Support for Devonthink item Links

Feature Requests
#1

With events we have the ability to add an image. This can be either in the form of an attachment or a url link.

Would it be possible to allow the url link to reference a Devonthink item link. These are very powerful links to items held in a Devonthink database.

In my case I have a timeline of concerts I have attended and want to add the ticket stub to each concert. My ticket stubs are currently held in a Devonthink database I use for music research.

Without such a link I would have to duplicate the image, store it somewhere on my computer and add it as an attachment. Not only does this waste space but is much more cumbersome.

For you r refernce here is a link which explains Devonthinks item links. DEVONtechnologies | Understanding Item Links

#2

Hi Keith,

This already works. Copy and paste the DEVONthink item link into the link section of an event and it should open directly in DEVONthink when you click on the link.

I use such links all the time. To open reference items to my research documents in DT3. I don’t want to add the actual material directly into AT3, mainly due to storage considerations on my iCloud account. I also use such links to open items direct in Ulysses from within Aeon Timeline.

What is still missing, is the ability to open AT3 events from other apps via such links. That’s a feature I have been wanting since the early alpha days of AT3.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

1 Like
#3

My request was specifically about the image link in an event and in my testing if you try to add a Devonthink item link as an image link, it looks like it accepts the link but it does not show the image in the timeline, instead it shows a small broken image icon I beleive. I’d be grateful if you could test this to confirm the behaviour.

Thanks

Keith

#4

To be fair, I’m no technical expert, but I have used such links for many years now, and I have never seen an item link from any app render an image preview within another, third party app.

To my knowledge, DEVONthink links, whether they are for images, PDFs or web bookmarks, are nothing more than a convenient way of opening the linked item within the DEVONthink database itself. Do you have an example of a DEVONthink item link to an image stored in DEVONthink rendering a preview of that image in a third party app?

#5

As it won’t allow me to link using a devonthink item link I am using a file link to its location on my hard drive, which I think is pretty much what the Devonthink link is.

I am not aware of another app that attempts to render an image based on a link to try.

Anyway, its a request - would be nice if the app could do this in the future.

#6

I think the problem is the x-devonthink link is sort of like a command to Devonthink to open the file in Devonthink.

You can also add search commands in Devonthink links, so a link will open a list of matching files. I don’t think any third party apps would be able to handle that.

Be careful referencing files behind Devonthink’s back. For instance, if you modify the file, you’ll start getting Devonthink errors if you check file integrity.

Another problem you may have is some applications actually write a new file on edit, deleting the original. That will cause Devonthink to have a missing file (the original) and an orphaned file (the clone of the original).

Both of those situations are easily remedied, but it’s probably best to avoid taking direct control over files.

Devonthink is central to a lot of things I do. I’ve used other file management systems but nothing has matched DT’s stability. It’s a workhorse!

#7

Your possibly correct about the link being a command and as such may not be possible. I have a workaround now but a little bit more cumbersome to maintain the link.

Devonthink is a great (though very expensive) tool. I probably don;t use it anywhere near as much as I should but I am trying.