Split Notes on Delimiter

# DEVONthink Split Notes on Delimiter

AppleScript for [DEVONthink 3](https://www.devontechnologies.com/apps/devonthink) that **splits a text or Markdown record into multiple notes** whenever it encounters the delimiter:

```

۞

```

Each new note is named from the `Subtitle:` line, its `Number:` value is written into the custom metadata field **Number**, and the note body preserves the full header (`Title/Subtitle/Number`) along with the section’s content.

---

## ✨ Features

- Works on **plain text**, **Markdown**, and **RTF** records.
- Splits on the delimiter character `۞` (must be on its own line).
- Extracts:
  - `Title:`  
  - `Subtitle:` → used as the new note’s **name**  
  - `Number:` → stored in DEVONthink’s custom metadata field **Number**
- Preserves `Title/Subtitle/Number` lines in the body of each new note.
- Creates the new notes in the **same group** as the original by default.
- Uses DEVONthink’s **progress indicator** with cancel button.
- Error handling to prevent crashes if the record is empty or unsupported.

---

## 📄 Example

Given this source note:

```

Title: Defining the Nature of Thought
Subtitle: The Progressive Restriction of the Term "Thought"
Number: 1

\[... body text ...]

۞

Title: Casual Mental Activity
Subtitle: Idle Fancy and Non-Reflective Thought
Number: 2

\[... body text ...]

```

The script will create **two new notes**:

1. Named **“The Progressive Restriction of the Term "Thought"”**, with metadata `Number = 1`
2. Named **“Idle Fancy and Non-Reflective Thought”**, with metadata `Number = 2`

Both notes will include their `Title/Subtitle/Number` lines in the body.

---

## ⚙️ Configuration

- **Delimiter:** currently set to `۞`. Change `property pDelimiter` at the top of the script if needed.
- **Metadata field:** set by `property pMetaKeyNumber : "Number"`. Change the name if your custom field differs.
- **Destination:** defaults to the record’s current group. You can toggle `pMakeNotesInSourceGroup` if you want them elsewhere.
- **Output type:** tries to match the source (Markdown → Markdown, RTF → RTF, TXT → TXT).

---

## 📌 Notes

- If your custom metadata field `Number` does not exist yet, DEVONthink will create it automatically the first time the script runs.
- You can further customize output (e.g., put notes into a sub-group, or change the naming scheme to include both Title and Subtitle).
- Safe to use with multiple selections; each record is processed in turn.

---SCRIPT---
(*
Script: Split DEVONthink note on "۞" into multiple notes
Purpose: For each section between delimiters, create a new note named by its "Subtitle:",
         set custom metadata "Number", and preserve Title/Subtitle/Number in the note body.
Author: AppleScript (GPT-5 Thinking)
Version: 1.1
Date: 2025-09-04
*)

use AppleScript version "2.5"
use scripting additions

property pDelimiter : "۞"
property pMetaKeyNumber : "Number"
property pDefaultNewType : "txt"
property pMakeNotesInSourceGroup : true
property pDebugLog : false

on run
	my splitSelectedRecords()
end run

on splitSelectedRecords()
	tell application id "DNtp"
		try
			set theSel to the selection
			if theSel is {} then error "Please select one or more text/Markdown records in DEVONthink."
			
			show progress indicator "Splitting notes…" steps (count of theSel) with cancel button
			
			repeat with theRec in theSel
				step progress indicator (name of theRec as text)
				if cancelled progress then exit repeat
				
				set {srcText, srcType} to my getTextAndType(theRec)
				if srcText is missing value or srcText is "" then error "This record doesn't contain readable text."
				set destGroup to (location group of theRec)
				if pMakeNotesInSourceGroup is false then set destGroup to (current group)
				
				set sections to my splitOnDelimiter(srcText, pDelimiter)
				
				repeat with secText in sections
					set parsed to my parseSection(secText as text)
					if parsed is not missing value then
						set {theTitle, theSubtitle, theNumber, theBody} to parsed
						
						set newType to my decideOutputType(srcType)
						set newRec to my createNote(destGroup, newType, theSubtitle, theBody)
						
						if theNumber is not missing value then add custom meta data theNumber for pMetaKeyNumber to newRec
					end if
				end repeat
			end repeat
			
			hide progress indicator
		on error errMsg number errNum
			hide progress indicator
			if errNum is not -128 then display alert "Split on delimiter" message errMsg as warning
		end try
	end tell
end splitSelectedRecords

