Using "Current Selection" on DEVONthink files in DEVONthink

[Afshin]

I used to have the ability to use the current selection tool on the files that I organized in DEVONthink, but after I reformatted my Mac I now no longer have that ability.  I'm wondering how I can troubleshoot this so that I can find out why I once had it and now I don't.  Thanks for the consideration! -Afshin 

[Rob McBroom]

On Thu Jul 18 2013 at 00:45:30, Afshin wrote:

I used to have the ability to use the current selection tool on the files that I organized in DEVONthink, but after I reformatted my Mac I now no longer have that ability.  I'm wondering how I can troubleshoot this so that I can find out why I once had it and now I don’t.

Plug-ins have the ability to augment “Current Selection” so it can return something useful in different contexts that the core application knows nothing about. I’m pretty sure there was a DEVONthink plug-in at one point. Maybe it was doing that.

Just a guess.

-- 
Rob McBroom
<http://www.skurfer.com/>

[Afshin Haghgoo]

Thank you Rob!  Though I backed up all the QS files, so I essentially had everything but the apps that the triggers responded to already restored.  But that tidbit that a plugin could be made to have that 'current selection' specifically tailored to apps is very intriguing!  I just wish I knew better in terms of developing code for it!!! -A

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Afshin Haghgoo

ahag...@gmail.com

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[Afshin Haghgoo]

I'm returning to this thread as I have a bit of time to examine this over the weekend.  I've pretty much exhausted support from the DT developers which you can read their posts from the thread I started there by clicking here.  I was disappointed in how they were wanting to point me to different apps instead of helping me to find the broken connection between QS and DT.  

What I find peculiar is that I can essentially send files to QS from iPhoto but not from DT, even though the database structure is pretty much the same.  With DT, each time I hit cmd+esc while in full screen mode, I hear a chime and then the app shrinks from full screen to windowed mode and QS appears but with "Current Selection" written on the first pane rather than the file itself.  Anyone know what this might mean, if it's a tell tale sign of something?  

Is it possible to create a plug-in without requiring access to the code of the app itself?  The developer at DT essentially killed the thread by indicating that he will provide support as it would create liability issues and so on.  So I'm wondering if it's possible to start a project without reaching the inevitable conclusion that it isn't possible without access to the code of the app?  

Thanks for the consideration!  -A

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Afshin Haghgoo

ahag...@gmail.com

[Afshin Haghgoo]

There's a typo in the last paragraph.  It should read like this: 

Is it possible to create a plug-in without requiring access to the code of the app itself?  The developer at DT essentially killed the thread by indicating that he won't provide support as it would create liability issues and so on.  So I'm wondering if it's possible to start a project without reaching the inevitable conclusion that it isn't possible without access to the code of the app?  

--

Afshin Haghgoo

ahag...@gmail.com

[Rob McBroom]

On Thu Jul 25 2013 at 18:01:07, Afshin Haghgoo wrote:

I'm returning to this thread as I have a bit of time to examine this over the weekend.  I've pretty much exhausted support from the DT developers which you can read their posts from the thread I started there by clicking here.  I was disappointed in how they were wanting to point me to different apps instead of helping me to find the broken connection between QS and DT.

I think the devs over there misunderstood. They seem to think you were asking for a plug-in within DT to enable getting the selection, when you were talking about a QS plug-in all along. Anyway, they correctly point out that LaunchBar and others use DT’s AppleScript library to do this. That’s exactly what QS would need do in a theoretical DT plug-in. That’s what it does for iTunes, iPhoto, Finder, and various other apps where the selection can be something other than text.

What I find peculiar is that I can essentially send files to QS from iPhoto but not from DT, even though the database structure is pretty much the same.

I’ve looked a little closer at how it works. (Side note: The iTunes plug-in is doing it wrong, so now I have to fix it.)

When the current application is iPhoto, Quicksilver checks for an iPhoto plug-in and asks it for something useful. If that fails, it tries to copy the selection, which sometimes works. Maybe that was working in DT at one point, but doesn’t now.

You could reproduce this manually by selecting and copying something in DT, then running “Clipboard Contents ⇥ Select in Command Window” to see if it fails in the same way.

With DT, each time I hit cmd+esc while in full screen mode, I hear a chime and then the app shrinks from full screen to windowed mode and QS appears but with "Current Selection" written on the first pane rather than the file itself.  Anyone know what this might mean, if it's a tell tale sign of something?

This is a clue. If getting a selection fails, I believe QS will send the ⌘⎋ keystroke down to the application. For example, in TextMate, if you have no text selected, ⌘⎋ invokes the completion function. Maybe it toggles full-screen in DT?

Is it possible to create a plug-in without requiring access to the code of the app itself?

Do you think we have the source for iTunes? :-) Most plug-ins either use AppleScript, dig through the app’s files, use an API from the app developer, or (more likely) some combination of those.

[Afshin Haghgoo]

>> You could reproduce this manually by selecting and copying something in DT, then running “Clipboard Contents ⇥ Select in Command Window” to see if it fails in the same way.

Quicksilver "sees" the file when I do that.  So there's a hangup between the current selection tool and DT.  I'm wondering if someone could show me how to look into the parts of the iPhoto QS plugin so that I may be able to see how things work and then hopefully make one for DT to resolve the hangup.  -A

--

Afshin Haghgoo

ahag...@gmail.com

[Rob McBroom]

On Sat Aug 17 2013 at 15:03:36, Afshin Haghgoo wrote:

You could reproduce this manually by selecting and copying something in DT, then running “Clipboard Contents ⇥ Select in Command Window” to see if it fails in the same way.

Quicksilver "sees" the file when I do that.  So there's a hangup between the current selection tool and DT.

I’m pretty sure that’s all Quicksilver does if there’s no plug-in to say otherwise, so I can’t explain the difference in behavior.

I'm wondering if someone could show me how to look into the parts of the iPhoto QS plugin so that I may be able to see how things work and then hopefully make one for DT to resolve the hangup.  -A

I did look into how Current Selection interacts with plug-ins (and updated the iTunes plug-in as a result). I’ve updated the plug-in reference with what I found.

http://projects.skurfer.com/QuicksilverPlug-inReference.mdown#current-selection

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Afshin Haghgoo]

Ok thanks Rob.  I'll be reviewing this before I start the project.  -A 

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Afshin Haghgoo

ahag...@gmail.com