to free up disk space and reduce redundancy.

Only to be shocked that when I tried to export a .doc file – which is “supported” by DT – that it kept exporting as a .rtf. After reading this discussion, I now know why.

Is there any particular reason that every file type can be imported, except MS Word files? This really messed things up for me.

Anyone know how I can recover my files?

sigh

7

You can still export them as Word documents via File > Export > as Word document… but only one after another and the formatting will be probably not identical to the original one (as DT Pro isn’t Word of course).

All files are converted to a supported standard format, not only Word (e.g. also old SimpleText files, text clippings etc.)