Proposed/Suggested Organization of Your KM Data

Questions & Suggestions
1

###Proposed/Suggested Organization of Your KM Data
Since we seem to be interested in standards, I thought I'd share how I organize my KM data on my Mac. As you use more and more files that are external to a Macro, you need somewhere to put them.

2016-06-03 15:03 CT (Fri)

  • Per Peter's recommendation to NOT use the KM Application Support folder, I have moved the My KM Data folder to be in my ~/Documents folder.

So here is my organization, inside of my Mac Home Documents folder (`~/Documents')
<img src="/uploads/default/original/2X/9/950a65295eaa72fddac824601de9f36afec29f7c.png" width="572" height="351">

The main sub-folder is 
**_My KM Data_**

I have created this folder, and all sub-folders within it to store all files I use in conjunction with Keyboard Maestro.  I included "KM" in the name so I could put it in the Finder Favorites list and be clear what it referred to.  This makes it easy to see your KM data anytime you want to.

Of course, each of you are free to organize your data as you see fit, using names that are meaningful to you.  But it would be nice if we had a common set of "My KM Data" folders that we could all use when posting Macros that require files outside of the macro.

This is what I will be using going forward.

I think the sub-folder names are fairly obvious/intuitive as to their use, but just to be clear, here is my definition:

**My KM Data**

* Actions
  * KM actions that you have exported, or downloaded.
* Docs
  * Documents, including web clippings, about KM that you want to easily reference
  * you could also put web links to the standard KM resources here
* HTML
  * Files used with the Custom HTML Prompt Action.
  * Can include any JavaScript libraries you need.
* Macros
  * KM macros that you have exported or downloaded
* Misc
  * files not put elsewhere
* Plugins
  * KM Plug Ins you have created, or downloaded
* Saved Data
  * Files used by Macros, like .plist files, or JSON files
* Scripts
  * Scripts (any kind) that are used by Macros by referring to the file name.

One final note:   On my actual Mac, I have created a symbolic link for the "My KM Data" folder to a folder inside of my DropBox folders, so that I have access to the same files on all of my Macs.

Please feel free to ask questions, offer constructive criticism, and suggestions.
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2

It is good to use a symbolic link and store your files elsewhere as the Keyboard Maestro folder itself is subject to change in the future, so anything in there that is unexpected could be at risk. For example it is possible some future version might, for example, move to storing the whole lot in a SQL file or whatever and then delete the folder.

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3

So, should we not use the KM folder at all?

I have noticed a number of other users with external data storing that data in the KM folder.

Should we use, as a standard, the user's Document folder:
~/Documents/My KM Data/

4

I moved my stuff out of the ~/Library/Application Support/Keyboard Maestro/ folder.

I put it here:

~/Documents/Application Support Files/Keyboard Maestro User Files/

Presently it looks like this:

~/Documents
  ├── Application Support Files
      ├── Keyboard Maestro User Files
          ├── AppleScript Support
          │   ├── 1Password
          │   ├── Activity Monitor
          │   ├── BBEdit
          │   ├── Finder
          │   ├── Keyboard_Maestro
          │   ├── Mail
          │   └── Safari
          └── Custom HTML Prompt
              └── Heads Up Info Display Macro

-Chris

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5

I would not recommend using an application's Application Support folder to store other stuff - not in general, and not unless it is specifically supported in some way (like maybe BBEdit says to put your scripts there or something like that).

That's an internal detail of the app that could change and who knows the consequence and the developer isn't necessarily going to think about the consequences to stuff that has been added (which includes me in two years when I've forgotten this thread).

So yes, it is better to put it in the Documents folder, or otherwise in your home folder somewhere.

@ccstone’s layout looks good, but of course it gets to be a long path. Clear, but long.

6

OK, thanks for making that clear.

For me, it's a trivial change. I just move the symlink to "My KM Stuff" to my ~/Documents folder.

I'll update my OP at the top to reflect this.