UNC links
The Universal Naming Convention, or UNC, specifies a common syntax to describe the location of a network resource, such as a shared file, directory, or printer. The UNC syntax for Windows systems is as follows:
\\ComputerName\Shared Folder\Resource Name
UNCs differ from URLs in that they do not have a protocol: prefix and that they can contain embedded spaces. In corporate use of MediaWiki, it is often useful to paste a UNC from Windows Explorer directly into a wiki page.
How to link
| Description | You type | You get |
|---|---|---|
| UNC link, with title | {{unc | \\ComputerName\Shared Folder\Resource Name | The resource}}
|
The resource |
| UNC link, unnamed | {{unc | \\ComputerName\Shared Folder\Resource Name}}
|
[1] |
Installation
Install the ParserFunctions extension.
Follow installation instructions and add the optional "integrated string function functionality" line in LocalSettings.php by setting $wgPFEnableStringFunctions = true;.
Install the extension StringFunctions (to enable #replace).
Add file:// to $wgUrlProtocols in LocalSettings.php:
array_push($wgUrlProtocols, "file://");
Create a template called Template:Unc (search for Template:Unc and click Create this page), and paste this text into the page content:
[file:///{{#replace:{{#replace:{{{1}}}| |%20}}|\|/}} {{#if:{{{2|}}}|{{{2}}}}}]
Browser compatibility
- With Internet Explorer on Windows UNC Links work without exception.
- A recent patch applied to both IE8 and IE9 now requires the Wiki site to be in the Intranet Sites list for this to work correctly.
- With Firefox
file:///links are disabled by default when appearing in non-local webpages. See:Manual:$wgUrlProtocolsand this mozillaZine article for how to enable them.- The mozillaZine article referenced is somewhat dated. Use the Local Filesystem Links add-on for current versions of Firefox.
- For Google Chrome
file:///links are also disabled. They can be enabled using the enable-local-file-links extension.