Can no longer create internal hyperlinks

[agulino]

Well, I can create them, but they no longer save.

I am working in Win2000, PowerPoint2000sp3. I have created a 750 page
(plus) ppt file with MANY internal hyperlinks to various slides. So far, I
have kept the file size to about 5.5 to 6MBS.

However, the last group of buttons I made that linked to slides lost the
link when I saved, closed, and reopened the file.

Have I reached the limit of the amount links allowed in a ppt. file? Is
there an upper limit?

 

[David M. Marcovitz]

Yes, you have reached the limit. Since the links are saved in text
format, you can extend the limit somewhat by shortening the actual links.
For example, links include the slide titles, so if your slide titles are
shorter, you can get more links. This is because the limit is a space
limit,not a number-of-links limit. If you need long slide titles, you'll
have to fake it. You can create text boxes that contain the title you
want to display while putting shorter titles in the title placeholder.
Then, drag the title placeholder off the viewable portion of the slide.
The links will use the shorter title from the placeholder, but the longer
title will be displayed. This is a pain to do for a lot of slides, but it
can buy you a large number of extra links.
--David

--
David M. Marcovitz
Director of Graduate Programs in Educational Technology
Loyola College in Maryland
Author of _Powerful PowerPoint for Educators_
http://www.loyola.edu/education/PowerfulPowerPoint/

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Then, drag the title placeholder off the viewable portion of the slide.
The links will use the shorter title from the placeholder, but the longer
title will be displayed. This is a pain to do for a lot of slides, but it
can buy you a large number of extra links.

T'ain't so bad if you point VBA at it and pull the trigger:

Convert slide titles to shapes to solve hyperlink limit problems
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00683.htm

 

[agulino]

Great info - thank youvery much for your input, it all makes sense to me,
but, I have a few concerns. I read David's reply earlier and tried his
method - I abbreviated about a 100 slide titles, probably by 70% or so for
each... so I got rid of a lot. I saved and tried to add more links to see
if it worked... and it didn't.

So is it the amount of text involved, or the amount of LINES of text
involved? I still have over 750 slides to choose from in the drop down list
(albeit 750 shorter entries)

Will Steve's VBA work if the original solution didn't work?

 

[agulino]

OK - I was able to run the macro very quickly - and it did what it was
supposed to do - renamed my titles and made the existing ones into text.

But I still can't add any links to the file. Links that will save, I mean.

Does anybody know what the real limiter to the link information is? Do I
have too MANY titles?

 

[Austin Myers]

The problem is that PPT has a 64K storage space that contains a good number
of things, including links. There is no real way for us to tell if it's
links filling it up or something else.

Sort of like: How many eggs will the mixing bowl hold? All depends how
much flour, sugar, etc. is in it....

Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

OK - I was able to run the macro very quickly - and it did what it was
supposed to do - renamed my titles and made the existing ones into text.

But I still can't add any links to the file. Links that will save, I mean.

Does anybody know what the real limiter to the link information is? Do I
have too MANY titles?

There's a 32kb data area reserved for hyperlinks and other stuff that MS has
not documented. Once that area gets filled, PPT starts eating its own feet and
your links stop working in unpredictable ways (or so it seems to those of us
prodding at the "black box" from the outside).

Suggestion: download a copy of the free FixLinks demo
http://fixlinks.pptools.com

It has a reporting tool that'll tell you what the links are and give you a
rough idea how much space they occupy. Note: I'm not suggesting that you buy
the software; it doesn't do much to help in this situation anyhow.

After working with another fellow here on a presentation similar to yours, I
suspect that there are also things that get so bunged up once the link limits
are exceeded that you may have to re-create portions or all of the show.

Consider breaking it into several smaller interlinked shows.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

The problem is that PPT has a 64K storage space

Of which 32k is allocated to other stuff before we start.
Links have to squeeze into the other half.

that contains a good number

 

[Glen Millar]

Sort of like: How many eggs will the mixing bowl hold? All depends how

much flour, sugar, etc. is in it....

The mixing bowl will hold 64 K of eggs.

Did I get it right?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

The mixing bowl will hold 64 K of eggs.

Did I get it right?

No. The mixing bowl has a 32k brick in it before you start. ;-)