Key references and their usage

You can define a variable in a map and then insert it into a topic as a key, which is also known as a key reference or <keyref>.

A key provides you with consistent and efficient control of phrases or words you regularly reuse. For example, you can use keys to define names for products or product features. If names change over time, you don't need to edit all the topics that contain mentions of those products or features. Instead, you only need to edit the key in the map that contains the related topic.

You can also use keys instead of direct hyperlinks, an <href>, to create context-aware references to other objects such as maps, topics, or images. Further, you can combine the power of keys with the flexibility of content reference, a <conref>, to create a <conkeyref>, which allows you to manage context-aware references that point to larger pieces of information.

While keys are powerful, their effective usage requires an awareness of all object relationships.