How to link external files to Cognos Connection Public Folders or My Folders

Resolving The Problem

There are two ways to accomplish this:

1. Place the external file within the webserver directory structure and create a URL in Cognos Connection to link to the external file.
   
2. Place the external file on a shared drive and create a URL in Cognos Connection to link to the external file.

First, make sure the external files are physically stored on the same server as the webserver.

Either create a webalias on the directory where the external files are located (see the manuals for your webserver how to achieve), or copy the files to an existing web alias directory.

Open Cognos Connection, go to Public Folders and click 'new URL'. Provide a name to display and type in the URL to the external file. Select a location for the URL where it should be saved, such as a folder or package within Public Folders, or anywhere within My Folders.

You will see a link created to launch the external file under the defined location.

Option 2

Make sure that any user who is going to access the share from Cognos Connection can access the shared drive directly from the local computer. This requires that they have at least 'Read' permission on the shared drive.

Open Cognos Connection, go to Public Folders, and click 'new URL'. Provide a name to display and type in the UNC path in the format '\\servername\folder\file' to the external file. Select a location for the URL where it should be saved, such as a folder or package within Public Folders, or anywhere within My Folders.

Note: a link to folders can also be created.