Relative Paths

When editing an object in Loftware Enterprise SP, you can use an absolute path or a relative path to reference the location of another Loftware Enterprise SP object. For example, when editing a label template that contains an image, you can use an absolute or relative path in the label template to reference the location of the image. An absolute path specifies a location using the full folder structure, while a relative path specifies a location relative to the current working folder. Therefore, using a relative path may be helpful if an object is likely to be copied, moved to a different folder, or transferred to a different Loftware Enterprise SP instanceClosed A Loftware Application Server and a Loftware Database Server that are associated with each other by a Loftware Enterprise - SP License..

Tip: Relative paths use a single dot (.) to represent the current working folder and a double-dot (..) to represent the parent folder of the current working folder. Double-dots are used for moving up the folder structure.

Example

You are working in Application Design  on an application named Application1 that is saved in Example/USA. If a form named Form2 that is saved in Example/USA/Forms is added to Application1, then the path in the application that references the form can be represented as either of the following:

  • Absolute path: /Example/USA/Forms/Form2
  • Relative path: ./Forms/Form2

In the relative path, the dot (.) represents the current working folder. In this case, the current working folder is that of Application1, which is the USA folder.

Suppose you want to duplicate the objects in the USA folder for customization and use at another location. You can accomplish this by copying the USA folder and then renaming the new folder to the other location, such as UK.

If the absolute path was used to reference the form on the application, then the new Application1 in the Example/UK folder contains Form2 from the Example/USA/Forms folder, since the path referencing the form is /Example/USA/Forms/Form2 as shown above.

Alternatively, if the relative path was used to reference the form on the application, then the new Application1 in the Example/UK folder contains Form2 from the Example/UK/Forms folder, since the path referencing the form is ./Forms/Form2. In this case, the current working folder is that of the new Application1, which is the UK folder.

You can use a relative path when referencing the following objects in Loftware Enterprise SP:

  • Images
  • Label templates
  • Forms
  • Applications
  • Business rules
  • Layers
  • Layouts
  • Reusable objects
  • Workflow templates
  • Processes
  • Devices
  • Data services
  • Users

How to Apply a Relative Path

When you add a reference to a Loftware Enterprise SP object, a Relative Path check box is displayed (for supported objects listed above). Selecting or clearing the check box changes the path accordingly.

Cleared: The path is an absolute path within Loftware Enterprise SP (default).

Selected: The path is a relative path within Loftware Enterprise SP.

The check box is available to select after the object has been saved for the first time.

Resolving Relative Paths

All relative paths must resolve to a definitive location at print time. If a current working folder cannot be determined, then the Default Relative Path Folder for the user in Access Control Access Control is applied. For more information, see User Properties.

Auditing

When auditing path information, the absolute location that was resolved at print time is recorded. The relative path is not recorded, as this could cause ambiguity when referring to the information in the future.