topic Re: Hyperlink in Mapping Questions

Hyperlink

KeisukeNozaki — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:33:13 GMT

Is there a way to hyperlink a field from a related table in ArcGIS Desktop 10?
I cannot join the table because it is one to many relationship.
I prefer field based hyperlink, not dynamic hyperlink, because there are thousands of features.

Re: Hyperlink

MathieuCain — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 23:03:15 GMT

A possible way around it is to create a new feature layer where you join the attribute table of your layer to the hyperlinks table, in essence creating new features for each hyperlink record. Some features will overlap since you have many hyperlinks per feature. You could then make your new hyperlink layer features transparent in your map. When a user uses the hyperlinks tool they will only see the blue feature layers, which when selected will give you a list of which hyperlinks at that particular location. Hopefully you get the gist.

Re: Hyperlink

RichardFairhurst — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:44:57 GMT

A possible way around it is to create a new feature layer where you join the attribute table of your layer to the hyperlinks table, in essence creating new features for each hyperlink record. Some features will overlap since you have many hyperlinks per feature. You could then make your new hyperlink layer features transparent in your map. When a user uses the hyperlinks tool they will only see the blue feature layers, which when selected will give you a list of which hyperlinks at that particular location. Hopefully you get the gist.

This won't work because of the one-to-many relationship. You could use the Make Query Table tool to handle the join instead. It will multiply the feature geometry for as many table records that exist. Read the help for it here.

A relate works with the Identify tool to access the hyperlink fields if you enable all hyperlinks in the options of ArcMap. You have to expand the relate tree to get at the hyperlink field, so it is a few clicks, but the records can be sorted on a Display field, which I like better than the hyperlink tool.

Re: Hyperlink

KeisukeNozaki — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:22:53 GMT

How do you enable hyperlink fields in layer properties?
Fields in the related table are not listed in the drop down menu.

This won't work because of the one-to-many relationship. You could use the Make Query Table tool to handle the join instead. It will multiply the feature geometry for as many table records that exist. Read the help for it here.

A relate works with the Identify tool to access the hyperlink fields if you enable all hyperlinks in the options of ArcMap. You have to expand the relate tree to get at the hyperlink field, so it is a few clicks, but the records can be sorted on a Display field, which I like better than the hyperlink tool.

Re: Hyperlink

RichardFairhurst — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:26:57 GMT

How do you enable hyperlink fields in layer properties?
Fields in the related table are not listed in the drop down menu.

You must have ArcGIS 9.3 (maybe 9.2) or better. Access the ArcMap Option under the Customize tab and check the item shown in the first image to make any available hyperlink active in the Identify tool. Create your relate. Make sure the Display field expression of your layer creates a meaningful label (at ArcGIS 10 you can build a label from many fields just like in the Label Tab of the layer). If you enable record sorting in the Identify tool the features will be listed alphabetically based on the label expression you built.

Now when you click the Identify tool, make sure that the layer with the relate is an Identify target. The features of the layer will have a tree expander as shown in the upper half of the dialog of the second attached image. Expand the tree two levels to get to the related table records. In this case there are 4 related table records to the feature. Click on one of the related records to access its field list.

Any fields that contain a useable hyperlink in the related table will be active and can be clicked to launch the hyperlink as shown in the lower half of the dialog in the second attached image. I have only one hyperlink field in my related records in this example, but I could have made every field a hyperlink in my related table if I had wanted it to be that way. (I just noticed I cut off the little lightning bolt that appeared on the right hand side of the text in the field with the hyperlink, but when I first captured the image the hyperlink lightning bolt was there).

Re: Hyperlink

KeisukeNozaki — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:39:30 GMT

It worked!
Thank you very much for your help.

Re: Hyperlink

DuccioNotari — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:29:13 GMT

I didn't manage to get this working! the "lightning bolt" of the hyperlinks doesn't even light on! I can see the correct field in the identify window but it isn't highlighted and it doesn't work.. the field is text type, I am storing relative path names so I did wrote the hyperlink base in the map document properties, the arcmap options are the same of rfairhur24's images..
what did I do wrong?
please help!

