How to Open an external file based on values in List Row

[Rebekah]

This may be something that is previously addressed on this forum but i've not had any luck in searching, and to be honest i'm not exactly sure how to word it appropriately here either.

We have a locally developed web page (intranet) that allows qualification documents to be uploaded and stored in a SQL Server database as a VARBINARY(MAX) datatype.  In our application (asp.net C#), we provide the ability for those users to open these same documents within the datagrid using LinkButton properties.  However our policies require that only users with a need to insert/update information have access to applications of this nature...  this is where Cognos comes in for us.

So from within a Cognos report, i need to be able to provide the ability for "consumers" (as opposed to "maintainers") to access these same documents that have been uploaded. 

If there is already a thread that points in the right direction, or if someone knows the proper way to search for this i would appreciate those answers as well.  I'm guessing there's a way to use a hyperlink or HTML Item with some java script to make this happen - and I'm sure this is probably a common thing to do - but i can't seem to find anything on it and/or use the right combination of words to search for it.

I'm using Report Studio 10.2.  Currently I'm just using a native SQL from within the report and bypassing the framework, but i'm glad to build a framework to accommodate this if that would be best.

Thanks in advance for any help :)

Rebekah

[Robl]

First, create a data item that returns the URL you want; probably based on a mix of concatenating text and data.

Second, on the report page unlock the page and drag a hyperlink into the list.
Then change the properties of the hyperlink to populate from the previously created data item

[Rebekah]

Thanks for the reply but that's not exactly what I'm looking for.  I don't want the report to link back to the application/web page because the report users won't have access to the web app. 

What i want is for the report to pull the documents (stored as varbinary(MAX) in the database table) directly from the database, just like the application is doing.  So in effect giving them "read only" access to the same information without allowing them access to the application where the data and documents are inserted and updated.

any other ideas?

[Robl]

Sorry.
I understand the problem now, but I can't think of a solution.