How to Use File Transclusion

If you’ve ever needed to consolidate content from multiple documents into one, you likely have used copy and paste. But if you make edits, they have to be made to all involved documents. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could keep the documents separated but show them as a single document? You can with a Markdown feature in DEVONthink: file transclusion.

File transclusion displays the content of other documents as if they’re part of the Markdown document you’re working on. Typically used for other Markdown documents, it also supports plain text, rich text, PDF documents, and sheets. You can trans­clude images, though we recommend using the regular Markdown syntax instead. It is even possible to trans­clude audio and video documents. The document you want to trans­clude just needs to be in the same database as the Markdown document.

To add a transclusion, use one of these methods:

• Start typing double curly braces {{ and the name of the document you want to trans­clude. An autocompletion popup appears, so you can select a document in the same database. Select one and press Return to insert the name and close the braces.
• Type the name and extension and braces manually. This also works in DEVONthink To Go.
• Hold the Control key while dragging and dropping into the source to insert a transclusion.

The contents of the trans­cluded documents immediately appear in the preview. Change the order in the source and it changes the preview.

But note, the trans­cluded content is only a visual representation. You cannot select and edit it. To make changes to it, you need to open the document. These changes will be will be immediately reflected in the preview. Also be aware file transclusion isn’t supported in all third-party Markdown applications.

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