Document Migration Glossary

A clickable reference embedded in a document that points to another file, web page, email address or bookmark. In Office documents, hyperlinks are stored as plain text strings and are not automatically updated when the target file is moved or renamed. Example: a Word document containing a hyperlink to \\Server\Reports\Q1.xlsx will produce a broken link if the file is moved to a different server or folder.

An Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) link connects an object inside one document to a source file stored externally. The object (such as an Excel chart embedded in a Word document) displays content from the source file and can be updated when the source changes. When the source file is moved, the OLE link breaks because the stored path no longer resolves. OLE links are not reachable via the standard Office Find & Replace dialog and require a specialist tool to repair in bulk.

In Excel, a link source is an external workbook referenced in a cell formula, for example ='\\Server\Shared\[Budget.xlsx]Sheet1'!$B$5. In Word, a link source refers to a field code (such as INCLUDETEXT or INCLUDEPICTURE) that pulls content from an external file. Both forms store the full path to the source file. If the source file is moved, the stored path becomes invalid and the cell or field displays an error.

A reference to a file path hard-coded inside Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro code within an Office document. VBA references are not visible to standard link-checking tools and are not updated by Office's own link management features. After a server migration or folder restructuring, VBA code that constructs or opens file paths using the old location will fail silently or with a runtime error. ReplaceMagic can locate and replace path strings inside VBA modules.

A Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path is a standard format for identifying a resource on a network, using the form \\ServerName\ShareName\FolderPath\FileName. UNC paths do not depend on drive letter mappings and are commonly used in Office documents to reference files on shared network storage. Any change to the server name, share name, or folder structure in the path will break links stored in UNC format. Example: \\FILESERVER\Company\Finance\Report.xlsx.

A path that specifies the complete location of a file from the root of the file system, including the drive letter or server name. Examples: C:\Users\Finance\Reports\Q1.xlsx or \\Server\Shared\Reports\Q1.xlsx. Absolute paths are unambiguous and do not depend on the current working directory, but they break as soon as any part of the path changes — including a server rename, folder move, or drive letter reassignment.

A path that specifies a file location relative to the location of the document that contains the link. Example: ..\Finance\Budget.xlsx means "go up one folder level, then into the Finance folder". Relative paths survive moves as long as the relative relationship between the source and target documents is preserved. However, if the folder depth changes (e.g. an intermediate folder is inserted), relative paths break because the .. traversal no longer leads to the correct location.

Any file path stored as a text string inside an Office document, regardless of the link type. Embedded paths include hyperlink targets, OLE source paths, Excel external references, VBA strings, and Word field codes. The term is used to distinguish paths stored inside document content from paths that exist only in the file system. Bulk link repair tools work by locating and substituting embedded path strings without opening the document in Office.

A numeric identifier assigned by SharePoint to each item (file, folder, or list item) within a site. Item IDs are unique within a list or library but are not portable across site collections or tenants. When Office documents are saved in SharePoint, some link types (particularly cross-document links created via Office) may be stored using the Item ID rather than the URL path. During tenant-to-tenant migrations, Item IDs are reassigned and any ID-based links break and cannot be repaired by simple path substitution.

A hyperlink or reference that uses a SharePoint item ID or GUID to identify the target rather than a URL or file path. ID-based links are resilient to file renames and moves within the same SharePoint environment because SharePoint resolves the ID to the current URL at access time. However, they do not survive migrations to a different tenant or site collection, where a new ID is assigned. Converting ID-based links to absolute URL links before migration is the recommended approach for tenant-to-tenant scenarios.

A SharePoint migration that moves content from one Microsoft 365 tenant to a different tenant, typically arising from a company acquisition, merger, or divestiture. Tenant-to-tenant migrations are complex because the target tenant has a different domain, different site URLs, and reassigns all internal SharePoint IDs. Every embedded link in every document that pointed to the source tenant URL will be broken after migration. Pre-migration link analysis and post-migration bulk replacement are essential steps.

A mechanism used by SharePoint Online to limit the rate at which API requests can be made by a single application or user within a given time window. When a bulk processing tool sends too many requests in a short period, SharePoint returns HTTP 429 ("Too Many Requests") responses. Tools designed for SharePoint must implement retry logic with exponential back-off to handle throttling without failing. ReplaceMagic's SharePoint editions handle throttling automatically to ensure reliable bulk processing of large document libraries.

A document management mechanism in SharePoint that locks a file for editing by a specific user. A checked-out document cannot be modified by other users or automated tools until it is checked back in. When running bulk link repairs on a SharePoint library, any document that is checked out by a user will be skipped or will require that user to check it back in first. Managing check-out state is an operational consideration for bulk repair projects on SharePoint.

