Link to external files in OneNote as clickable icon/filename

[Kellewic]

I want to be able to reference external files (Excel, Word, etc) without
having to insert an image of the entire file.

 

[Rod]

Do the following: <file://c:\file.xxx>

That's it!!!

 

[Chris_Pratley \(MS\)]

or just drag/drop the file onto the page and choose "link" as the option.

Chris (MS)

 

[Grant Robertson]

I want to be able to reference external files (Excel, Word, etc) without
having to insert an image of the entire file.

Easy Link Creation Tools

FreeWare for easily creating links for use within OneNote or anywhere
else.

ClipName:
Available at: http://www.mainsoft.fr/freeware_en.htm
From the site: "ClipName is a Context Menu extension copying the full
pathname of the right-clicked file to the clipboard. This new
version supports copy of multiple filenames either as a space
separated list or as a CRLF separated list. DOS filenames (8.3) can
now also be copied as well as the URL encoded name and the UNC name
for remote files. Version 1.2 now supports a Copy command for
filenames without including any path, URL Encoding for multiple
selections and <WORD> style encoding for Microsoft Word, Microsoft
OneNote,..."

You install this handy app by right-clicking on the ClipName.inf file
included in the archive, which is ironic because that is just the way you
use it. Once installed, ClipName will show up on the right-click context
menu of any file list. Naturally it works within Windows Explorer but it
also works within file open and save dialogs. This makes it even handier
for use within OneNote because the file open dialog opens to the folder
of the currently displayed section.

When used, ClipName creates a link string in the Windows clipboard
formatted according to various standards. The latest of which is the
<WORD> format link created just for us OneNote users after the author
read some of my posts in the microsoft.public.onenote newsgroup. Once the
string is in the clipboard you can paste it anywhere you want. I use it
to create links to files on my OneNote pages without having OneNote
copying redundant versions of all my reference files into OneNote's My
Notebook folder.



Outlook Linker:
Available at: http://www.teamscope.com/otherpro/freeutil.asp#linker
From the site: Outlook Linker™ provides the ability to generate links to
other items in Outlook. It is a system tray applet that
automatically generates a hyperlink for the current folder or item
(message) and places it on the clipboard. The hyperlink can then be
pasted into any MS Office document, Web page, e-mail message, etc
This is fundamental to the efficient and productive use of shared
items in a Exchange public folder system. Unfortunately, Microsoft
has not provided a convenient way to get access to these links

This app does almost the same thing as ClipName except it does it for
items within Outlook instead of files. It works a little differently as
well. Once installed like any other program, you must have Outlook
running before you can start the app. When you do start the app it sits
in your task tray waiting. You select an item in Outlook then right-click
on the icon in the task tray and choose a menu item for your preferred
format. (You can also set options for double-click actions as well.) This
places a link string in the clipboard based on the format you have
chosen.

Since it can't be started unless Outlook is running you can't just put
it in your StartUp folder. What I do is put it on my QuickLaunch bar
right next Outlook's QuickLaunch icon. Then, when I need to create a
link, I can easily start the app from my QuickLaunch bar and then use it
from my Task Tray. When using it remember that you have to select the
Outlook item but not open it in order to correctly create the link.

 

[Chris_Pratley \(MS\)]

Grant, I don't remember if you are aware that with Sp1 you can just drag a
file onto a OneNote page and choose "insert link to original". This does not
copy anything to your My notebook folder, and no additional software is
required.

Chris (MS)

 

[James]

Unfortunately, the link seems to break if you move the note containing the
link to another folder within OneNote. Is this a limitation of OneNote, or
is there something I can do with the way I've configured OneNote to avoid
this problem?

This also results in a very messy notes directory if you insert lots of
files. Would be great if onenote automatically created a single attachments
subdirectory for all inserted files (or perhaps an attachments subdirectory
for each onenote folder).

James

P.S. Searching one note help for "insert file" only describes the option to
insert a file as an image. Seems like the help file needs to get updated to
describe this option

 

[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

What I do is first file the document in a stable location outside the
OneNote My Notebok hierarchy (at work, I have a mapped network drive
which is backed up nightly; at home, a dedicated directory on C: where
*ALL* documents are saved). Then place the link from that stable
location into OneNote.

If you place the documents in one place which is logically organized, you
will be less likely to move the document around, and therefore links to
those documents will always be valid no matter how often you reorganize
OneNote.