Skip to content

File Reference

The FILE REFERENCE data type is used to store a URL of a resource. This could be an image, a document or any resource identifiable with a URL. Backendless stores any data for the columns of this type as strings. When the column is referenced in the APIs, the values of this column type in the requests and responses should be strings.

Backendless Console has a special handling of the data for the FILE REFERENCE columns:

  1. A file can be selected by clicking the link icon in a cell from the file reference column:
    fileref-selectfile
  2. When creating a file reference, you can choose a file from the File storage or enter a URL for any Internet resource:
    fileref-filepicker
  3. Console displays file URLs as links. If the file is an external resource (not stored in Backendless File storage), clicking the link opens the file in a separate browser window. If the file is stored in Backendless, clicking the link opens then the Files section and navigates to the directory where the file is stored (console uses file search, so only the linked file is shown).