The rationale is that I want to avoid multiple copies of documents that I collect. This becomes messy, with some versions having different highlights, comments, etc. But if, for example, I am reading and comparing multiple PDFs, I want to have a choice of how I access them.
In the past I have used EagleFiler as the "master manager" for my documents (PDFs, Word docs, videos, etc.) EF explicitly allows this. It is also good about handling many file types, not just PDFs. (DevonThink, for example, imports files into its own database, so that other applications cannot access them.)
I have not found any discussion that prohibits opening BE attachments from other applications. But this could be implicitly forbidden, or at least risky.
Thanks for any reports from others who have tried using Bookends as the only repository of their documents.
I would also appreciate comments about using Bookends with non-PDF documents.
From the discussions of Synch via iCloud on this forum, it appears that if I want to have a single repository for documents,
- 1) "Sync of attachments [i.e. document repository] is based on iCloud Drive. All files must be located in the iCloud Drive -> Bookends folder." Source: https://www.sonnysoftware.com/bookendsontap/cloudsync/
2) The bookends library itself automatically is synched via /Users/user/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~com~sonnysoftware~bot/Documents . (Not clear, but it appears that the library will also be on your MacOS machine.)
3) If I don't care about access from multiple machines, the repository can be anywhere.
4). the attachments repository is distinct from the Bookends library, where all the metadata goes.