2004

794 | Chapter 28 Use the Internet to Share Drawings
Use Relative Paths in Hyperlinks
Absolute hyperlinks work well in situations where you link a relatively small
set of documents, but they do have some limitations. If you subsequently
move the files referenced by absolute hyperlinks to a different directory, edit-
ing the hyperlink paths can be a time-consuming process. With AutoCAD
you can specify a relative path that is used by the hyperlinks you create in a
drawing. Relative paths afford you greater flexibility and are easier to edit
than absolute hyperlinks. With relative hyperlinks, you can update the
relative path for all the hyperlinks in your drawing at the same time, rather
than editing each hyperlink individually.
Note The support of relative hyperlinks was introduced as a new feature in
AutoCAD 2000. If you create relative hyperlinks in an AutoCAD drawing and
then save the drawing in AutoCAD Release 14 format, the
HYPERLINKBASE system
variable is not available. You will not be able to execute any relative hyperlinks
in AutoCAD Release 14. If you subsequently save the drawing in a post- AutoCAD
Release 14 format, the relative hyperlinks are restored.
To create an absolute hyperlink to another file
1 In the drawing area, select one or more graphical objects to attach the
hyperlink to.
2 From the Insert menu, choose Hyperlink.
3 Do one of the following:
■ Under Type the File or Web Page Name, enter the path and name of the
file that you want to associate with the hyperlink.
■ Choose the File button, then navigate to the location of the file that
you want to associate with the hyperlink. Choose Open.
4 (Optional) If you are creating a hyperlink to an AutoCAD drawing, choose
Target to specify a named location in the drawing to jump to and do the
following:
■ Select a named location to jump to.
■ Choose OK.
5 (Optional) Enter a description for the hyperlink in Text to Display.
6 Choose OK.
Command line
HYPERLINK