@kinsella and I have exchanged in other channels regarding this.
For others, I will note that Hook has an API that could in principle be called dynamically from DEVONthink to detect whether the selected item has links. I suppose a DT label or tag could dynamically be applied. ( we could supply an alternative icon to designate the hooked state (perhaps Hook’s menu bar icon would do). ) I’ve asked someone here who uses DEVONthink more extensively whether such dynamic checks are feasible on the DT side. If nothing comes of that, we could ask a question on the DEVONthink forum. They would know best.
FYI, for Hook 2.0 we’re experimenting with turning Auto-hide off for Hook window, i.e., providing users with the option for Hook window to always be on. It would partly address your request for DEVONthink, I think. (It’s something that others had asked for on the forum a while back.)
FWIW, that would address one of my biggest issues with hook — I often forget that it exists and working with ephemeral windows can be cumbersome. So yay for exploring this!
It would be already beneficial if a tag (e.g. “Hook”) exist for DEVONthink items that have Hook links. An AppleScript could be run periodically, deleting all old “Hook” tags and (re-)adding this tag for those documents that are currently linked in Hook’s link database.
We’ve published a draft script that applies and syncs a “Hook” tag to DEVONthink items. This is our first cut at the script, so feedback will be appreciated. (The script is for use outside Hook, not in Hook’s Script editor.)
Big caveat the script uses Hook 2.0’s AppleScript dictionary. We’ve published the dictionary, but Hook 2.0 is not yet released. So this is only for analytical/discussion purposes at the moment.
If anyone who wants to use this is not a DEVONthink automator but has DEVONthink automators in their network, they may wish to ask them to comment on this. It might also be suitable for discussion on the DEVONthink forum or related forum.
(We’ve also internally prototyped a couple of ways for Hook to dynamically reflect [ in menu bar icon and menu bar window] whether the currently selected item is hooked to anything).
The Hook 2.0 AppleScript was in fact released last year. I don’t think in the end we should include that script as the default for Hook. Users who want it can apply it themselves. The reasons are (a) it contains a delay; (b) we will introduce a general status indicator that will work for any selection in any compatible app.
I’m very, very sorry for the confusion. The AppleScript that inserts a “Hook”tag to each document with Hook links, in fact, DOES work. I didn’t run or activate that particular AppleScript in DT’s AppleScript library. There was another icon that appeared on certain DT document lists that I thought was inserted somehow by Hook.
After doing some review, I found out that the particular icon, was inserted by DT, as a representation that the document had external URL links.