Absolute vs Relative References

[Robert]

I have some basic and advance questions about link references. My
internet searches have discovered the elementary portion about the
link tag, yet my search results did not expound on areas needed for my
objective.

My personal project aims at creating a document template and
navigation approach for my computing notes. These html documents are
for personal usage and will reside on an external hard drive or my
hard drive. I will use these documents to help me remember key
computing idiosyncrasies. The CSS style sheet allows me to have a
consistent format and allow me to update formatting for all documents
at once. The HTML overlay will allow me to update an external xml file
with the menu structure and file locations; instead of using frame or
iframes. The documents should be primarily viewable on Firefox; and
not have any platform specific needs. Thus server side processing
like PHP is not desirable. All processing should be client based.

Each topic has a sub-folder for individual html documents; the folder
structure is a derivative of my current organization scheme for Word
and PDF documents. The HTML overlay allows each document to request
the menu structure with link references. Currently, I developing the
html overlay, menu structure, and determining the relative file
linking approaches (if any).

Root
menuoverlay.xml
[Internet Troubleshooting]

startInternetTrouble.html
/* The html overlay combines menuoverlay.xml
with the above file*/
[css]
[images]
[javascript]
[Network Troublshooting]
[html]
startNetworkTrouble.html
/* The html overlay combines menuoverlay.xml
with the above file*/
[css]
[images]
[javascript]

Now, you have the background, so let me move to my specific curiosity
about linking files. First, let me know if you have any suggestions
for advance linking FAQ. A good reference would discuss linking files
on the hard drive with special characters in the files or folders
name.

file:///d:/Troubleshooting
Tips/Internet/html/startInternetTrouble.html

scheme://host.domain/path/ filename

where scheme is one of

file - file
ftp - ftp site
http - web site

The parent directory (the directory that contains the current
directory) is ".."

.../Internet/html/startInternetTrouble.html
.../Networking/html/startNetworkTrouble.html

Second, absolute linking includes the drive letter, which may be a
problem for placing the files on the external drive.

Third, relative file linking pose other challenges like the folder
organization scheme. The directory is extensive with hundred of
documents. Every time you connect the hard drive to another system;
the drive letter could change. Placing the files on a web server
remains less ideal since I use these documents when no Internet access
is available.

Remember my challenge involves both a folder organization scheme in
conjunction with relative links on an external hard drive. In
addition, the navigation approach includes a centrally updatable menu
that any html document may use. The menu would allow me to navigate to
any topic in my notes. The relative structure is not the same for a
file in a different root folder. Let me know if you could add
suggestions. I may be overlooking some details.

 

[Toby Inkster]

These html documents are for personal usage and will reside on an
external hard drive or my hard drive. [...] Thus server side processing
like PHP is not desirable. All processing should be client based.

Have you thought about including web server software on the hard drive
itself?

This would instantly give you server-side processing facilities and proper
HTTP URLs.

Something like Dwebpro?

 

[Robert]

These html documents are for personal usage and will reside on an
external hard drive or my hard drive. [...] Thus server side processing
like PHP is not desirable. All processing should be client based.

Have you thought about including web server software on the hard drive
itself?

This would instantly give you server-side processing facilities and proper
HTTP URLs.

Something like Dwebpro?

Server side processing is less ideal since I may viewing these
documents on somebody elses computer, which could be Mac, Linux, or
XP. These documents would reside on my flash USB drive or iPod. They
would help troubleshoot other people's machine or remember key details
about force perspective photography...blah, blah, blah. My useage is
varied and diverse. I often have access to high-end workstations that
have limited access to the internet for security reason; without
administrator access to install software. But these same systems have
browsering capabilities. Hence, the reason behind my project to
convert my FAQs to HTML.


btw
If a utility exist for server processing that runs on a Mac, Linux,
and XP without installing files, let me know.