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DEVONthink stores a large number of metadata fields internally when importing documents from the file system, e.g., from PDF, RTF, MP3, EXIF/IPTC, HTML, and email messages as well as from all files that deliver metadata through the Spotlight metadata importer. Here's a partial list of theoretically supported fields: File Metadata General Metadata: Title Headline Subject Creator Producer PDF Metadata: Author Title Subject URL Keywords RTF Metadata: Author Title Comment Subject URL Keywords Organization Copyright Email Metadata: Authors Author email addresses Recipients Recipient email addresses Email addresses Media and Publication Metadata: Album Composer Contributors Publishers Editors Organizations Custom Metadata Another powerful feature of DEVONthink is custom metadata fields. Specified in the Preferences > Data, you can define fields that are meaningful to you, your company, your research group, or even your family! When you create a custom metadata field, you give it a name. DEVONthink uses this name to create an identifier for use in automated processes. This identifier is created automatically and cannot be changed. Data Types: When you define a custom field, you choose a data type for it. So what's a "data type"? It's simply a kind of a value; like "a" is a character and "42" is a (the!) number. The following data types are supported, including any interface items associated with them, e.g., checkboxes or dropdown menus: Boolean: This is a true or false value. Displayed as a checkbox. Countries: A dropdown menu providing a list of country names. Languages: A dropdown menu providing a list of languages. Integer: A whole number, e.g., with no fractional part, like 17. Decimal Number: A fractional number, represented with a decimal point. Date: Can be specified as Date & Time or Date. Identifier: Any alphanumeric value, specified as needed, e.g., a customer or patient number. Single-line Text: A dropdown providing a list of terms you defined for the field in the Data preferences. You can also type in a new value. Multi-line Text: Enter a small paragraph of text. Line breaks can be typed by pressing Option-Return. Rich Text: Same as Multi-line text but supports basic formatting, e.g., bold or italic text. Set: Similar to the Single-line text, this shows a dropdown with values pre-defined for the field in the Data preferences. However, new values can't be entered outside the preferences. URL: Accepts any valid URL, including filesystem URLs. Link: A special dropdown that allows you to choose an item in your databases. a link for the chosen item is used.
Note: The Countries and Languages lists are lengthy, but not necessarily exhaustive. For Multi-line Text and Rich Text, only one line will be displayed in its column in the item list.
Predefined Custom Metadata: In Preferences > Data, we have provided some custom metadata fields to get you started. These are ready to use and explore and serve as great examples of the data types discussed above: Date Company Author Abstract Status Serial Number ISSN/ISBN Digital Object Identifier (DOI) PubMed ID PMC ID Barcode Format Category Subcategory Genre Country Language Price Tax Tip Decimal