I would recommend against linking to documents on a network drive simply because there's too many extra variables involved. Is there any reason why your colleague doesn't want to add the documents to the Attachments tab?
Hi Brian, I told him the same thing but its a small location and instead of using the intranet to store all their documents they use a network drive that is accessible to all employees on that location.
So they are quite persistent on using the network drive. Thing is it wont work this way as Presenter just locks when previewing or viewing the slide with the link in it.
Okay, now it just has an issue finding the file... Presenter did not crash this time. So that's progress. I'll look into it in detail after the weekend. Tnx and have a great weekend!
Very interested to find a solution for this. I too have clients that need to be able to link to files on a network drive. I am creating a suite of IT system training and they have "live" spreadsheets they need to link to on their network drive. I can't attach them because they will be out of date as soon as I do.
I have tried the following formats with no success (never experienced a lock-up or crashes, just 404 errors or links that don't do anything):
file://ABC-company.com/EAG/Data/shrproj/Learning and Development/Achieve Global/abc-spreadsheet.xls
ABC-company.com/EAG/Data/shrproj/Learning and Development/Achieve Global/abc-spreadsheet.xls
file:///ABC-company.com/EAG/Data/shrproj/Learning and Development/Achieve Global/abc-spreadsheet.xls
Only IE will open file:// links that are on a page from a remote host, Other browsers will block them outright and nothing will happen when a user clicks on them.
IE will only open file:// URLs that point to a file that resides on a network drive
If a user clicks on a file:// link pointing to a file on the user's local drive, nothing will happen and they will get no error.
If a user clicks on a file:// link that points to a network file it will open in the browser, if possible.
If the file:// url points to an invalid location (unmapped network drive, file on a network drive that doesn't exist), Windows will show a popup error.
Spaces in the file path needs to be URL encoded with %20
=========================
With that being said, I have a potential solution that may work better. Here's my idea:
1. Install Dropbox
2. Make the network drive folder a public folder
3. Right click the file that you want to link to & click Dropbox > copy public link
4. Add this hyperlink to your presentation
If you're worried about your file being public, here's what Dropbox says:
"Any file you want to share with the world should be kept in your Public folder. All files stored there have a public link and anyone who has that link can access your file from anywhere.
It is possible, however unlikely, that someone could guess your link if they knew the file name. It is also possible someone who has the link can share it with others or the link could appear on a search engine or other site. If you want to stop sharing a file publicly, all you need to do is move the file out of your Public folder. Once outside of the Public folder, any previous public links to the file will no longer work."
Thanks Brian, we use IE but that it still wouldn't work. Dropbox isn't an option as I am a small frog in a large pond, I work at a large company and Dropbox won't fly. Thanks for the info.
Same here, links aren't working. I'll just have to advise them to put there files on the intranet in a shared document folder. Tnx for the effort though.
Trying this in SL and I am having similar issues. Per the bullets posted, I am using IE and seem to be running into the dead link issue. I use the file://path/somefile.txt method in SL and when published it is just a dead link. No error, nothing. However, when I copy paste that URL into IE, it works like a charm, sending me directly to the network file and opening a dialog box to "Open", "Save" etc...
As Brian mentions above, we would generally recommend against using this method, and would instead urge you to add Resources to the Player.
You will also find a Forum Thread here that discusses using an Absolute Path to reference a file, and also points out a way that you might possibly accomplish this via an HTML Redirect.
As Brian mentions above, we would generally recommend against using this method, and would instead urge you to add Resources to the Player.
You will also find a Forum Thread here that discusses using an Absolute Path to reference a file, and also points out a way that you might possibly accomplish this via an HTML Redirect.
Justin, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, we have a large body of resources stored on the network drive that are constantly changing. Including the file with the published story is not an option because as soon as it is published, it will likely be out of date. I was just reading the thread you reference in your post. How and where would I insert the code for the HTML redirect?
Would I simply direct Storyline to the HTML redirect file?
Ok, figured it out. I created an HTML file and 'linked' to it with a trigger in SL. The HTML redirect successfully opened another browser window with the file download dialog.
that is all great for those that have SL but what about those of us that have to use 09 since that is all the company will use for now? How do I make this work?
Most Internet browsers will not allow hyper-linking or redirecting to a UNC path such as the one you have provided above. It would be best to publish your files to a web service (such as Amazon S3, Dropbox, and so on) and link to them from there. Thanks!