Re: Hyperlink

RichardFairhurst — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:35:57 GMT

I didn't manage to get this working! the "lightning bolt" of the hyperlinks doesn't even light on! I can see the correct field in the identify window but it isn't highlighted and it doesn't work.. the field is text type, I am storing relative path names so I did wrote the hyperlink base in the map document properties, the arcmap options are the same of rfairhur24's images..
what did I do wrong?
please help!

I don't know if Relative Paths works for hyperlinks. As far as I know the URL has to make sense to the browser or application apart from any settings in ArcMap. So you should try pasting the link directly into the application or browser and see if it works. Adjust it until it does work. I always put the full URL or File path, although I try to use domain names rather than mapped drive letters to try to keep the link from breaking when servers retire and to make it more universal across computers in my domain.

Re: Hyperlink

DuccioNotari — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:54:02 GMT

I don't know if Relative Paths works for hyperlinks. As far as I know the URL has to make sense to the browser or application apart from any settings in ArcMap. So you should try pasting the link directly into the application or browser and see if it works. Adjust it until it does work. I always put the full URL or File path, although I try to use domain names rather than mapped drive letters to try to keep the link from breaking when servers retire and to make it more universal across computers in my domain.

it's right! the full path works! I don't have URLs but only files and it would be useful to store them with relative paths, so I can share the mxd without big problems!
here explains the methods:
http://support.esri.com/en/knowledgebase/techarticles/detail/20626
but still not working..

Re: Hyperlink

DuccioNotari — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:05:10 GMT

it works with paths relative to the mxd location..
but if in the Map Document Properties I've decided a different "Hyperlink base"... why it doesn't use it?

Re: Hyperlink

RichardFairhurst — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:07:09 GMT

it works with paths relative to the mxd location..
but if in the Map Document Properties I've decided a different "Hyperlink base"... why it doesn't use it?

I think that only applies to a layer that defines a single field as a Hyperlink in the layer definition. I do not think it applies to the general setting that enables anything resembling a hyperlink to fire up. I do not believe that setting should apply to that condition, since all manner of hyperlinks are supposed to work though that setting, not just those from a single base. I would not want it to be limited.

How would distribution transfer the linked information that would cause you these problems? If the links aren't in relative path configuration, don't you risk a break in the link anyway if the other user does not duplicate your directory conventions locally or have access to your domain? What UNC are you using in the base?

Re: Hyperlink

DuccioNotari — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:41:42 GMT

I'm working in a standardized model made by geodatabases in specific folders, so everyone that will get my work will have to use this folder's structure.. it may change the letter of the drive, or there may be some more folders before mine but the standard is fixed.. so I was hopin that it would work better for everybody if there was no dependancy from the place you put my folders.
this is the full path to my mxd
D:\lavoro\GIS\AereoportoS15\Progetti\ArcGis10\project.mxd
and this is the full path to the liked documents
D:\lavoro\GIS\AereoportoS15\Carta_delle_indagini\Documenti\example.pdf

If I understood well, in my field I should write
..\..\Carta_delle_indagini\Documenti\example.pdf
correct?
I was hoping there was a way to use shorter paths by specifying a common starting point that is "nearer" to the desired documents because some documents have got really long names ad are in sub-sub-folders of "Documenti".. so the hyperlink field has to be very big and it's not that easy to understand what are you opening just looking to the field.. I mean.. there's a difference between seeing "example.pdf" or "..\..\Carta_delle_indagini\Documenti\example.pdf" or longer!

Re: Hyperlink

RichardFairhurst — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:29:33 GMT

I make no effort to make the hyperlink field human readable or displayable. I use other fields as my display field for the identify tool, so I don't care what the hyperlink is (I never use the hyperlink tool, just identify). I would suggest that is how you should view that field.

I do not use drive letters at all or relative paths. I use the UNC //agency/agencydfs/ for my files which is a domain file server domain name that has been set up by my IT department. It can point anywhere that my IT department wants (multiple servers are accessed with that same UNC prefix and are distinguished by whatever the next portion of the path is named). Virtually everyone in my domain can see the information from the dfs (IT can restrict permissions if needed) and IT is free to move the pointer from server to server as they want without breaking my links as long as they preserve the directory structure below the pointer. It is very convenient and I do not distribute the hyperlink material normally (for the few people outside my domain I just have them use the Field Calculator and a replace operation to alter the path, but most of them are getting access to the domain to avoid information latency and portable harddisk sharing).