Get Hyperlink

M-Files users may have document vault connections with different names, and each user may have different views. M-Files provides a function to create shortcuts that are not affected by these factors. Such links might be used for instance in e-mail messages with references to the organization's documents.

Select the Get Hyperlink function from the object's context menu. The dialog offers four different ways to share your link.

The "Get Hyperlink" dialog.

Video: Creating Object Links

Create Windows shortcut and Create M-Files shortcut

Use these options to create a shortcut to your Windows desktop. Opening the Windows shortcut opens the document in the default application for the document type, and the M-Files shortcut opens the document or object in M-Files Desktop.

Send an M-Files shortcut by e-mail

This option automatically creates and opens a new e-mail message with a shortcut included in the message. The Send Link by E-Mail function under Sharing, E-mail and PDF creates a new e-mail message with shortcuts in the same way.

Copy hyperlink to clipboard

This option enables you to copy an object hyperlink to your clipboard. By using this option, you can ensure that the link remains usable even if the document is renamed. You can paste the link to e-mail messages in HTML format, or open the document directly in M-Files by entering the path in the Windows Run function.

If you need the link – or, for example, just the M-Files Desktop link – in plain text format only, you can copy the URL from the text field to your clipboard.

Tip:

The command in the plain text URL can also be manually changed if you want the link to do something else than to just open the object or file. The available commands are: show, showmetadata, open, view and edit. The table below describes how these commands function.

Command	Action
show	Displays the object in M-Files Desktop.
showmetadata	Shows the metadata card for the object.
open	Shows the check-out dialog and opens the document in the default application.
view	Opens the document in the default application in read-only mode without prompting the user to check it out.
edit	Checks out the object and opens it for editing in the default application.

For instance, the command m-files://edit/<vault GUID>/<object name>-<id> would check out the document and open it for editing in the associated default program.

For more information about M-Files URL properties, refer to this knowledge base article.

Advanced

The advanced settings enable you to specify whether you want the link to always point to the latest version of the document (Latest version) or to the version that you have selected (This version).

Modifying the appearance of the hyperlinks

The appearance of the hyperlinks can be modified with a few registry settings. The registry settings can be added either to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, or both. If both are used, HKEY_CURRENT_USER takes precedence.

In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, the key name is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Motive\M-Files\<version>\Common\Settings\Hyperlinks.

In HKEY_CURRENT_USER, the key name is: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Motive\M-Files\<version>\Client\MFShell\<vault>\Hyperlinks.

For both keys, the actual settings are as described in the tables below.

Value name: `FriendlyNameModeForHTML`
Value Type	`REG_DWORD`
Description	Defines whether the object title acts as a link in the HTML version of the hyperlink. Values from 1 to 3 also define the type of the link.
Value Data	0: No hyperlink 1: Desktop hyperlink (default) 2: Web hyperlink 3: Mobile hyperlink

Tip: M-Files also adds the link to your clipboard in the XML Spreadsheet format for pasting the link to, for example, a cell in Microsoft Excel. The type of the link is specified via the FriendlyNameModeForHTML value. If its value has either been set to 0 or not been specified at all, the link opens the object in M-Files Desktop.

Value name: `CanShowSpecificLinks`
Value Type	`REG_DWORD`
Description	Controls whether the HTML version of the hyperlink can include client-specific links after the object title.
Value Data	0: No client-specific links are appended. 1: Client-specific links are appended as specified via the "SpecificLinksMode" value (see further below).

Value name: `SpecificLinksMode`
Value Type	`REG_DWORD`
Description	If `CanShowSpecificLinks` is set to "1", controls which of the client-specific links are appended to the HTML version of the hyperlink after the object title.
Value Data	0: None 1: Desktop 2: Web 3: Desktop and Web 4: Mobile 5: Desktop and Mobile 6: Web and Mobile 7: Desktop, Web, and Mobile

Value name: `PlainTextModeForClipboard`
Value Type	`REG_DWORD`
Description	Controls the content of the plain-text version of the hyperlink copied to the clipboard.
Value Data	0: All hyperlinks 1: Desktop hyperlink only 2: Web hyperlink only 3: Mobile hyperlink only

Send M-Files shortcut by e-mail

You can add or drag documents from M-Files to the e-mail in the same way as any other documents. You can also use the Send M-Files shortcut by e-mail function. With this function, M-Files creates a new e-mail message with a copy of the file attached.

Web links

It is also possible to use web links to share documents contained in M-Files. M-Files can be used as a content management system for sharing documents with interested parties. For more information, see Document-specific Publishing via a Web Link.

Creating Shortcuts

Steps

In M-Files, right-click the object for which you want to create a link and select Get Hyperlink... from the context menu.
The Get Hyperlink dialog is opened.

Select one of the following options and click OK:

Select...	If you...
Create Windows shortcut (.lnk)	want to create a shortcut that opens the selected object in the default application for the file type.
Create M-Files shortcut (.mflink)	want to create a shortcut that displays the selected object in M-Files Desktop.

Click Yes when you are prompted to place the shortcut on your desktop.

Results

The shortcut that you have just created is placed on your desktop. Double-clicking the shortcut, depending on the shortcut type, either opens the object in the default application for the file type or displays the object in M-Files Desktop.

Sending Shortcuts

Steps

In M-Files, right-click the object for which you want to create a link and select Get Hyperlink... from the context menu.
The Get Hyperlink dialog is opened.
Select the Send M-Files shortcut (.mflink) by e-mail option.

Results

A new e-mail message is opened in your e-mail client, containing the M-Files shortcut as an attachment.

Copying Hyperlinks

Steps

In M-Files, right-click the object for which you want to create a link and select Get Hyperlink... from the context menu.
The Get Hyperlink dialog is opened.
Select the Copy hyperlink to clipboard option.
Either:
1. If you want the link in HTML format, click OK to copy the hyperlink to the clipboard.
  or
2. If you want the link in plain text format, select and copy the text in the text field and click Cancel.

Results

You now have the link to the selected object copied to your clipboard. If you chose the HTML format and you paste the link, for example, to a new Outlook message, the link is pasted to the message in the following HTML format, provided that you have HTML formatting enabled in Outlook:

If you copied the plain text format instead, or you paste the link in HTML format to an editor or e-mail client that does not support HTML formatting, the link is pasted as plain text.

Web Links

It is also possible to use web links to share documents contained in M-Files. This can be achieved in two ways:

M-Files Web can be used as a content management system for sharing documents with interested parties. For more information, see Document-specific Publishing via a Web Link.
Documents in M-Files can be shared publically by creating temporary public links to specific documents, making the documents available to anyone who is given the link. For more information, see Share Public Link.