Listing file system objects (directories/files) in a note

[mortenk]

Hi. I’m new to Obsidian, but so far it looks awesome.

What I’m trying to do

I’m trying to list file system objects (files and directories/folders) in a note. The files / folders are somewhere on the filesystem, but not inside the Obsidian vault itself.

The purpose is to navigate to files and folders quickly, from the context of a note. And without having to create and maintain these lists of files/folders manually.

For example, I’d like a page with a list of links to all files and folders in a specified folder, let’s say c:\test\ (which is outside the vault). On the page, I would then have a list of all files and folders inside c:\test.

I often need specific files during my work, and I want to retain the existing folder structure in the filesystem, and avoid duplicating these files as Obsidian attachments.

I was hoping there’s a more automatic method using built-in feature or plug-in.

Things I have tried

I have tried using the dataview plugin, but as far as I can tell, it only works with notes, files and folders that are already inside the vault.

[JonathanBuchh]

You could try using a symlink if you’re computer savvy. Then, you could use something like the Dataview plugin to make the list you need. If you don’t know what a symlink is, I would recommend doing something else since you could get yourself into a sticky situation. Unfortunately, I can’t think of another way to do what you need, but hopefully someone else does.

I’m not sure if this would be helpful, but you could create another vault that points to the folder you need that is outside your other vault. You could then use something like Dataview and have the vaults open side by side. I know this isn’t what you were hoping for, but it is somewhat of a solution.