gvSIG-Desktop 1.9. User manual

The Advanced Hyperlink tool in this version of gvSIG significantly extends the functionality of the hyperlink tool found in version 1.1.

The tool is accessible either from the Layer menu (Layer > Advanced Hyperlink) or by clicking the icon on the toolbar.

Accessing the Hyperlink tool

Hyperlinks are configured at the layer level, which means that they can be enabled or disabled per layer. To set the hyperlink for a layer, double-click on the layer name in the TOC to open the Layer Properties and select the Hyperlink tab.

The hyperlink configuration screen looks like this:

Hyperlink Configuration

Remember that the layer's attribute table must be correctly prepared for the hyperlinks to work. To do this, edit the relevant record and insert the path to the hyperlinked file, leaving out the extension.

After the hyperlinks have been setup and enabled, select the Advanced Hyperlink tool and find the item in the View that corresponds to the record associated with the link. Click on the item and a window will open displaying the linked file.

Actions

The Advanced Hyperlink tool provides the following actions:

1. Link to text and HTML files: the tool will open a window in gvSIG and load the linked text or HTML document into it.
2. Link to image files: the tool will open a window in gvSIG and load the linked image into it.
3. Link to PDF files: the tool will open a window in gvSIG and load the linked PDF document into it.
4. Load raster layer: the tool loads the raster layer into the active View.
5. Load vector layer: the tool loads the vector layer into the active View.
6. Link to SVG files: the tool will open a window in gvSIG and load the linked SVG file into it.

NOTE 1: When editing the hyperlink fields in the attribute table, if a path longer than the maximum field length is entered, the path will be truncated (without warning) to the maximum field length. By default, fields are created with a maximum length of 50 characters. Fields should be defined to handle long paths when necessary, otherwise only very short paths can be stored.

For example: if we enter

C:/Documents and Settings/My documents/images/villafafila.jpg

and the maximum field length is 50 characters, the path will be truncated to:

C:/Documents and Settings/My documents/images/vill

which is not what is wanted.

NOTE 2: Please note that if the path you enter contains an image or file extension that is registered in the registry, you should not also enter it when configuring the hyperlink properties as this would be duplicating the information.