How can I get the various "link management" modules to link to an UNC? It seems they all prepend "http://" to everything . . . any ideas?

For example:
\\bigsambaserver\folderA\folderB\

becomes
http://\\\bigsambaserver\\folderA\\folderB\\

thanks,

Gnik

have you tried file:// ?

I've posted this question all over the place in relation to Xoops. It's a problem that drives me to despair. I run an Intranet site that runs off our Windows Server 2003 Server. On that server is a filstore holding many documents of various kinds that I wanted users to have access too via Xoops.

In our case, we wanted XOOPS to link directly to them, and then I found out about the UNC problem.

The only module that I know of that has applied a fix for this is WF-Downloads 2.05a. The guys at WF-Projects very kindly ammended the module once I raised it. I was then able at least to connect all our software downloads held on the server to Xoops.

It's also a registered issue for the WF-Sections 2.07 module too, but has not yet been corrected, but they do know about it.

The other module that does not currently have it fixed is the AMS News module. When I raised the query with them at http://www.it-hq.org they advised that they may try to resolve it in one of the future releases but not just yet.

When I first started to use XOOPS I asked whether this could be built into the core of XOOPS - an option like 'Allow UNC Paths' Yes or No. To my knowledge it has not been taken up.

I also asked whether other Intranet users had the same problem. My thinking was that surely they must. I got little response though. One reply I did get was to set up Virtual Directories using IIS. That way, I could type in my URL, and the folder I wanted to access on the server would be the virtual directory. For example, http://www.mysite.com/FileStore/Document1.doc. Unfortunately, I could never get that to work.

I am glad that someone else has raised this too though - I was beginning to feel all alone! If you do a search for http://\\ you will probably find loads of posts where I have tried to sort this out.

Ted

NB - I did try file:// and it didn't work

Have you tried using standard html "a href=....." instead of the "url" bbcode? I do this so that I can use relative links and see no reason it wouldn't work for file:// although I haven't tried that.

Yes, we use that for forum entries and other places were bbcode is used like the News module, but you can't use it as an actaul path entry to a document in the modules themselves.

Oh, linking to files that way isn't a common need since most often the browser doesn't have file access anyway (intranet might be different but still not the most common).

However, you could likely use web server tricks so that you can link the normal way. I don't use windows or windows webservers but I've used symlinks in linux to provide files that are out of the web server paths. Must be the same idea in windows. You can still provide file:// links where you can but you can also get to those same files with http: if a symlink provides the alternative path.

In my intranet case I use Samba which makes Linux look like a windows server to the local users. I can then provide UNC links to users that can get to them and also provide URL links to the same files. Only difference is how IIS does a symlink but certainly it can do it?

This sounds promising, except I don't know what a 'symlink' is. I assume it's not dissimilar to a Virtual Directory (in the case of IIS).

I'll do a Google for symlink but if you could clarify in the meantime I'd be much obliged.

I've just found this link on Google, and it suggests that symlinks are pruely Linux and Apache. The equivalent on IIS is Virtual Directories.

While this is a way round the UNC Path problem, it's not an ideal solution. I for one could never get VD's to work for some reason. Probably NTFS permissions or something but I jst kept getting 'Page Cannot Be Displayed' etc etc.

Ideally, XOOPS needs to have accomodation for UNC paths. It's true what you say that sites don't normally require access to files, but in the case of Intranets they do.

Well there is hope then.. I'm sure that IIS can do what you need but if it can't then you are using the wrong server..

I don't agree that the CMS needs to handle UNCs specifically except to say that the admin should be free to provide any type of link if he/she knows the path. You can do that now if you don't use bbcode for the paths. Way too many variables in systems to make it 100% easy. I might for example want to provide an NFS link or a dozen other types. The CMS can't possibly deal with so many possibilities but I can provide that NFS link no problem since I handle the details in the background.

How to do the path access in Windows/IIS is not my forte but no doubt it is a VD and rights issue. Just be careful that you don't provide access to files you don't want to make available (auto indexing).

I'll crack on with trying to get VD's to work then. Perhaps I was nearly there last time I tried but I gave up too early by the looks of it thinking I was on the wrong road.

Thanks for the clarification.