MadaboutDana wrote:

Yes, I'm using FoxTrot Pro (and now EagleFiler) in the same way as
Simon.

The "database" is the folder of files etc., which is indexed by
FoxTrot/EagleFiler. EagleFiler also allows you to make notes directly,
which FoxTrot doesn't (of course). But FoxTrot can be set to update its
indices on a regular basis (by default, every night), and has
ridiculously powerful search options. So while it doesn't have the
concordance function of DEVONthink, you can come pretty close!

To my astonishment, I'm now thinking about uninstalling DEVONthink Pro
Office, or maybe using it exclusively as an e-mail backup solution. Wow!

Have you downloaded and tried DevonThink's latest version, version 3, Bill? If you haven't, my recommendation is to try it first, before you abandon the application. It has certainly made the management of my files more efficient.

I do have one proviso. I think that you have to have a large volume of thousands of files, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of files, frequently added to, in order to make DevonThink Pro Office worthwhile. To my mind, the new features of Version 3 have underlined that requirement.

Hi Hugh, I've had a very quick sniff, but I haven't really kicked the tyres, so yes, you're probably right.

I have a lot of files (possibly in the tens of thousands), so it sounds as if I should!

Thank you Simon -- I see the distinction. Finder is an excellent document repository and Foxtrot supports that use case very well.

I prefer working in DEVONthink even when just doing repository work -- because it's a familiar environment and facilitates tasks like document creation, annotation / note taking, editing in place, reorganization, and so on. Sync between DEVONthink to Go and DEVONthink on the desktop is very important to me to.

But at the end of the day, everything I do in DEVONthink I could do without in by using the OS filesystem and other apps. Even though I've used DEVONthink extensively all day every day, since version 1 -- there is nothing DEVONthink does that could not be accomplished as well (and perhaps cheaper) in other ways. It is not unique.

Simon wrote:

I think it is dependent on how I used Devonthink. Devonthink is a
database. It stores files and allows you to create new ones as well as
see the information in different ways. Foxtrot is not in itself a
database, although it does create one of your indexed location. My
database is my Finder folder that is indexed by Foxtrot. I store my
files in a Finder folder and Foxtrot indexes them. This is pretty much
what my use of Devonthink was.

MadaboutDana wrote:

Yes, I'm using FoxTrot Pro (and now EagleFiler) in the same way as
Simon.

I'm intrigued, in what way you use Eaglefiler? I'm looking for a home or 80k emails and wondered if it was a good place.

Ah, I’ll admit that in my ongoing quest for greater efficiency, I’ve now dumped EagleFiler (because it insists in creating its own repositories) and now use FoxTrot Pro exclusively (because it can index everything and anything; you can set up all kinds of custom indices, switch them on/off at will, and preview files in FoxTrot’s excellent Preview pane – including highlighted search hits).

I had another go with DEVONthink, but to be honest, it doesn’t add enough to what FoxTrot can do for me to wish to re-invest in the new version 3.0. There are some great features, but I’m not tempted.