Feb 16, '05 08:41:00AM • Contributed by: SmokyMcPott
Like many apps, by default, Dt stores its database under the folder ~/Library/Application Support/DEVONthink. However, you can get around this limitation by creating several databases, and then symbolic linking the database you want to use to the aforementioned ‘Application Support' folder, replacing Dt's original folder with the symbolic link. Some of you may already know about doing this, as this works for a lot of applications under OS X, and most Unix-based machines.
What I did was created several databases by copying the original ‘virgin' copy of the Dt database folder (again, ‘~/Library/Application Support/DEVONthink'), moving them into a separate folder under my Documents folder. I then created several short, executable, Unix scripts which handle removing the old symbolic link and replacing it with a symbolic link to one of the new databases. After that, I used the free, and amazing Platypus GUI creator to create a clickable iconized version of each of these scripts, so that I could click an icon, rather then open a terminal to run these.
So, here's a recap of the steps, along with some examples:
- After installing Dt, launch it once, and then close it. Go to the aforementioned Application Support folder, and you'll see a folder labeled "DEVONthink." Copy (or move) it to a folder somewhere else for storage (I created a subfolder to my documents folder). Name this folder something meaningful. For example, I made three copies of the original Dt folder, naming them "Ebooks," "Web Development," and "Daily."
- Create a unix script that will remove an existing symbolic link, and replace it with as new link which points to one of your new databases. As an example, here's one of my scripts:
After the script is created, chmod it to 0777 in order to make it executable. If you want, you can also download Platypus, load your new script into it, and create a clickable icon for the script.#!/bin/sh # Remove old link: rm "/Users/amh/Library/Application Support/DEVONthink" # Create new link: ln -fs "/Users/amh/Documents/Program Settings/DEVONthink/Ebooks" /tmp # Rename new link to "DEVONthink": mv /tmp/Ebooks /Users/amh/Library/Application Support/DEVONthink # Launch DEVONthink: open -a DEVONthink - Once your scripts are all set up, the first thing you want to do is delete the original Dt database folder, and replace it with it with a link to one of your new databases. If you skip this step, when you run your scripts you'll receive an error, as the scripts are setup to delete a symbolic link only, not a directory
This 'workaround' works with most apps also -- for instance, you can get around the one database limitation of MacJournal (the free version, at least) the same way. Hope this saves someone some time, as it took awhile before I came up with this solution. There are other ways to achieve this same thing, but this is the most efficient that I've found so far.
