Global Links are a feature introduced in the Fall 2007 release that greatly simplify the process of making actions portable and reusable. They can be referenced on the Actions tab of the Active Display administration interface. A global link is simply an entry in the Central Configuration list that is comprised of a name and a URL. Any time an action is executed that references a global link, it will look up the link to determine the appropriate URL. If the URL ever needs to be updated, it can be done in a single location, rather than trying to remember and access every instance where the URL is referenced.
For example, consider all of the URL references that need to be updated when a solution is moved from a development to a production environment. With global links, you can update the URL references in just one place, versus accessing the Actions tab on every Active Display that references the development URLs. Another potential benefit of Global Links is simplification of the process of creating and referencing actions. Rather than having to find, copy, and then paste a long URL, you can just reference a simple Global Link name.
In order to utilize Global Links, Central Configuration must be enabled as described in the Capabilities Guide. As with all other types of Central Configuration, users must have at least Read access to the Central Configuration list in order to be able to reference or maintain Global Links.
NOTE: All of the Global Links are stored in a single item in the Central Configuration list. You do not need to physically access this list in order to maintain the Global Links; this can be done from a link on the Actions Wizard, an Active Display, or a Cross-Connect. If you do access the Central Configuration list for some other reason, please do not delete or attempt to edit the Global Link entry.
The Global Link maintenance window can be accessed from any active component. A link is located in the top right corner of the the Actions tab of the Active Display administration interface. (If you do not see this link, Central Configuration is not enabled. See Chapter 5 of the Capabilities Guide for instructions to enable Central Configuration.)
When you click on the “Maintain Global Links” link, a Global Link Maintenance Window is displayed. It doesn’t matter where you access the window from. All of the entries are stored in the same place in the Central Configuration list, so you will see the same entries whether you access this window from the Actions Wizard, an Active Display, or a Cross-Connect administration interface.
1. Place your cursor in the first available row and type the name you want to use for the global link in the first column, surrounded by square brackets as shown in the figure above.
• CorasWorks recommends that you limit the characters in the name to letters and numbers only.
2. Place your cursor in the second column or press Tab and type the full URL to assign to that name. Note that the global links are site-based, not list-based, so just type the URL to the site.
3. Repeat these steps as necessary and then click Submit when you are finished.
• An error message will be presented if you attempt to add a new global link with the same name as an existing Global Link. However, you can have multiple links with different names that point to the same URL.
The Global Link Maintenance Window can also be accessed to modify or delete any of the Global Links. Both the name and the URL can be modified. Any user can use, create, modify, or delete a Global Link, as long as they have the necessary permission to the Central Configuration site and list. Two people will be prevented from modifying the same link at the same time.
• To modify a Global Link, simply make the necessary changes to the entry and click Submit.
• To delete a Global Link, highlight each part of the entry and press Delete or Backspace and then click Submit.
IMPORTANT! If you do need to update or delete a Global Link, keep in mind that it will affect all of the actions and all of the Active Displays that reference that link. If a Global Link is deleted, or if it is modified to point to a URL where the same actions do not exist, you may not be aware of it until a user goes to a page and can no longer execute the actions they used to.