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I have an intranet site that lets users open files in the browser (by prompting for download). One of these files is an .xlsx workbook that contains hyperlinks which point to different locations of files (.pdfs, .docs) on the file server in which the .xlsx workbook is located.

It seems the file server path to the workbook is replaced by a "Temporary Internet Files/Content.IE5/" path, leading to the warning "cannot open the specified file" in Excel.

I tried downloading the Excel document first and then following the links, but they're still opening in the temp internet location

EDIT:

For instance, when hovering over the hyperlinks in excel they read: "file:///C:\Documents And Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet files\Content.IE5\40WSS3CB\" + filename

when they should read: "file:///\servername\Departments\Read\" + filename

How can I still open the excel file in the browser and retain the hyperlinks inside and have them not be replaced by the temporary internet files path?

can someone point me in the right direction ? Thanks!

proggrock
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    do you want to click some hyperlink (in your MS Excel file) to send you to some share directory ? – BrOSs Oct 03 '12 at 16:17
  • yes pretty much - the hyperlink points back to the directory of the excel file. That's where i want to open the linked to files from – proggrock Oct 03 '12 at 17:15
  • I'll make a test and tell you later the results. regards! – BrOSs Oct 03 '12 at 17:16
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    How is the hyperlink stored in the file? Does it work any better if you use the Hyperlink formula? You can set the formula of a cell to be something like =HYPERLINK("\\severname\servershare\filename.pdf", "Instructions") – Sam Plus Plus Oct 23 '12 at 18:37
  • Could you describe how you insert hyperlink in Excel file ? They may be converted to relative links, and then common url part is replaced with current path of file. – Mat M Oct 29 '12 at 22:57

4 Answers4

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I did some testing, and it almost comes from the way you store links. If you browse through the dialog of Insert hyperlink, then you will end with relative urls. That is, the common base is stored as a reference to the current xlsx file path, and the remainder is stored and displayed as link.

You are totally in the issue Richard Hare mentions, so following the procedure from the microsoft support site should help. It did the trick on my test at least.

UPDATE to sum up down.with.the.bass comments :
One option to solve this, if doable, is to open xlsx file from its network share location and not through the website. If it is forbidden for whatever reason, you may be able to update the links using a macro.

Mat M
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  • this must be what's happening. I've been away from my office for awhile so I couldn't do more testing...ill check it out in a bit. Do you think I'll have to redo any of the hyperlinks (there's hundreds)? – proggrock Oct 30 '12 at 22:50
  • Unfortunately this solution didn't seem to make a difference, but you've clearly identified the cause. Looks like the only alternative left is to redo the links using absolute urls. – proggrock Oct 31 '12 at 19:13
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    Ok scratch that. The solution was to just open it in its native location on the server (in my case by using window.location.href="\\server\etc.." – proggrock Nov 01 '12 at 15:00
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Do you have an option like "Update links on save" enabled?

In an earlier version of Excel it was set in Tools, Options, General-tab, Web Options-button, Files-tab.

Try unchecking it and resaving the document.

Richard Hare
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I just did in my server the same task (the one I understood):

Uploaded the hyperlink to some asp.net webpage.

<p>
        <a href="Book1.xlsx">test</a><br />
</p>

The "book1.xlsx" file has inside a cell which refers (hyperlinks) to some share directory (i.e \\NHSTXX1\TEST\MS OFFICE EXCEL - \\SERVERNAME\FOLDER\OTHER FOLDER )

And when clicked the hyperlinked cell, it opened the share directory I was looking for.

I tried with Firefox.

hope this help

BrOSs
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  • BrOSs thanks for checking this out - I'm going to edit my question with more information so we can figure out where I'm going wrong as its still not working for me... – proggrock Oct 03 '12 at 17:42
  • @down.with.the.bass no problem, we will figure out a solution. – BrOSs Oct 03 '12 at 18:16
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Hyperlinks shouldn't just mysteriously change. I saved an excel file with a hyperlink in it - opened it with html - saved it - open it in excel again - and the link stays the same. So I'm not sure how this could be happening to you(if I understand your situation correctly).

Stepan1010
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