Forum Discussion
External files not being included when publishing
Has anyone else encountered this?
I have a PDF which is accessed via a hyperlink. The file path is correct and the .story file and the .pdf file are on the same hard drive.
When I publish the file the PDF is not automatically copied into the "story_content/external_files" folder. Clicking the hyperlink results in a "file not found" error. However if I manually copy over the PDF, then the link works fine.
The only way to get it to automatically work is to go back into the dialog box for the hyperlink trigger and RE-LINK TO THE EXACT SAME FILE. This is unacceptable.
18 Replies
Hey Randall,
Sorry that you're having difficulty getting your pdf hyperlinks to work in your course.
What do you mean by: "However if I manually copy over the PDF, then the link works fine."?
I'd like to understand your differing approaches to do some testing on my end as I've not seen any issues reported.
Also, what version of Storyline are you using?
'What do you mean by: "However if I manually copy over the PDF, then the link works fine."?'
I mean if I use Windows Explorer to copy the PDF to the directory it is supposed to be copied to automatically ('story-content/external-files') then the published course can locate it and it works correctly. For some reason the Storyline publishing process does not copy the file unless I go into the trigger panel, and re-link the pdf before I publish it. This is true even though the path to the pdf is EXACTLY the same. Needless to say this is extremely annoying.
I am using storyline 3.
After you re-link the trigger, how long can you wait and what activities can you do before it won't copy over the file?
Hey Randall,
Thanks for the further explanation and for letting me know what version of Storyline you are using.
I am not able to replicate an issue when adding a pdf file to my project. It works when published and is displayed in the output folder you specified above.
I can understand that it would be annoying, especially since it works when you re-link - so it seems to indicate that the file path is okay. Do you have any non-English characters in the filename?
Is this in just a single project file or something you can recreate in general and in any project file?
If it's just this file, I would advise to import the file into a new one and proceed.
If it's happening in any/all files, you should certainly conduct a repair of your software, assuming you are on the latest update as listed here.
If you can record this behavior (initially adding a pdf, publishing, checking output file/showing broken in published output) that would be helpful as well or you are always welcome to work directly with a support engineer here if you prefer as well.
Following up. The issue happens when another developer opens the file on their machine. We often have multiple people working on a file by the time it is complete so we transfer it through source control. The links to the external files are not modified by the other team members , but they are still broken when they get back to me.
I know this doesn't help you, but it sounds like when someone else opens the file, SL checks all the links. If that file is on a local drive, but not theirs, it won't be found.
Sounds to me like SL is leaving a note that "This link is broken", and when you get it back, that note is overriding the link. Maybe it's not even checking it again.
Hi Randall,
Are you linking these files originally from your local drive? I'd agree with Walt's assessment that the link is breaking as the file is transferred around. I'm not familiar with Source control, but I'd also want to make sure that when you all are sharing and transferring files you're following along with the guidelines here for collaborating and our recommendations here to prevent file corruption.
Yes the original files .story and .pdf are on my local hard drive originally. we transfer them via our internal server (client security would never allow the use of external services like DropBox as your article suggests.) Here is a sample workflow:
- I link a pdf on page 10 of the Storyline file
- I copy the .story file to the server
- A colleague copies it down and makes an unrelated edit on page 2 and never so much as LOOKS at the link to the pdf
- He copies the file back to the server
- I copy it down and publish
- Link to the PDF is broken
Why? I mean basically the .story file is just a modified .zip archive. The PDF is still in it, right?
I mean right now I am resigned to the fact that I cannot trust SL to maintain these connections and I have to assume they will break.
Why? I mean basically the .story file is just a modified .zip archive. The PDF is still in it, right?
No, the .pdf is not loaded until publish. The external_content folder does not exist in .story. It is created during the publish process.
A colleague copies it down and makes an unrelated edit on page 2 and never so much as LOOKS at the link to the pdf
Maybe it shouldn't do it, but it still sounds to me like SL looks at that link, even if your colleague doesn't.
Since I agree that you have to assume link breakage, I would suggest a workflow that has
1. I copy the .story file to the server
5. I copy it down.
5b. I link a .pdf
5c. I publish
Hi Randall,
If you're able to insert the file into your Resources tab (vs. directly linking it on the slide) that should keep the file connected to the .story file. If you still need to provide the link on the slide itself, you can use the steps here to do so.
