The library at our university has an existing system for depositing images and then providing a permanent url (purl) which links back to the image. Our herbarium is able to use these purls as attachments in their database (Symbiota), which allows them to offload the storage and maintenance of the images to the library systems. Is it possible to do this in Specify? Ideally, I would want to be able to associate purls with collection objects and have them act as standard attachments.
Hi @Slopezal ,
It is not possible to treat URLs as attachments at this time, but it is something we are looking at adding in the future (Github Issue #6010).
However, URLs to attachments outside of Specify can be stored in a web link field on the forms:
You can use a one-to-many relationship (like ‘Collection Object Property’) to add one or more links with a button to view the attachment on the external repository. If the ‘purl’ has a static base URL with an ID system, you can even store just the ID in the field and have it automatically perpend to the base URL when the web link button is clicked.
Relevant Documentation: Editing Web Links in Specify 7
Additionally, images stored in Specify as attachment records produce a share link in the form meta menu:
We look forward to going over this and any further questions during tomorrow’s open office hours!