URLs for objects in workspaces

BSCW lets you create and manage sets of interlinked documents (HTML files, .gif or .jpeg files, audio or video files, etc.). You may share them with the other members of a workspace and even publish them for anonymous access on the Web (see 3.5.1 Allowing anonymous access).

Links, i.e. URLs for objects in workspaces, may also be included in notes, in the description of an object and in various other text fields.

o If you want to create a link to an object contained in another workspace on the same server, make sure that the members of your workspace may access the object.

o If you want to create a link to an object on a different BSCW server, make sure that the object has been made available for anonymous access.

To create a link, you need to specify the URL of the object on the BSCW server. This URL may be specified in two different formats:

o in BSCW’s internal address format or

o as a path in a folder or directory tree,

each with its specific advantages:

BSCW’s internal numerical addresses are short, they do not change when objects are renamed, moved to another folder, etc., and they may be used as entry points to a hyperlinked structure from outside a BSCW server.

On the other hand, by using the familiar ‘relative’ directory path URLs, you keep a hyperlinked structure portable, i.e. you could archive a collection of documents, take it to a different server, move it to an arbitrary place in the folder hierarchy and still have the links intact and working.