About Arbortext Styler > Cross References and Other Links > Cross Reference and Linking Overview
  
Cross Reference and Linking Overview
Arbortext Styler lets you configure cross references and links for your document, whereby you can create links between elements in the document, or between elements in multiple documents. There are three principal ways in which this can be achieved:
• Cross reference - Configuring elements to automatically generate the text upon which the user will click. Allocate the Cross Reference style to the element that should generate the reference. Note that the target element of a cross reference of this nature must fall under one of the following two categories:
◦ An element styled as Division or Formal Block that has an ID and a title.
The target ID you are cross referencing can either appear on the division or formal block element itself or on its title element.
It is possible to cross reference an element that does not have a title, but this must be achieved via a non-standard process. See Creating Cross References and Cross Reference Formatting for further information.
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You must ensure that you create and/or maintain a context for the use of the title element in the element being cross referenced. For example, if you are cross referencing a chapter, you must maintain the context title in chapter in Arbortext Styler, and ensure that the occurrence of chapter in your document includes an ID.
◦ An element that has an ID and that is numbered
You can create pseudo-numbering for a non-numbered element, to allow cross reference linking. Refer to Configuring Pseudo Numbering for Non-Numbered Elements to Permit Links for further information.
• Simple internal link - Manually authoring the text that the user will click on. Allocate the Link style to the element that should generate the reference
Creating a Cross Reference Format Object and Creating Cross References and Cross Reference Formatting deal mainly with the first method of creating a cross reference, i.e. via the Cross Reference style, but Styling an element as a cross reference does contain an example of how to create a simple internal link.
Documents with cross references are easier to maintain than those with links, but cross references do only work within a single document.
When you configure an element that generates the cross reference, you have the opportunity to select a format in which the cross reference should be displayed. To support this, the Cross References list The Cross References list icon - blue rectangles in the top left and bottom right corners, connected by a red arrow contains a list of all cross reference formats currently available in the stylesheet, and permits you to create formats of your own. Note that, if you choose a cross reference format that includes a request to display the target element's number in the reference text, you must be linking to an element that is set to display its number, such as a division or a formal block. Otherwise you can cross reference to any object that has an ID associated with it.