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Feature Request: Drag and Drop onto OF Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I've been messing around with The Hit List open beta, and the one feature I've fallen in love with is that THL automatically creates an inbox todo when you drop a file onto the application (or onto an open THL window).

If the file is x.pdf, the todo is Look at "x.pdf." And of course it attaches the PDF to the todo item.

It's really helpful for someone like me, who has lots of files that I want to sort for research and writing projects.

--tom
 
With OmniFocus running, you can select a file in the Finder, hit your clipping shortcut key (mine is command-F2), and get a new Quick Entry line with the filename as action and a link to the file in the Note field. It's not drag-and-drop but until Omni implements this feature (if they ever do), it's a useful technique.
 
This feature has existed in OmniFocus for well over a year. You can drag a file into the inbox or into existing projects and OmniFocus will automatically create a new action with the file attached in the note field (or drop it on an existing action to attach the file to that action). If you drop the file at the top level of your hierarchy, a new project is created with the file attached in the note field.

However, there is room for improvement (and maybe that's what the OP is referring to). For example, it'd be nice if OmniFocus would respond to files dropped onto its Dock icon. It might also be handy to be able to drop a file onto a project in the sidebar or maybe even have the sidebar folders be "spring-loaded" like the Finder.

But at least the basic functionality already exists. That, along with brianogilvie's suggestion of using the clippings shortcut, has been sufficient for my needs. But I like all my Dock icons to respond intelligently to drags, if for no other reason than it just feels Mac-like. ;-)

-Dennis
 
When I use the clipings shortcut, I get a copy of the file in the Notes section, but would prefer to get a link. (The attachments can be a little large and make the database too big.) I seem to recall that this was possible, and seems to be what Toadling is doing. What am I missing?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wdiadamo View Post
When I use the clipings shortcut, I get a copy of the file in the Notes section, but would prefer to get a link. (The attachments can be a little large and make the database too big.) I seem to recall that this was possible, and seems to be what Toadling is doing. What am I missing?
You are clipping files from the Finder? What sort of files? What are your clipping plug-in settings? Tiger or Leopard? My experiments just now always netted me a link, not an embedded file, when clipping from the Finder in 10.4. I also got a link when I dropped a file on the notes section. When I actually do want to embed the file, I use the Edit->Attach File command.
 
Thanks for the reply. Let me give you an example.

I download a pdf that ends up in my download folder. I clean out the folder periodically; I select the pdf, click f4 (which is the shortcut I have defined as the clippings shortcut) and I get the quick entry box with the actual pdf in the notes field with the file name as the title of the to do.

In Mail, when I f4 a message, I get the quick entry box with the subject line as the title, and the text of the email in the notes. The only issue here is that if there is an attachment, I would prefer that the attachment (which can be large) does not enter OF. I would rather get a link to the email, which would hopefully maintain even after I filed the email into the proper folder.

I seem to recall that there was a preference that used to address this, but either I am delusional (possible) or just losing it (likely).
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wdiadamo View Post
I download a pdf that ends up in my download folder. I clean out the folder periodically; I select the pdf, click f4 (which is the shortcut I have defined as the clippings shortcut) and I get the quick entry box with the actual pdf in the notes field with the file name as the title of the to do.
By default, OmniFocus always creates a link to files dragged into the note field. There is no GUI preference to control this behavior (maybe there's a hidden default, but I don't know). However, if you hold down the Option key while dragging a file into the note field, a copy of the file will instead be embedded in the database.

Regardless of whether the file is linked or embedded, it shows up as a file icon, rather than a traditional hyperlink like you see on web pages. You can verify that a file is linked by right-clicking on the icon. In the resulting contextual menu you should see an option to "Reveal in Finder" that should take you to the location of the original file.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wdiadamo View Post
I In Mail, when I f4 a message, I get the quick entry box with the subject line as the title, and the text of the email in the notes. The only issue here is that if there is an attachment, I would prefer that the attachment (which can be large) does not enter OF. I would rather get a link to the email, which would hopefully maintain even after I filed the email into the proper folder.
I haven't sent very many emails with large attachments to OmniFocus. But in my quick tests, it appears as if attachments are not embedded in the OmniFocus database. I can see the attachment's file icon, but if you right click on it and select "Reveal in Finder", it'll take you to a temp directory in /private/var/folders/ where you can see the downloaded attachment. In addition to this, the size of my database file (~450KB) did not increase significantly after clipping an email with a 4 MB attached file.

As for a link to the original email, you can find that at the top of your clipped OmniFocus action. And that link remains valid even if you move the original email to a new folder or mailbox within Apple Mail.

-Dennis

Last edited by Toadling; 2009-01-13 at 11:20 AM.. Reason: Removed stray text
 
I clipped a PDF file found on an external drive, then unmounted the drive. When I double-clicked the icon in the notes field, I got a file open dialog inviting me to track down the missing file. I think Dennis is on the right track suspecting that you're being misled by the icon into thinking the file was actually embedded.

The Edit->Attach File option does ask whether you want to link or embed the file; perhaps you saw that at some point?

If you go to your Library/Application Support/OmniFocus/OmniFocus.ofocus file in your home directory, then do Show Package Contents and sort by date modified, you should see a .zip file there for any attached file that you just embedded, and it will be large in comparison to the other files if the file was truly embedded and not just linked. If you're experimenting, don't use too large a file, because you will have to sync it over to your other client(s) even if you delete the action before doing the next sync...
 
First, thanks for the help and lucid explanations. It looks like I was dealing with two issues, which squared my confusion.

In fact, you are correct that I was only getting links in my clippings, notthee actual files. I was confused by the icons, and by the size of my database. Apparently, because I failed to sync over the holidays or somesuch, my database grew to 14+ mb. I looked in the Omnifocus.ofocus file, and it looked like I had some huge attachments in there that I could not get out. (I thnk there is a thread about this possible bug.) In any case, it seems like the sync problem is the cause of my size issues (bigger is not always better it seems), and not large clippe attachments.

Anyway, I am now dealing with the sync issue, and apparently do not have a clipping issue. In any case, thanks again for your quick and learned assistance.
 
To that end I really dislike the look of the Icon in the notes, even though it is just a link. It doesn't show the file name. It just clutters things up. I would much rather have the name of the file show up as a hyperlink like an email does.
 
 


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