You can associate a reference to a file with any item in the Results window by adding a link. In this context, a link is a file specification whose location is specified with either a UNC path, an URL, or a full absolute path to a local or mapped network drive. There are two ways that you can work with links in ArcGIS Explorer. First, you can include a link in the popup content of any result, note, or in the description field of a file you load with the File Import Wizard. Second, you can use the "Add a link" context menu item of the context menu of a Results window item.
When you supply a link as the exclusive popup content of a result, popping up the result's window displays the linked file in the appropriate application; for example, if the link is a Microsoft Office Excel file (.xls, .xlsx (2007), etc.) and Microsoft Office Excel is on your machine, Excel will open the file specified in the popup content. Note that if the link refers to a graphics file (for example, .png, .jpg, .bmp, etc.) clicking on the symbol associated with the result will display the file in an ArcGIS Explorer popup window. Here is an example of a link to a PDF file:
You can supply links as the Description field of a delimited text file that you import. The file displays in the same manner as the popup content of any result.
You can add a link to any result in the Results window. To do this, right-click the result and choose Add a link. In the dialog that appears you can either navigate to a file and select it or specify an URL in the text box to the left of the Open button; then click Open. The link will be added as a child of the result. To display the link click the + sign to the left of the result. The icon next to the link in the Results window reflects the link's file type. To show the link, double-click its title in the Results window. You can change the title and view associated with a link by right-clicking the link and choosing Properties... Here is a summary of supported file types:
| File Type | Icon | Extensions Supported |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe PDF file | | |
| ArcGIS Explorer map file | | nmf |
| Excel spreadsheet | | xls, xlsx |
| HTML document | | htm, html |
| Keyhole® Markup Language file (KML) | | kml, kmz |
| Movie file | | mpeg, avi, wmv |
| Picture | | bmp, gif, jpg, jpeg, jfif, jpe, png, tif, tiff, tga |
| PowerPoint presentation | | ppt, pptx |
| Text file | | txt |
| URL | | http://, https://, www. |
| Word document | | doc, docx |
| XML file | | xml |
| All other files | |
Just as you can add a link to a result or folder, you can add a link to a view. A view is an encapsulation of how an item is presented; clicking Add a link in the context menu of a view associates the current observer and target positions with the link, creating a link under the view item in the Results window. Open the view to see its link and right-click to use the items on the link's context menu:
You can change the visible title of a link as well as the file you've associated to any item in the Results window, by right-clicking the item and selecting Properties... on the item's context menu. In the Properties dialog box that appears, open the Associations node in the list at the left. The panel at the right displays all link titles. Select a link title and click Change Link to browse for or enter a new link.