table of names vs. hyperlinks in 8.5?

[johnw]

Forgive my poor search-fu, but I couldn't find the answer. Can I create a table of names vs. hyperlinks in 8.5?

We have documents that define job procedures and requirements. Each document has a name. Next to each name, I would like a column with "click here to open document" or the like. The documents each have their own url. So click on the link, and up should come a browser window to display the document.

This seems straightforward in 9.0. Create a text field with values like 'click here to open document <url> www.something.com\blahblahblah'. Put it in the chart next to the name, and under the display options, select "Link" for the representation. Seems to work great.

Unfortunately, we're still officially on version 8.5 for at least the near future. I could tell my users to wait, but I'd hate to do that.

I see that I can use an INFO load to associate a URL with a key field, select that key field in a list box, and click on the "i" icon to open the associated URL. That's a bit more cumbersome than what I'm looking for, though. Probably not acceptable.

[rwunderlich]

John,

In 8.5 you can do this with a Launch button. The launch action is a url. Either http: or qvp: (for your environment). See the old "menu.qvw" in development for an example.

-Rob

[johnw]

As best I can tell, that's just using a button to launch the URL? I have 166 documents I need to link to, and the users need to be able to add documents in the source environment (Lotus Notes) without me needing to edit the application. So it doesn't seem like buttons would be a practical solution, even if I could pull it off in theory.

Attached is a version 9.0 example of what I want to do, courtesy of Stefan Walther. In my case, I don't think I'm going to need to pass parameters like that. I'll likely be loading in the full URL, with any parameters as necessary from the source system.

[rwunderlich · Accepted solution]

Attached is a workaround that simulates the link functionality on 8.5.

-Rob

[johnw]

OK, that looks good enough to tide us over until we upgrade everyone to 9.0. Thanks!

[#6]

Dear John, dear Rob,

thanks a lot for your discussion about calling URLs. I had a problem which was not exactly like yours but what you both wrote got me on the right track and now my customers are happy.

Best regards,
Martin

[#7]

I benefited from this post as well. Thanks.