1 Reply by RobLarge

  • RobLarge
  • RobLarge
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  • From: Wiltshire
  • Registered: 15-07-2008
  • Posts: 812

Re: External references

A minor improvement which I have been intending to mention for a while.

The external references pane which appears on the source tab of every Location, Survey event etc. is very useful. We have been using it to (among other things) link to digital images of the sites held on our system.

Unfortunately the path to the folder where our image library is held is rather long and because the list displays the full path (exactly as it is held in the SOURCE_FILE table), all that is visible in the list is a series of identical path beginnings.

Inevitably the useful information (the filename) disappears off the right hand side of the screen and although this can be seen by hovering the mouse over an item, how much more useful would it be if the window displayed just the filename, with the full path revealed by hovering.

Seems like a pretty trivial change and it would make the software much more useable

Rob Large
Wildlife Sites Officer
Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre

RobLarge's Website

2 Reply by AndyFoy

  • AndyFoy
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  • Registered: 09-08-2006
  • Posts: 219

Re: External references

Hi Rob,

I agree with you on this.  We hold our external sources on a network drive with a very long list of nested folders so it's painfull if you want to view the file name.  However, for us it's not just the file name that is important as for survey related external sources the folder name is relevant as it relates to the survey year.

Perhaps the external source field could be right justified in some way so that users can see the end of the file path not the beginning.  Or perhaps the user can set the default file path in the file locations options screen so that the external sources tab only shows those folders (and the file name) that are sub-folders of the default file path?

Andy

Andy Foy
Systems Manager
Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL) CIC
www.gigl.org.uk

3 Reply by Mary Campling

  • Mary Campling
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  • Registered: 16-04-2010
  • Posts: 101

Re: External references

Hi Rob and Andy, I will add this to the request list. Thank you for raising it.

4 Reply by AndyFoy

  • AndyFoy
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  • Registered: 09-08-2006
  • Posts: 219

Re: External references

Hi,

I don't know if this request is likely to get done given the current funding situation, but I have an extra request to add to the wish list:

Currently users are unable to add a hyperlink/URL as an external reference using the front-end of Recorder 6 (adding an external reference opens a dialog box that only looks for computer files).  However, if you add an external reference directly into the SOURCE_FILE table in the database then you can insert a URL, and once added the Recorder 6 front-end will then quite happily open the URL.

So, could I request 2 things?
1. Allow users to add a hyperlink/URL via the front-end
2. Enhance the SOURCE_FILE table (or somewhere else if appropriate) so that users can add both a URL and 'Text to display' so that what appears in the front-end 'External References' window is the user-friendly 'Text to display' rather than the often meaningless URL.

If necessary we can provide some funding towards this enhancement in order to get it done asap.

Thanks,
Andy

Andy Foy
Systems Manager
Greenspace Information for Greater London (GiGL) CIC
www.gigl.org.uk