### URL

Similar to an entry in a list of bookmarks, URL objects provide direct access to an object that is not contained in the current folder, but is located somewhere on the Web, on an FTP or News server etc. A URL object may also be used to access a BSCW object in another folder or workspace on the same BSCW server (see 4.11 URLs for objects in workspaces).

You create an URL object by

• selecting File New URL in the top menu bar.

• In the ‘General’ section of the action form you enter the address under ‘URL’ (e.g. http://www.bscw.de/files/help-4.5/english/). You can specify, whether the address is to be added to the description or not and whether only the address is to be stored or also the document that the URL address refers to is to be fetched and stored. The latter will create a local copy of the document that can be accessed even if the original document has become unavailable, e.g. because the document has been moved or the server has been shut down.
You may also enter a name for the URL (by default, its name is the address) and optional tags and description. Finally, you may rate the URL. Fetching and rating can also be done later; see the URL actions below.

• In the ‘Attributes’ section, you can enter your own metadata attributes of the new URL in the form of name-value pairs (details in 3.7.1 Metadata attributes).

• Hit [OK] to create the new URL.

URL objects may also be copied from the search result page of a BSCW Web search or from a BSCW RSS feed: Copy some search results or RSS articles to your clipboard and then paste them into a folder.

The special action menu entries for URL objects are:

Information V erify checks the availability of a URL;

F etch stores the contents of the document or object referred to by a URL in your workspace;

Change R ate lets you rate the quality of the document or object referred to by a URL on a five point scale.