Creating links to files on the network drives
Category Lotus Notes Tips
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I've been asked by my colleagues if there is a way to insert a link into a Lotus Notes document that points to a file stored somewhere on the network drive. Once this link is clicked by a reader of the Notes document, the file (for example a Microsoft Word document), that this link points to will be opened.
I found two ways of accomplishing this. One involves turning selected text within a document into a "hotspot", specifically a "Link hotspot of the type URL". The other method involves creating Windows shortcut (.lnk file) and attaching it to your document.
Method 1
Create a URL link hotspot
When you hear the term URL, you probably think of an address of a Web site/page (a file accessed remotely though the HTTP protocol) But in this context, the term "URL" means an address of a file that you want to link to using one of many available protocols. Please note that URL consists of two parts: protocol + path to your file. You should also know that in Lotus Notes, the following protocols are allowed inside the URL hotspots:
http://
https://
ftp://
notes://
file://
To create your hotspot that links to a document, we will use "file://" protocol.
1. Make sure your document is in edit mode.
2. Select the text to act as a link.
3. Click Create > Hotspot > Link Hotspot.
4. Select "URL" for the link type.
5. Type in the full URL to your file in the "Value" field. See URL examples below.
URL Example 1
The file "test.doc" is located in a folder called "temp" that in turn is inside a folder called "consult" on a network drive mapped as "M:" on everyone's computers. The path to this file is "M:\consult\temp\test.doc".
You would use the following URL for your hotspot:
URL Example 2
Since network drive letter mappings may differ between computers on the same network, it is safer to use a different method for specifying the file path. The same file used in example above, is stored on a Novell server called ALPHA. When it comes to drive mappings, "M:" actually points to a folder called "common" that is stored on a partition also called "COMMON" on that server. Those names are not case sensitive, I just used lower case for the folder name and upper case for the partition name to distinguish them from each other.
You would use the following URL:
NOTE: This is applicable to both Novell and Microsoft networks, although I only tested it on our Novell network with Notes 8.
Your Notes document will look like this:
Method 2
Create Windows shortcut (.lnk file) and attach it to your Notes document
1. Open Windows Explorer and browse to a folder where your file is stored.
2. Right click on your file and select "Create Shortcut" from the menu. You will see that Windows created a new file. If the original file was called "test.doc", your shortcut will be called "Shortcut to test.doc" in Windows XP, or "test.doc - shortcut" in Windows Vista. Note that Windows hides the file extension ".lnk" which is appended to the shortcut file name.
If you wish, you can rename your shortcut file and take out the "Shortcut to" prefix (Win XP) or "-shortcut" appendix (Win Vista).
3. Attach the shortcut file created in step 2 in one of the three possible ways:
a) drag and drop shortcut into your Notes document, or...
b) copy shortcut to the clipboard, switch to Notes document and paste it from the clipboard, or...
c) use File > attach from Notes' menu and browse to the shortcut file
Your Notes document will look like this:
Bookmark :
I've been asked by my colleagues if there is a way to insert a link into a Lotus Notes document that points to a file stored somewhere on the network drive. Once this link is clicked by a reader of the Notes document, the file (for example a Microsoft Word document), that this link points to will be opened.
I found two ways of accomplishing this. One involves turning selected text within a document into a "hotspot", specifically a "Link hotspot of the type URL". The other method involves creating Windows shortcut (.lnk file) and attaching it to your document.
Method 1
Create a URL link hotspot
When you hear the term URL, you probably think of an address of a Web site/page (a file accessed remotely though the HTTP protocol) But in this context, the term "URL" means an address of a file that you want to link to using one of many available protocols. Please note that URL consists of two parts: protocol + path to your file. You should also know that in Lotus Notes, the following protocols are allowed inside the URL hotspots:
http://
https://
ftp://
notes://
file://
To create your hotspot that links to a document, we will use "file://" protocol.
1. Make sure your document is in edit mode.
2. Select the text to act as a link.
3. Click Create > Hotspot > Link Hotspot.
4. Select "URL" for the link type.
5. Type in the full URL to your file in the "Value" field. See URL examples below.
URL Example 1
The file "test.doc" is located in a folder called "temp" that in turn is inside a folder called "consult" on a network drive mapped as "M:" on everyone's computers. The path to this file is "M:\consult\temp\test.doc".
You would use the following URL for your hotspot:
URL Example 2
Since network drive letter mappings may differ between computers on the same network, it is safer to use a different method for specifying the file path. The same file used in example above, is stored on a Novell server called ALPHA. When it comes to drive mappings, "M:" actually points to a folder called "common" that is stored on a partition also called "COMMON" on that server. Those names are not case sensitive, I just used lower case for the folder name and upper case for the partition name to distinguish them from each other.
You would use the following URL:
NOTE: This is applicable to both Novell and Microsoft networks, although I only tested it on our Novell network with Notes 8.
Your Notes document will look like this:
Method 2
Create Windows shortcut (.lnk file) and attach it to your Notes document
1. Open Windows Explorer and browse to a folder where your file is stored.
2. Right click on your file and select "Create Shortcut" from the menu. You will see that Windows created a new file. If the original file was called "test.doc", your shortcut will be called "Shortcut to test.doc" in Windows XP, or "test.doc - shortcut" in Windows Vista. Note that Windows hides the file extension ".lnk" which is appended to the shortcut file name.
If you wish, you can rename your shortcut file and take out the "Shortcut to" prefix (Win XP) or "-shortcut" appendix (Win Vista).
3. Attach the shortcut file created in step 2 in one of the three possible ways:
a) drag and drop shortcut into your Notes document, or...
b) copy shortcut to the clipboard, switch to Notes document and paste it from the clipboard, or...
c) use File > attach from Notes' menu and browse to the shortcut file
Your Notes document will look like this:
