This is a good question. When to copy a file element and when to link it? Which is the difference between these two options?

To answer this maybe one should start explaining what a file element is. With Merlin you can attach additional information onto activities, milestones and resources  by the use of so called “elements”. There are 5 kinds of elements: Events, information, issues, risks, checklists, and files. Merlin is handling file elements similar to email attachments.

Let’s say you have assigned per drag&drop a file element to an activity as displayed in the outline or the Gantt chart.

Merlin will bring up a dialogue asking you what should happen with this element. You can choose one of the following options: “Cancel”, “Link” and “Copy”.

Supposedly we have not dropped the file onto the false activity and we really need the file element assignment we can either link to the file or copy it into the project.

The rule of thumb for making a decision whether to link or to copy is pretty simple:

All static elements, meaning elements which remain the same throughout the duration of the project,  may get linked. Merlin saves  a link to the file paths in the project and accesses these files only when needed. Should you have to send a project with linked elements to someone else, you need to manually send the linked files as well.

All dynamic elements changing throughout the duration of the project should get copied into the project. The “Copy” option inserts a copy of the original file into the project file.

If you like Merlin to create revisions of the file element as it changes you should use the ‘Open’ button as displayed in the inspector. Should you have to send a project with copied elements to someone else, you do not need to keep in mind sending other files as well. The Merlin project contains all necessary information.