Where are Index File databases stored

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1

I am trying to manage data stored on my disk. In DTPro I have indexed all my files stored on my SSD (contents of Documents folder). But how do I find out the overhead in space occupied to achieve this. IE where is the database or index file stored. If I locate this i can see how big this file is, & evaluate if this is worth having…

Thanks

Gareth

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If everything in a database is indexed (i.e., you did not import files into a DEVONthink or create them there) then for the file space size merely look to the location in your filesystem where the originals reside. In your case, I assume this is the Documents folder on your SSD. DEVONthink doesn’t copy indexed files into databases, it merely makes a small notation in the database package telling itself where the indexed folder is physically located in your filesystem.

For the size of the database itself, then right-click on a database name in the DEVONthink side bar, choose “Show in Finder”, and when the database is revealed in Finder then use Finder’s “Get Info” panel to see how much space the database takes. In your case – if you indexed your data and did not import it – the contents of the database package is merely the minimal set of overhead meta files needed by DEVONthink to manage things for you.

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Thanks for the quick reply - think I have now found the index file/package <filename.dtbase2>

I am fairly new to DTpro (6 months). My imported files currently sit in the INBOX within folders etc. I then created a separate database to index my SSD (to experiment with how I might use DTpro to manage this data (35000 documents / 30Gb)). The index file appears to be 7Gb - does this sound about right?

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What do you mean by “the index file”?

So, I just did a test. I created a new database and then indexed into that new database a folder that Finder reports has 1.4 GB of content. Finder reports that the new database is merely 49 MB. This all makes sense to me, since the database has no user content, just DEVONthink meta information.

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My database that indexes the document folder on my SSD is called WPG. In the finder the package file is called WPG.dtBase2 - this is 7Gb. Within this package, there is a folder called File.noindex which contains nothing - this is expected as this is purely a reference database (or an index) to the contents of the documents folder. There are 10 files called DEVONthink-1.dtMeta through to DEVONthink-10.dtMeta which total approx 1.2Gb. I assume these are the files that contain the index to the documents folder. BUT there are also 4 Backup folders, each about 1.2Gb - the contents have the same naming sequence (ie DEVONthink-1.dtMeta) - so I guess it is these Backups which cause my “index” to be bloated.

Do you know why there are 4 Backup folders & how can I reduce this?

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This can be changed or turned off in the Preferences > Backup.

Use good judgment here. Balance recovery needs with disk space and ask yourself which is really cheaper. (I think 2 is not a bad number personally.) Just some food for thought.

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thankyou for your replies - very helpful