Linking files

The Microsoft Office applications make it relatively easy to share data between them and other files without importing the data. You can do this using Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) links. For example, you can link a picture to a cell in an Excel spreadsheet or link a spreadsheet into a Word document. The linked data will appear in the linking document but not be stored there. Whenever the picture or spreadsheet is updated, the linking documents will be updated automatically.

Tip    You can determine if an Office document has links to other documents by the presence of the Edit Links to Files command in the Prepare group of the Office menu.

Note    Although OLE objects inserted into non-Office documents (for example, Excel spreadsheets inserted into AutoCAD drawings) are shown for some file formats by the BlueCielo viewer, references between the documents are not automatically created by the application links. You can create references manually as described in Creating references.

The keys to creating links with corresponding Meridian Enterprise references are:

• Use the Office application’s Link to File option.
• Do not use Meridian Enterprise Application Integration to select the linked file. Because of its universal application, it will create an insertion (embedded object) instead. Therefore, the linked file must reside outside the vault, at least temporarily, so that you can select it with the Office application’s file dialog, which cannot browse vault contents.
• After inserting the link, save the linking file so that the link can be read by the Office link.
• Use the Synchronize References from File command in PowerUser to read the link from the linking document and create the reference.

The following procedure uses the example of linking a picture into a Word document. For instructions for other combinations, refer to the Office Help. The procedure will be similar but the commands to use in the Office applications are different.

To link Office files that reside outside the vault and to import them into the vault:

1. Open the file in Word which you want to create the link.
2. On the Insert tab of the ribbon, click Picture. The Insert Picture dialog box appears.
3. Select the picture that you want to insert, click the down arrow in the Insert button, and select Link to File. The picture appears in the open file.
4. Save and close the file.
5. Import both files into the vault as described in Importing files using drag and drop. The documents appear in the vault. However, the Meridian Enterprise reference has not yet been created.
6. Select the linking (Word) document and then on the Document menu, select Synchronize References from File. Reference icons appear on the Document property page of both documents. An Microsoft Word Reference type link has been made from the Word document to the picture file that you linked and imported. The name of the reference is the file name of the linked picture. The direction of the reference is from the Word document to the picture document. You can view the reference as described in Viewing references.

To link an Office file that is already in the vault to a file that is not in the vault:

1. Open the vault document in Word in which you want to create the link.
2. Browse to your Local Workspace folder where the open document is cached and place a copy of the picture file there to which you want link.
3. On the Insert tab of the ribbon, click Picture. The Insert Picture dialog box appears.
4. Select the picture file outside the vault, click the down arrow in the Insert button, and select Link to File. The picture appears in the open file.
5. Save and close the file. The picture appears in the vault document in the viewing pane. However, it still resides outside the vault and other users will not be able to see the picture when they view the vault document.

Note    The Application Integration icon in the system tray of your desktop may begin to alternate with a warning icon. This is because the file that you copied there has been detected by Application Integration and a corresponding vault document cannot be found. Therefore, your Local Workspace is not synchronized with the vault.

6. Import the linked file into the vault as described in Importing files using drag and drop. Although there is now a copy of the linked file in the vault, the linking document is still linked to the copy outside the vault.
7. Open the Local Workspace log and import the picture file as described in Resolving Local Workspace conflicts. The picture file appears in the vault and the Local Workspace should now be re-synchronized with the vault. However, because you saved the Word document while the picture file resided in the Local Workspace, no reference has yet been created.
8. Select the linking (Word) document and then on the Document menu, select Synchronize References from File. Reference icons appear on the Document property page of both documents. An Microsoft Word Reference type link has been made from the Word document to the picture file that you linked and imported. The name of the reference is the file name of the linked picture. The direction of the reference is from the Word document to the picture document. You can view the reference as described in Viewing references.

To link Office files that both reside in the vault:

1. In PowerUser, view both files that you want to link so that they are cached in your Local Workspace.
2. In your Local Workspace, locate the file to which you want to link .

To find where the picture file is located in the Local Workspace on your computer:

1. Right-click the Application Integration icon in the system tray, point to Local Workspace, and select Open Local Workspace Folder. A new Windows Explorer window opens with your Local Workspace folder selected.
2. Open the folder that is named for the Meridian Enterprise server and vault where the linking document resides.
3. Navigate the subfolders to find the cached picture file. It will be in the same path in your Local Workspace as the path where it resides in the vault.

3. Open the vault document in Word in which you want to create the link.
4. On the Insert tab of the ribbon, click Picture. The Insert Picture dialog box appears.
5. Navigate in your Local Workspace and select the cached picture file, click the down arrow in the Insert button, and select Link to File. The picture appears in the open file.
6. Save and close the file. The picture appears in the vault document in the viewing pane. Reference icons appear on the Document property page of both documents. An Microsoft Word Reference type link has been made from the Word document to the picture file that you linked. The name of the reference is the file name of the linked picture. The direction of the reference is from the Word document to the picture document. You can view the reference as described in Viewing references.