Related links elements

The related-links section of DITA topics is a special structure that supports the navigational rules from a topic to its related neighbor topics.

Links are different from cross-references in that cross-references occur only within the body of a topic and can target any element in this or other topics; links only represent topic-to-topic connections, or connections to non-DITA-topic resources. Links are located after the body of a topic, in the related-links element.

Related links can also be managed indirectly using DITA maps, which provide a more efficient way to manage links as an aspect of the collection of topics rather than as embedded pointers in each topic.

  1. link
    The <link> element defines a relationship to another topic. Links represent the types and roles of topics in a web of information, and therefore represent navigational links within that web. Links are typically sorted on output based on their attributes. The optional container elements for link (<linkpool> and <linklist>) allow authors to define groups with common attributes, or to preserve the authored sequence of links on output. Links placed in a <linkpool> may be rearranged for display purposes (combined with other local or map-based links); links in a <linklist> should be displayed in the order they are defined. Refer to those elements for additional explanation.
  2. linklist
    The <linklist> element defines an author-arranged group of links. Within <linklist>, the organization of links on final output is in the same order as originally authored in the DITA topic.
  3. linkpool
    The <linkpool> element defines a group of links that have common characteristics, such as type or audience or source. When links are not in a <linklist> (that is, they are in <related-links> or <linkpool> elements), the organization of links on final output is determined by the output process, not by the order that the links actually occur in the DITA topic.
  4. linktext
    The <linktext> element provides the literal label or line of text for a link. In most cases, the text of a link can be resolved during processing by cross reference with the target resource. Use the <linktext> element only when the target cannot be reached, such as when it is a peer or external link, or the target is local but not in DITA format. When used inside a topic, it will be used as the text for the specified link; when used within a map, it will be used as the text for generated links that point to the specified topic.
  5. linkinfo
    The <linkinfo> element allows you to place a descriptive paragraph following a list of links in a <linklist> element.
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OASIS DITA Language Specification v1.1 -- Committee Draft 02, 8 May 2007
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