File addresses

When DataMind Oda points at a file, the link behind it is a file address: the name Oda uses to find a file again in a chat. File links and preview tabs work through addresses, and you will not normally see one in full. This page covers what an address carries, how the path inside it is written, and why some links cannot be opened.

What a file address carries

An address has two parts:

• A chat. In a normal link, the address names the chat the link came from: the chat that can read the file.
• A location. The file's path, either inside the chat's workspace folder or as a full path when the file sits elsewhere.

When Oda turns a file into a link, it writes the chat together with the path.

A link belongs to its chat

A file link carries the chat it came from, and that chat is the one that does the reading:

• Opening uses the link's chat. When you open a file from a link, Oda reads it through the chat the link carries.
• Previews follow the link. Because a link belongs to its chat, the same file can be open in two chats at once, each with its own preview. Preview files in Oda covers the preview and its tabs.

Why some links cannot be opened

An address can carry only a place, with no chat behind it. Nothing then says Oda may read the file, so such a link cannot be opened, and it does not become a preview.

Oda does not fill in a chat to make it work, not even the chat you have open. If you have met a link that will not open, see Links and files in chat for what the chat shows and what to try next; to hand a file to your own computer instead, see Opening and revealing files.

How Oda writes a path in a link

• Relative inside, full outside. A file inside the chat's workspace folder is named by its path within that folder; anywhere else the full path is kept. Only a path that really sits inside the folder is named relative to it.
• Kept as written. A full path keeps its leading slash, a drive letter stays as written, for example C:, and a network share keeps its leading double slash.
• The first ? or # ends the address. Anything after it is extra that the link carries, not part of the file's name. A file whose name contains # or ? has it encoded in the address, so the link still points at the file.
• Read as text, never resolved. Parts are decoded once when the address is read, and dot parts such as .. are not resolved: a .. stays as written and never moves up a folder.
• A damaged address is not a link. One missing its chat or its path, or carrying a part that is not validly encoded, is not an address at all: Oda does not guess what it meant.

Questions, answered

What is a file address?

Oda's own name for one file in a chat. It carries the file's location and, in a normal link, the chat the link belongs to. It is not the file's path on your computer: when Oda shows you a file, you see its name and its path, not the address.

Why does a file link belong to one chat?

Because the link carries the chat it came from, and that chat is what lets Oda read the file. When the same file is linked from two chats, each chat names it in its own right, so each chat sees its own preview. Preview files in Oda covers preview tabs.

Why can some file links not be opened?

A link can carry only a place, with no chat behind it. Nothing then says Oda may read the file, so the link cannot be opened, and it does not become a preview.

Whose access does a file link use?

The chat the link carries. Oda does not use the chat you are viewing from as a fallback, so a link with no chat cannot be opened, even when the chat you have open could read the same file itself.

How much of the path goes into a file link?

A file inside the chat's workspace folder is named by its path within that folder; a file anywhere else keeps its full path. The path is kept as written, so leading slashes and drive letters stay.

My file's name contains # or ?. Will its link still work?

Yes. Those characters are encoded in the address, so the link still points at the file itself. In an address, the first ? or # is only where the file's name ends; anything after it is extra that the link carries.

Does .. in a file link open the parent folder?

No. Oda reads an address as text and does not resolve dot parts: .. stays as written and never moves up a folder.

What happens to a damaged file link?

If an address is missing its chat or its path, or a part of it is not validly encoded, Oda does not treat it as an address at all. It does not guess the file you meant, and nothing opens from it.