unc filepath attachment hyperlink

Question

Back in the ArcPad days I was able to collect features with attributes for a filepath and image. The photos were stored on a UNC fileshare and hyperlinked to the feature.  Is this possible to do with feature services?  What other ways are there to capture and access attachments and store them in a folder as opposed to a database table?

ChrisJensen · Answer

Exposing the folder as a url is an option.  The data is for internal use.  I'm not finding any ESRI documentation on how to do this.  Does the folder have to be on the gis server?:  I assume the gis service account will need permissions to it?

jcarlson · Answer

One issue you'll run into with Enterprise is that any "file:///some/path" links will be stripped out of web maps, dashboards, etc. Pro can still utilize these, but if you want to use the mobile data collection tools, a UNC filepath just won't be an option.

I assume exposing the folder as a URL isn't an option? You could try using something like a cloud storage solution, maybe S3 or similar. Items in these locations can be linked to directly, said link being stored as an attribute. Getting that storage location to sync up with a local folder or upload directly to it would probably take some setup, and would depend on the particular service being used.