A SharePoint feature that requires modified documents to be reviewed and approved before the changes become visible to all users. When content approval is enabled on a library, a bulk repair tool that modifies documents will create pending approval items for each changed file. This may affect migration timelines if approval workflows need to be completed before the repaired documents are accessible. Content approval settings should be reviewed before running bulk link repair operations on SharePoint libraries.

A container in SharePoint used to store and manage documents. Each document library is associated with a SharePoint site and has its own URL, permissions, versioning settings, and metadata columns. Document libraries are the SharePoint equivalent of a file server folder, and their URLs are the basis for absolute path references to files stored in SharePoint. During migrations, the library URL typically changes, breaking all embedded paths that referenced the old URL.

A folder on a Windows file server that has been made accessible to network users via the UNC protocol. Network shares are identified by a share name beneath the server name, for example \\FILESERVER\Finance. The server name and share name together form the root of any UNC path that references files in that share. Renaming the server or the share, or removing it as part of a migration to SharePoint or cloud storage, breaks all documents that contain UNC paths rooted at that share.

A dedicated storage device connected to a network that provides file-level data storage to clients using standard network file-sharing protocols (typically SMB/CIFS on Windows networks). NAS devices appear to Office applications as network servers and are accessed via UNC paths. When a NAS device is replaced, its hostname or IP address changes, breaking all embedded paths that referenced the old device. Example: replacing \\NAS-OLD\Data\ with \\NAS-NEW\Data\ requires bulk link repair across all documents.

A high-speed network dedicated to storage that connects servers to block-level storage devices. Unlike a NAS, a SAN presents storage as raw block devices rather than files, and the file system is managed by the server. Documents stored on a SAN are accessed through the server that hosts the file system, not directly through the SAN. When a SAN is upgraded or migrated, the impact on document links depends on whether the server names and volume paths presented to users change as a result.

An embedded path or reference in a document that no longer resolves to an accessible file or resource. A broken link may result from the target file being moved, renamed, or deleted, or from the storage location or network infrastructure changing so that the stored path no longer points to a valid location. Broken links produce error messages when users attempt to follow them, and may prevent data refresh, OLE object updates, or macro execution. Identifying and repairing broken links is the primary function of ReplaceMagic.

The process of checking whether each embedded path in a document actually resolves to an accessible file or resource. Link validation is distinct from link repair: validation identifies which links are broken, while repair fixes them. Running validation before a migration establishes a baseline; running it after confirms that all previously valid links still resolve. ReplaceMagic performs link validation as part of its document scanning process and reports valid, broken, and unreachable links separately.

The process of finding a specific text string in a document and replacing it with a different string. In the context of bulk link repair, search and replace is applied to all embedded paths across all documents in a folder tree simultaneously, substituting the old path component (e.g. old server name) with the new one. ReplaceMagic extends standard search and replace by reaching link types that the Office built-in dialog cannot access, including OLE links, VBA strings, headers, footers, and field codes.

The automated processing of a large number of documents in a single operation, without requiring each document to be opened manually. Bulk processing tools operate directly on the document file format, extracting and modifying content without launching the Office application. This allows thousands of documents to be scanned or repaired in a fraction of the time required for manual processing, and eliminates the risk of human error introduced by repetitive manual work.

An operating mode in ReplaceMagic that shows what changes would be made to each document without actually writing any changes to disk. Preview mode allows you to review the proposed substitutions — which documents will be affected, which strings will be replaced, and what they will be replaced with — before committing to the operation. Running in Preview mode before executing a bulk replacement is strongly recommended, particularly for large document estates where an incorrect rule could produce widespread incorrect changes.

A Microsoft 365 authentication method that allows an application to access SharePoint resources using its own identity (application credentials) rather than on behalf of a specific user. App-only authentication is used for background processing scenarios such as bulk link repair, where interactive user sign-in is not practical. It requires an Azure AD app registration with appropriate SharePoint permissions granted by a tenant administrator. ReplaceMagic's SharePoint editions support app-only authentication for unattended bulk operations.

A security mechanism that requires users to verify their identity using two or more factors (typically a password plus a one-time code from an authenticator app or SMS). MFA is increasingly mandatory in Microsoft 365 tenants. For bulk processing tools that access SharePoint on behalf of a user account, MFA can interrupt unattended operations. The recommended approach for bulk SharePoint operations in MFA-enabled tenants is to use app-only authentication with a registered application, which bypasses interactive MFA prompts.