17 Replies
Hi Jeffrey,
I would recommend against linking to documents on a network drive simply because there's too many extra variables involved. Is there any reason why your colleague doesn't want to add the documents to the Attachments tab?
http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/?p=23
Hi Brian, I told him the same thing but its a small location and instead of using the intranet to store all their documents they use a network drive that is accessible to all employees on that location.
So they are quite persistent on using the network drive. Thing is it wont work this way as Presenter just locks when previewing or viewing the slide with the link in it.
Hi Jeffrey,
Not sure if this will work, but have you tried using the file protocol for your URL? (e.g. file://c:\some\dir)
Hi Brian, nope I haven't 'cause I couldn't remember how to set it up
tnx I'll try this!
Okay, now it just has an issue finding the file... Presenter did not crash this time. So that's progress. I'll look into it in detail after the weekend. Tnx and have a great weekend!
Very interested to find a solution for this. I too have clients that need to be able to link to files on a network drive. I am creating a suite of IT system training and they have "live" spreadsheets they need to link to on their network drive. I can't attach them because they will be out of date as soon as I do.
I have tried the following formats with no success (never experienced a lock-up or crashes, just 404 errors or links that don't do anything):
This would be a HUGE benefit if this was able to be done, I have several other projects in the wings that will be similar.
Will StoryLine will be able to do it?
Thanks!
Dan Rollins
Hi Dan,
Linking to files on a network drive can be very tedious depending upon the browser. For example, I found the following information:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5084312/linking-to-local-content-in-a-web-application
=========================
With that being said, I have a potential solution that may work better. Here's my idea:
1. Install Dropbox
2. Make the network drive folder a public folder
3. Right click the file that you want to link to & click Dropbox > copy public link
4. Add this hyperlink to your presentation
If you're worried about your file being public, here's what Dropbox says:
"Any file you want to share with the world should be kept in your Public folder. All files stored there have a public link and anyone who has that link can access your file from anywhere.
It is possible, however unlikely, that someone could guess your link if they knew the file name. It is also possible someone who has the link can share it with others or the link could appear on a search engine or other site. If you want to stop sharing a file publicly, all you need to do is move the file out of your Public folder. Once outside of the Public folder, any previous public links to the file will no longer work."
==============
I hope that helps.
Thanks Brian, we use IE but that it still wouldn't work. Dropbox isn't an option as I am a small frog in a large pond, I work at a large company and Dropbox won't fly. Thanks for the info.
Dan
Same here, links aren't working. I'll just have to advise them to put there files on the intranet in a shared document folder. Tnx for the effort though.
Trying this in SL and I am having similar issues. Per the bullets posted, I am using IE and seem to be running into the dead link issue. I use the file://path/somefile.txt method in SL and when published it is just a dead link. No error, nothing. However, when I copy paste that URL into IE, it works like a charm, sending me directly to the network file and opening a dialog box to "Open", "Save" etc...
Thoughts?
Good Afternoon, Kenji.
As Brian mentions above, we would generally recommend against using this method, and would instead urge you to add Resources to the Player.
You will also find a Forum Thread here that discusses using an Absolute Path to reference a file, and also points out a way that you might possibly accomplish this via an HTML Redirect.
Justin, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, we have a large body of resources stored on the network drive that are constantly changing. Including the file with the published story is not an option because as soon as it is published, it will likely be out of date. I was just reading the thread you reference in your post. How and where would I insert the code for the HTML redirect?
Would I simply direct Storyline to the HTML redirect file?
Ok, figured it out. I created an HTML file and 'linked' to it with a trigger in SL. The HTML redirect successfully opened another browser window with the file download dialog.
A great and simple solution! Thank you so much!!!
that is all great for those that have SL but what about those of us that have to use 09 since that is all the company will use for now? How do I make this work?
btw here is the link I am trying to make work and for same reasons as others there are many files for users to review in this file
\\alfrdcnasfile04\JabilWebProject\Operations\Planning\Organizational Structure
Good Morning, TJ.
Most Internet browsers will not allow hyper-linking or redirecting to a UNC path such as the one you have provided above. It would be best to publish your files to a web service (such as Amazon S3, Dropbox, and so on) and link to them from there. Thanks!
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