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Forum Discussion
Is it possible to rename a link to a file?
Is it possible to get a link/url to a file that contains the files ID-number instead of the name of the file? The reasons is that I dont want the link to break if I change the file name?
(This does not have to be an external link shared to an external party)
Hey there oweijf - how are you today?
Shared links will not break when you rename a file now. They will only break if the file has been deleted from its Dropbox folder in which case, you'd be able to verify it (and restore it if needed) through your deleted files page.
Let me know if you need anything esle!
I have only found one way to maintain an existing link, when repurposing a filename for a website. There is a church video, where the media-team reuses the same filename for website streaming updates. However, I have found only one windows-command shell that maintains the file and the existing link when overlaying a new file over an existing shared-link file.
C:\Dropbox\Announcements>dir
Directory of C:\Dropbox\Announcements01/18/2020 11:13 PM (456,211,222) morning news 1 18 20.mp4
01/04/2020 08:43 PM (237,487,207) morning news 1 5 20.mp4
01/18/2020 11:13 PM (237,487,207) news.mp4
3 File(s) 1,149,909,651 bytes
2 Dir(s) 420,034,039,808 bytes freeC:\Dropbox\Announcements>type "morning news 1 18 20.mp4" >news.mp4
Directory of C:\Dropbox\Announcements
01/18/2020 11:13 PM (456,211,222) morning news 1 18 20.mp4
01/04/2020 08:43 PM (237,487,207) morning news 1 5 20.mp4
01/19/2020 01:37 PM (456,211,222) news.mp4
3 File(s) 1,149,909,651 bytes
2 Dir(s) 418,930,028,544 bytes freeThe type command using a redirect, seems to preserve the existing link, without destorying it, thus allowing the media team to repurpose the filename and existing link-share. I provided the code snippet using the html-video tag. Be sure the change the www to dl on the generated dropbox link reference.
<div style="text-align: center;">
<video autoplay="" controls="" disablepictureinpicture="" height="300" onended="videoEnded(this)" poster="https://some.url.toJPG" width="500">
<source src="https://dl.dropbox.com/s/y14mk4e4ls79hru/news.mp4?dl=0" type="video/mp4" />
</video>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
function videoEnded(video) {
video.autoplay=false;
video.load();
};
</script>Hi! I just wanted to thank dcronin135's answer. I was looking for a way to update files automatically by VBA code and keep the link and couldn't find any. I had to replace the file with the Dropbox link with a file from another folder. When I did it using the only Move/Copy file command that VBA has that I know ("FileSystemObject".CopyFile), after the destination got replaced it appeared to Dropbox as the original file was deleted and then a new one with the same name was added, so it deleted the Link. But this doesn't happen with the "type" cmd command that you discovered. GENIUS! That saved me LOTS OF HOURS and I think I would have never reached that solution. THANKS A LOT!!!
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey there oweijf - how are you today?
Shared links will not break when you rename a file now. They will only break if the file has been deleted from its Dropbox folder in which case, you'd be able to verify it (and restore it if needed) through your deleted files page.
Let me know if you need anything esle!
Thanks for quick reply, you are of course correct. As the file name was included in the end of the generated link I assumed that it would break, I was obviously wrong.
However a follow up, for this to work I must generate a public link that anyone could access (if i not set the password). And for a lot of documents this could be a bit exhausting. Can I get a similar link that just the people the file is shared to can access? (No link to fold wont work as I specifically want the file).
Thanks again!
- Walter
Why don't you share a link to the file in question directly then oweijf?
Let me know if I'm missing something please!
