[whpalmer4]

I think the crucial point to understand is that you can't edit any of these documents *in* OmniFocus; OmniFocus simply arranges for the appropriate program to be invoked. Some documents OmniFocus can display, perhaps with some help from iOS, others it hands off to other applications, but it cannot edit, no matter whether you've stored the document inside OmniFocus' database, or simply stored a path to the file.

Originally Posted by hotwheels22

> You could also store your documents related to a project in the notes for the project itself. I find this to be a cleaner approach than having an action devoted to storing documents; for one thing, you don't have the phony action cluttering up the view. The drawback, however, is that the procedure on the iPhone for getting to the note field for a project is different than that for getting to the note field for an action. A project's notes are accessed by going to the list of Projects, tapping the Edit button, scrolling to the project in question, tapping it, then tapping the > sign next to the project name. If you've got a file embedded, then you go to the same place except instead tapping the > sign, you scroll to the bottom and rummage through the Attachments section.

This digression is important for me. I assume by 'phone' you mean a blue link that is just a link?

Not sure what you mean—I don't see where I used 'phone' in the text above.

The issue here is - in part - whether I am linking to a document that is external to the Omni database or whether I am /embedding/ this data into the notes field of a Task in Omni?

On the iPhone/iPad, you can't really link to external documents, to my knowledge. The link you create on the Mac is present in the database, although it isn't shown to you on the iPhone or iPad.

The access on the iPhone to the notes sounds /way/ clunkier than I am going to deal with. At the same time, I am realizing that I can't edit Pages documents on my iPhone anyway (!). This sounds like a bit of a catch 22. Is there a way around this? I mean, on my iPhone I'd like to be able to edit my Pages docs - which tell me what I need to do in a more "global" way - in the same way I will edit the Omni info - which tell me what to do in a more "local" way. But I can't edit the Pages docs on my iPhone and if I embed them into the notes there is only a really clunky way of getting to them?

If you need editable reference materials on the iPhone, you need to store them somewhere other than inside the OmniFocus database.

As for clunky access to the notes on the iPhone, it's only notes attached to the project that are particularly clunky; notes attached to actions are easy to get to, in my opinion. You just tap on the action as if to edit it. Attachments are at the bottom of the screen, the first line or two of text is at the top of the screen, tapping > gets you the rest of the note and the option of editing.

Anyway, your answers save me a great deal of time and headache as I get out of the ditch here.

BTW, the Pages docs /are/ currently on Dropbox and I think I mis-spoke about Things (it will link to a file on Dropbox on my mac but I don't know if it can link to it on my iPhone - and i couldn't open it on the phone anyway...)!

Anyway, the conclusion that I am gathering is that I should link the documents in Omni but I am missing something. If I open a Pages document from a link in Omni on my laptop and I edit this Pages document - the new document /will/ get updated on my desktop, yes? It is just that I can't open it from the link on my iPhone and even if I could I couldn't open the document in the link on my iPhone...yes?

Yes, if you link to the file, you can open it by double-clicking on the icon in OmniFocus (Mac), and if you make and save your changes, the file on the Mac will be updated. If you access that file directly, your changes will be present. If that file lives on Dropbox, accessing the file from any system linked to your Dropbox account should have your changes, provided that Dropbox has had an opportunity to sync.

There won't be a visible link on your iPhone in OmniFocus. Store your files externally on Dropbox, linking them into the database on the Mac, and also putting a text string in there to tell you on the iPhone what the name of the file is so you can go to the Dropbox app and open it up. You'll still be able to access the file directly through OmniFocus when you're on the Mac, and you'll know where to find it on the iPhone.