Can I combine a document library with document links?
Question of the day from Sue:
So far, I have been told that there is no way of using hyperlinks to documents stored in other applications (such as other doc management systems) and to make them appear seamlessly to users as part of a library of documents. We are not looking to create the link as a separate item using the “links” web part. We would prefer that linked docs would pop up from metadata created for each linked document in a main list of documents (want all documents regardless of location to have the same appearance). Can this be done?
Sue, off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything. Maybe someone can add a comment on how they would approach this. Any takers?
Could you just upload placeholder/dummy documents, and have a hyperlink column (displayed in the default view) that would link to the real document?
Another possibility- although this wouldn’t use a document library, is to create a business data catalog column with a custom action that would pass in the appropriate parameters via querystring to another application.
Not sure if I fully understand the question, so I apologize if I am not providing value here. You can add the “Link to a Document” content type to the main document library, and then link users to any document/file outside of SharePoint.
We did that for a client where they had documents and files (large movie files) on a file share that they didn’t need to move into SharePoint, but still wanted to allow users to access from a SharePoint document library.
Ben – Nice solution. Do you want to take a shot at explaining to Sue how to set that up or should I?
Sue – It is what you are looking for, I think. Thanks to Ben, in advance.
Mark
Mark,
Either way is fine with me.
Great work on your site by the way. I always list it as a resource for our clients’ end users.
Now, I see that there is a “link” content type for my WSS, but I can’t enable it inside a document library. I know when I created the site I chose a default “new document” — is that what I have to do?
Chris – I’m going to do a screencast on this in the next few days. Hold on over the weekend and I’ll have something for you next week.
Regards, and Happy New Years to all.
Mark
Another option is to open the document library in Explorer view and create a shorcut (.lnk) file to the document. e.g.
http://www.wssdemo.com/Shared%20Documents/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=42
Ian – Thanks for taking time out from reposting your blog over the holidays to leaving a comment here. When I first saw all you postings last week I started thinking “Man, this guy is BUSY!” and then I realized you must have had a server go down and were reposting all your stuff.
Hope all goes well.
Mark
Hello all!
Here is the solution really well explained: http://www.toddklindt.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=49
:-)
I was working on a project that has similar situation as the question raised here. So.. what I did was that I created a custom column called ‘URL’ which type is Hyperlink. You can then modify the view according to your needs. Hope this helps.
This answered a question — Thanks!!! But now it raised another one…Can I create my own link to documents and have them appear “somewhere” that I can only see?
For example, I use several excel and word docs. Need to access them quickly, rather than drill down several layers each time. No one else needs to link/see them other than me. Like a personal “desktop.”
Pamela – Why not just pin them to the menu in the application you are using. Setup a private library and then pin the documents.
Easiest way to do it I think.
Mark
Hi to all,
I am facing problem to setup a media library like YOUTube in SharePoint Services 3.0. I have created a media player webpart. But how can i adjust it with document library. Because i have to play latest 5 uploaded media files. If anyone have any idea about this, please suggest me.
Thanks for Your Help
I have a related question, or perhaps the same one explained differently. We have information stored in a document mgmt system (DMS). Every document is associated with a library (US, Europe, Asia, etc.) and has a unique document id and, optionally, a version. You can access these dox from a dedicated application provided by the DMS vendor. You can also click on a link on a web page to open up a document, but this is a big, ugly link, which contains parameters for library, docid and version: http://intranet/applications/viewthedocument.asp?library=xyz&docid=12345&version=2
I want users to be able to add links to documents thare are stored in the DMS in a SP list. A user would simply enter the docid, version and library (the library would come from a choice/menu) of each doc. In addition to these three columns, I want to add a link column, containing links that a user could click on to open the document. The link would be created automaticaly, taking the values stored in the other three columns, concetenate them into a url format.
Is that possible?
Mark – Dessie is doing a series of posts on the Calculated Column. It might be exactly what you are looking for. Scroll the list on the left and click “Dessie Lunsford” to see what you can find.
Mark
I’ve had a similar scenario, where I need to point to a folder on a fileshare that includes the name and id of the information request that was entered. I simply had a workflow update a hyperlink field- the workflow creates a dynamic string that concatenates the items’s fields into the querystring. Works great. The workflow fires whenever a new item is created.
Thanks. I actually just figured out that I could use a calculated field to get this done. In the calc field, the value is “http://…” & [Document ID] … SP does see that as a link in the list. However, is there a way to “hide” the link, so that in the Link column it says: “Click here to view” with the url hidden, like with ?
First I like to say that this a great site and I have found it very useful.
I’m helping a client with SharePoint services 3.0 and want to setup a shortcut\link to certain files on their file server.
I know you can setup a link using a URL but then the default file ext is .ASPX.
I need to be able to use this link to open any and all Microsoft office files.
Thanks for the help
Greg – Post your question on Stump the Panel and you’ll get a more timely response, since this article is almost a year old.
Regards,
Mark
A quick and easy way to do this is to add a content type of Link to a Document and then use this
content type for links.
How to set this up:
In your document library, go into Settings / Document Library Settings
Click on Advanced Settings and ensure that Allow Management of Content Types? is set to Yes.
From the Settings page, click Add from existing site content types
Select Link to a Document, click Add and click OK
From within the document library, select the drop-down arrow next to New and choose Link to a
Document
Enter the document name and URL
You can get the URL from another document by choosing the target document’s drop-down menu and selecting Send To E-Mail a Link
An email will open automatically
Copy and paste the link from the email into the URL field on the New Link to a Document
form
Click OK and you will see the new document link in your document library view