Help with File Transclusion

I am specifically asking on how to transclude two files under two different groups using the item links. I apologize in advance if my questions are dumb, as I am more or less new and perhaps need more spoon feeding than the average user.

No worries! The only dumb questions are the ones that remain unasked (unless someone is trolling, then they’re all dumb :wink: )

Item links will work for any file in any database, not just the current one. (Just a detail but no harm in your case.)

You can Control-click the file to be transcluded and choose Copy Item Link. Then use the standard syntax {{…}} or the alternative Obsidian syntax ![[…]] and paste the item link between the braces or brackets.

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Yes! That works! Now my next question. I usually insert item links by holding Control-Cmd + E then selecting the file from there, with that, however, it pastes an item link in different format than the one produced by the Copy Item Link way. The difference is that it adds the name of the file in single brackets before the parentheses, which does not produce a successful file transclusion. Is there a workaround?
@BLUEFROG I truly appreciate your help by the way. Thanks a lot!

This is important as well, as a copied item link does not show a link between the two files (under the document pane under links in the inspector), but an inserted one does.

You’re very welcome. :slight_smile:

What do you have set to Control-Command-E?

Ahh… I missed you were using Insert > Item Link.

It pulls up the Link To pop-up, which I can use to find the file I want to link to. It then pastes an item link which looks like […] (URL) instead of only the (URL) which is pasted from the Copy Item Link way.

Yeah, that will insert a proper Markdown link to the file. It is not made for transclusion links. Development would have to assess that behavior.

Agreed. Also, copied item links do not show up as links in the inspector pane, which is a major drawback in my opinion.

I’m seeing no issue with copying an item link and pasting it into a Markdown document as a proper link.
It shows as an outgoing link.
And going to the linked document shows an incoming link.

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PS: The visual dispay of the WikiLink in the transclusion link will be corrected in the next maintenance release.

I must be totally missing something. Can you put up a video showing how to add a file to make it a transcluded link? I have tried to follow this thread, but I am confused. I think a video showing the entire process will help me tremendously. Thanks!

Hey, I think I figured out how transclusion works.

Did you read the Help > Documentation > Documents > Markdown Documents?

Hi @BLUEFROG,
Yes, I read this. It really was not that helpful. I think part of my problem was understanding what transclusion was supposed to be and do. I have since got it to work, but it was not what I expected. I thought I could mouse over the link and see a popup of the material.

I think I have worked it out, but I need to work with it some to see if it is something to add to my workflow.

Thanks for the quick response!

You’re welcome and thanks for the feedback.

Is there any chance to check whether a file is transcluded in Markdown like a backlink? I could not see any details in the document inspector.

No. A transclusion is not a link, neither item nor Wiki, do it doesn’t appear in the Links inspector.

Ok. Would be great if this could be thought of for further releases. As the markdown link via x-file-link is noted as a link maybe this could be achieved too as the transclusion is done via x-file-link.

Development will have to assess this. Cheers!

This will be great =)

Yes, please!

See also: Feature Request: Display items into which a given markdown item has been transcluded