Avoid broken links?

[Elbert]

I like the ON feature where I can drag a file to a ON page and have a copy of
the file put into the corresponding ON folder with a link to it on the page.

But then I decide that the page, or the section containing the page, belongs
in another folder, so I move it there. The link is now dead.

I have the same problem if I insert into ON a link to a file in any folder
(not necessarily a ON folder) and then move that file to a different folder
or rename the file or folder.

In fact, I have this problem with Windows. Suppose I have on the desktop a
shortcut to a file, and then I rename or move the file. The link is dead. So
maybe this is a Windows problem, not a ON problem.

Anyhow, for people who like to keep things neatly organized, this is a real
problem, especially when using the ON features I mentioned.

In concept, it seems it should be pretty simple for Windows to adjust the
links when I move or rename a file or, in the case of ON, move the link that
points into the current directory.

Am I missing something obvious here? If not, could this problem be fixed in
the future?

Thanks,

Elbert

 

[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

If you have SP1 (and you should!), you will get a context menu when you
drag a file from Explorer. From this menu, choose to only insert a link
to the file.

In this scenario, the link created is an absolute one (meaning it always
points to the original file in its original location using a full path
name). You can move ON sections around, and as long as the file is in
its original location, the absolute path will always point to it. Most
people don't want the duplicate copies of the files in the ON hierarchy
anyway.

 

[Elbert]

Many thanks for the suggestion.

If I follow your suggestion, which does work as you suggested, then I have
to save the .pdf in some folder somewhere, open that folder, find the new
file in the folder (was it 14w3ax76.pdf or was it one of the other 200
,pdf's?), and drag the link into ON.

And God help me if I ever move the file to a different folder, or rename it
to AkronTouristHighlights.pdf. The link is dead.

I'd like to see Windows changed so that links just don't go dead. When you
move or rename a file, or move a link, the linkages should be updated.

Thanks again for the help.

Elbert

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

I'd like to see Windows changed so that links just don't go dead. When
you
move or rename a file, or move a link, the linkages should be updated.

Thanks again for the help.

It's a good suggestion, but keep in mind that would be pretty system
intensive to pull off. Every time you move, rename or delete a file
Windows would have to scan every other file on your system looking for
shortcuts or links to that file in order to update them.

Multiply that many times over if you alter a number of files or
directories all at once. That could really bog your system down as they
get updated.

Even if you just restricted it to OneNote files it could be pretty system
intensive if your OneNote files are extensive.

--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote/Outlook
Operations Coordinator
Stockholm/KSG - Honolulu
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

 

[Elbert]

Ben,

Thanks for your reply.

I'm not sure about that. Suppose Windows maintained a list that contained
the actual addresses of files, and every shortcut would point to the
appropriate entry in that list. To follow a link, you'd end up going
indirectly through the list entry, rather than directly to the file.

Each file header would have to point back to its entry in the list. When
Windows created a link to a file, it would look up the list entry in the file
header and use that for the link. When Windows moved a file, it would use the
backward link from the file header and fix up the list entry to point to the
new location. No searching required, no broken links.

When making a link, you'd have to give up the old DOS convention of "in the
current directory" (e.g., dir listed files in the current directory) and
always go through the list, but to avoid broken links it seems it would be
worth it.

Unless I'm missing some really obvious problem (not an unknown occurence) it
doesn't seem like it would be that difficult.

Elbert

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

I'm not sure about that. Suppose Windows maintained a list that contained
the actual addresses of files, and every shortcut would point to the
appropriate entry in that list. To follow a link, you'd end up going
indirectly through the list entry, rather than directly to the file.

Each file header would have to point back to its entry in the list. When
Windows created a link to a file, it would look up the list entry in the
file
header and use that for the link. When Windows moved a file, it would
use the
backward link from the file header and fix up the list entry to point to
the
new location. No searching required, no broken links.

Ah, well that sounds plausible but it would seem to require a fairly
substantial rewrite of the file system to create this dynamic index file.
You'd also have to implement some security on the file to control which
applications could and couldn't make changes to the file otherwise it
could be chaos.

And, of course, you'd have to rewrite all of the applications to have them
refer to this file for their links instead of the actual OS.

I've been told (for a couple of years now) that eventually the file system
will just be a big SQL database. Maybe when that happens we'll have a
more robust linking system that will be more tolerant of changes in file
location/status.

--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote/Outlook
Operations Coordinator
Stockholm/KSG - Honolulu
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

 

[Elbert]

And, of course, you'd have to rewrite all of the applications to have them
refer to this file for their links instead of the actual OS.<< Holy cow. If
applications don't just pass off a request to the OS to follow a link, things
are a bigger mess than I thought.

I read that the spiffy new WinFS has been pulled from Longhorn so they can
get it right. Maybe while they're at it they can take a look at my request.

Maintaining the links didn't used to be terribly important to me. I used
them mostly to point to programs (which don't often move or get renamed), not
data files (which I'd like to be able to move or rename at will), until I
started using ON more extensively. With ON, it just seems natural to me to
put links to data files as part of my notes. But then it becomes nearly
impossible to keep my notes organized.

I kinda like ON and find myself using it more frequently. One of my major
frustrations with it is that it's very difficult to keep things organized.
I'm hoping the ON developers will press for OS features that will make ON
easier to use.

Elbert

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

refer to this file for their links instead of the actual OS.<< Holy cow.
If
applications don't just pass off a request to the OS to follow a link,
things
are a bigger mess than I thought.

Sure, but the OS is going to have to pass all link requests to this Index
rather than to its own file system. How is it going to know when you want
to access the actual file system vs. the index of current locations?

--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote/Outlook
Operations Coordinator
Stockholm/KSG - Honolulu
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

 

[Elbert]

How is it going to know when you want to access the actual file system vs.
the index of current locations?<< Jeez, I dunno, but I'll bet somebody at MS
smarter than me could figure it out by lunchtime.

All I'm saying is that broken links make ON about 50% less useful for me
than it would be if the links didn't get broken. If that problem is
impossible to fix, then it's impossible to fix. If it could be fixed, I think
it would be a big improvement, and I hope somebody will give it 30 minutes of
thought.

Elbert

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

the index of current locations?<< Jeez, I dunno, but I'll bet somebody
at MS
smarter than me could figure it out by lunchtime.

All I'm saying is that broken links make ON about 50% less useful for me
than it would be if the links didn't get broken. If that problem is
impossible to fix, then it's impossible to fix. If it could be fixed, I
think
it would be a big improvement, and I hope somebody will give it 30
minutes of
thought.

Elbert

I don't think it's impossible to fix, but I do think it's more complicated
than it appears on the surface.



--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote/Outlook
Operations Coordinator
Stockholm/KSG - Honolulu
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm