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Create Link to Resource

createLink.Rd

Creates a symbolic link to an existing resource within a container (folder or workflow). Links provide lightweight references to resources without duplicating content, enabling resource reuse across workflows while maintaining a single source of truth. Changes to the linked resource are automatically reflected wherever the link is used.

Usage

createLink(linkContainer, links, linkName = "")

Arguments

Identifier of the folder or workflow where the link will be created. Can be a path, resource id, or entity id.

Identifier(s) of the resource(s) to link to. Can be a single resource or multiple resources. Can be a path, resource id, or entity id.

linkName

Character. Optional name for the created link. If not provided (empty string), the link uses the name of the target resource. Only applicable when creating a single link; ignored when creating multiple links.

Value

The created link resource as a data frame (single link), or a list of link resources (multiple links). Returns NULL if the operation fails (e.g., target doesn't exist, link already exists, invalid node type for link creation).

Details

Links differ from copies in that they reference the target resource rather than duplicating it. The link always points to the latest version of the target resource. This is useful for:

  • Sharing datasets across multiple workflow steps

  • Referencing common templates or configuration files

  • Organizing resources without duplication

The function performs validation to ensure:

  • Both target container and link source exist

  • Target container accepts links (not all node types support links)

  • No naming conflicts exist in the target container

  • Repository is in editable mode (automatically checked via improveEditable())

After creating links, related caches are automatically cleared to ensure fresh data on subsequent queries.

References

ics1138

See also

copy for duplicating resources instead of linking, createExternalLink for creating external URL references, loadReferences to view all references from a resource

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# Create a link to a dataset in a workflow step
createLink(
  linkContainer = "/Workflows/Analysis/Step 1",
  links = "/Data/master_dataset.csv"
)

# Create link with custom name
createLink(
  linkContainer = "/Workflows/Analysis/Step 2",
  links = "/Data/master_dataset.csv",
  linkName = "input_data"
)

# Create multiple links at once
createLink(
  linkContainer = "/Workflows/Modeling",
  links = c("/Data/dataset1.csv", "/Data/dataset2.csv")
)
} # }