Manual import from DT watch folder

Q & A - getting started with Tinderbox
1

Is it possible to trigger a manual import from Devonthink “watch” folder, rather than have the automatic update?

I often do a bit of note-gardening in Devonthink, but may then find that TBX has imported some of the weeds before I could get to them. I know there are other ways around this, but thought I’d ask about this particular strategy first.

2

I don’t believe so. The watch process runs as a cycle, which is reflected by the ‘Network’ graphic on the ‘Agents & Rules’ Inspector.

3

I find I have to do a bit of a convoluted process with this.

  1. Create the note in DEVONthink
  2. Watch in Tinderbox
  3. Edit the note in DEVONthink
  4. Delete the watched instance of the note in the Tinderbox container
  5. Close the document in Tinderbox
  6. Reopen the document in Tinderbox

After step 5, the edited note is now available again in Tinderbox.

Maybe that’s not the intent of the design, but that’s been my experience. It’s easier to just edit the note in DEVONthink in one group, then add it to the group that I’m watching in Tinderbox.

4

This changed in Tinderbox 8.7.1

5

@PaulWalters - this is what I do now. In the absence of a manual trigger, I think I’ll make a “note garden” folder in DT, in which last minute edits happen, and then drag the edited notes to a “TBX upload” folder.

6

I’m not sure if the AppleScripts used here still work, but you might find it worth investigating this thread:

http://forum.eastgate.com/t/publish-from-tinderbox-to-devonthink/1123?

I realise it is sending stuff in the opposite direction, but there might be something to be learned from using Scripts to set up exchanges.

It seems to me that syncing information between programs, attractive though it is, tends to be fraught with complications, and is often fragile. I’m moving to the idea that it is better to keep one sort of information in one program, and a different sort in another. If you like, I keep source material in DEVONthink or Bookends, and “processed” material in Tinderbox. If I need to go to the source, I use a DEVONthink item link, or a Bookends ID number. I begin to think that having the same information in two places is not a good idea. It eventually gets confusing (to me, at least).

7

Good advice. That has been my own approach as I’ve found that two-way sync between different applications inevitably results in disappointment.

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