Is there a way to "connect" files?

[kvandyke]

I would love to be able to save attachments from, say, Outlook onto my
hard drive (or a server folder) and be able to somehow indicate that
those files are connected to each other.


For example, when a Word document and an image file arrive together in
my E-mail inbox as attachments, I save them into a folder that contains
many other such files. When files accumulate in this folder, it's not
always obvious that the files are connected to each other (they often
have different file names, and of course they have different
extensions). I'd like to be able to somehow "staple" or "paper clip"
the two files together so that when I retrieve, say, the Word file I'll
know that it's "connected" to the image it orginally came with.


Subfolders aren't the answer, in my case. I need to have all of the
individual files in front of me. I don't want to do this via Outlook,
or with my Outlook calendar, etc. -- it would have to be done in
Windows Explorer to be useful.


Has anyone ever run across a utility that performs that function
w/Windows XP (professional 5.1)? Or is there already a way to do it in
Windows?


Note: I'm deluged with such files every day at work and need to save
them all for later reference, so something like cutting and pasting the
photo into the word doc. isn't an option -- I wouldn't get anything
else done.

Thanks for your help; please pass this along if necessary.


Sincerely,


Kim V.

 

[Blackadder]

I would love to be able to save attachments from, say, Outlook onto my
hard drive (or a server folder) and be able to somehow indicate that
those files are connected to each other.


For example, when a Word document and an image file arrive together in
my E-mail inbox as attachments, I save them into a folder that contains
many other such files. When files accumulate in this folder, it's not
always obvious that the files are connected to each other (they often
have different file names, and of course they have different
extensions). I'd like to be able to somehow "staple" or "paper clip"
the two files together so that when I retrieve, say, the Word file I'll
know that it's "connected" to the image it orginally came with.


Subfolders aren't the answer, in my case. I need to have all of the
individual files in front of me. I don't want to do this via Outlook,
or with my Outlook calendar, etc. -- it would have to be done in
Windows Explorer to be useful.


Has anyone ever run across a utility that performs that function
w/Windows XP (professional 5.1)? Or is there already a way to do it in
Windows?


Note: I'm deluged with such files every day at work and need to save
them all for later reference, so something like cutting and pasting the
photo into the word doc. isn't an option -- I wouldn't get anything
else done.

Thanks for your help; please pass this along if necessary.

One way would be to sort the files by their creation date. Alternatively,
rename them with the same name when you save them (appending numbered tags
for files of similar file type).

 

[Bob I]

Place the files in a "zip folder" with an appropriate filename.

 

[kvandyke]

That's pretty much what I've been doing. (Believe it or not, this is a
time drain, practically speaking.) This isn't the first time I've
thought this might be a good feature on Windows -- there must be many
other people who work on a pc all day who run into this. I'm not sure
how it would be done, though. I'm thinking it would involve right
clicking and selecting the file or files you want to associate with it.
Then maybe the associated files would be able to be sorted that way
inside a folder?

 

[Blackadder]

Place the files in a "zip folder" with an appropriate filename.

That's really just the same as using separate subfolders (actually, it's
more complicated) which isn't the answer according to the OP (see third
paragraph).

 

[Malke]

That's really just the same as using separate subfolders (actually,
it's more complicated) which isn't the answer according to the OP (see
third paragraph).

Maybe something like MS Office's InfoPath would help:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/infopath/prodinfo/default.mspx

Or even OneNote:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010858031033.aspx

I used to use TreePad a long time ago on Windows:
http://www.treepad.com/

Malke