Thanks for your response @kofa and @g-man. At this point of time I am going to put using multiple databases into the too hard basket because the only reason I would like to use multiple databases is to give DAM capability to my multiple backup disks. In my case, the way I would use the feature, if it is added as a GUI feature, is to import all the images on a external drive into a unique database for DT. Preferably the DB can then also be located on the external drive and move with it as I go from computer to computer. LR can do this and that is where I am basing my idea upon. It is a nice feature, but not an essential feature for me.
It is not hard and you can do that today. Just use the config path flag.
Thanks @g-man I will have a go at doing that soon. I have a few ext drives I would like to add DAM to.
Check if the paths to the files stay the same between computers (guaranteed not to be the case if you use Linux and Windows both).
I don’t really understand why you would want DAM for backups, though (backups as opposed to archives)
Okay, I will stand corrected. The external drives are archival storage and also backup.
Also, in the case of LR, if I remember correctly, I could click on the catalog on the external drive and it initiated LR with that catalog. Please realise I am not asking or expecting DT to be LR clone. I am just sharing a positive experience with that program that might be worth considering for DT’s design. But the developers might have better priorities or it may just not be practical for DT.
Here is a worked example (Windows .bat). The specific use case was to have 2 sessions of darktable running at the same time. But it’s proof-of-concept regarding the command line parameters.