-- === HELPERS ===

on getTextAndType(theRec)
	tell application id "DNtp"
		set recType to (type of theRec)
		try
			return {plain text of theRec, recType}
		on error
			try
				return {rich text of theRec as text, recType}
			on error
				try
					return {source of theRec, recType}
				on error
					return {missing value, recType}
				end try
			end try
		end try
	end tell
end getTextAndType

on decideOutputType(srcType)
	tell application id "DNtp"
		if srcType is markdown then return markdown
		if srcType is rtf or srcType is rtfd then return rtf
		if srcType is txt then return txt
	end tell
	return pDefaultNewType
end decideOutputType

on splitOnDelimiter(s, delimChar)
	set _s to s as text
	set {od, AppleScript's text item delimiters} to {AppleScript's text item delimiters, delimChar}
	set rawItems to text items of _s
	set AppleScript's text item delimiters to od
	
	set out to {}
	repeat with itx in rawItems
		set chunk to my trimWhitespace(itx as text)
		if chunk is not "" then set end of out to chunk
	end repeat
	return out
end splitOnDelimiter

-- ⬇️ KEY CHANGE: keep Title/Subtitle/Number in theBody
on parseSection(secText)
	set L to paragraphs of secText
	set titleVal to missing value
	set subtitleVal to missing value
	set numberVal to missing value
	
	-- scan for keys but do NOT cut off headers
	repeat with ln in L
		set t to my trimWhitespace(ln as text)
		if t is not "" then
			if my startsWithKey(t, "title") then
				set titleVal to my valueAfterColon(t)
			else if my startsWithKey(t, "subtitle") then
				set subtitleVal to my valueAfterColon(t)
			else if my startsWithKey(t, "number") then
				set v to my valueAfterColon(t)
				set numberVal to my asIntegerIfPossible(v)
			end if
		end if
	end repeat
	
	-- now include the WHOLE secText (with header) as body
	set bodyText to secText
	
	if subtitleVal is missing value then set subtitleVal to my fallbackName(titleVal, bodyText)
	if (subtitleVal is missing value) and (bodyText is "") then return missing value
	
	return {titleVal, subtitleVal, numberVal, bodyText}
end parseSection

on startsWithKey(ln, key)
	ignoring case
		return ln begins with (key & ":")
	end ignoring
end startsWithKey

on valueAfterColon(ln)
	set pos to offset of ":" in ln
	if pos > 0 then
		return my trimWhitespace(text (pos + 1) thru -1 of ln)
	else
		return ""
	end if
end valueAfterColon

on asIntegerIfPossible(v)
	try
		return (v as integer)
	on error
		try
			return (v as number)
		on error
			return v as text
		end try
	end try
end asIntegerIfPossible

on trimWhitespace(s)
	set t to s as text
	repeat while t begins with space or t begins with tab or t begins with return or t begins with linefeed
		if (length of t) ≤ 1 then exit repeat
		set t to text 2 thru -1 of t
	end repeat
	repeat while t ends with space or t ends with tab or t ends with return or t ends with linefeed
		if (length of t) ≤ 1 then exit repeat
		set t to text 1 thru -2 of t
	end repeat
	return t
end trimWhitespace

on fallbackName(titleVal, bodyText)
	if titleVal is not missing value and titleVal is not "" then return titleVal
	set paras to paragraphs of bodyText
	repeat with p in paras
		set t to my trimWhitespace(p as text)
		if t is not "" then
			if (length of t) > 80 then return text 1 thru 80 of t
			return t
		end if
	end repeat
	return "Untitled Section"
end fallbackName

on createNote(destGroup, outType, noteName, noteBody)
	tell application id "DNtp"
		if outType is markdown then
			return (create record with {type:markdown, name:noteName, content:noteBody} in destGroup)
		else if outType is rtf then
			return (create record with {type:rtf, name:noteName, rich text:noteBody} in destGroup)
		else
			return (create record with {type:txt, name:noteName, plain text:noteBody} in destGroup)
		end if
	end tell
end createNote