Setting up access to external documents

Set up access to external documents by defining a URL or file path installation parameter for files. When accessing an external document, the system looks for the URL or file path you have defined as an installation parameter for a particular file type or category to display the document.

Define the URL or file path as URLxxx where xxx is the value of File Type on the Documents form. For example, you might enter the code URLPDF to access a .PDF file. Then you would enter the URL or file path indicating the location where all .PDF files are stored on the web or network, e.g., \\mycompany\myserver.com\documents\PDFs. When you access an external document after setting up access to external documents, the system identifies the document type or category and then opens the file using the URL indicating where documents of the specified type or category are stored and the specific File Path you entered on the Documents form. Thus, the full path to the specific document you wish to access might be \\mycompany\myserver.com\documents\PDFs\PDFattachment.pdf.

Note: The URL can be a path to the web or a directory. You can separate URLs by type, e.g., .DOC or .PDF or by a chosen category, e.g., Safety (URLSAF) or Vendors (URLVEN).

To set up access to external documents:

  1. Open the Install Parameters form.
  2. Click New Record.
  3. Install Parameter—Enter a unique code identifying the URL installation parameter, e.g., URLPDF, and then enter a description of the URL installation parameter in the adjacent field.
    Note: You cannot define fixed install parameters or assign new install parameters to a module.
  4. Value—Enter the full path to the URL that contains files of the specified type or category, e.g., \\mycompany\myserver.com\documents\PDFs.
  5. Click Save Record.