Create a cross-reference to an element within a topic

You can insert a cross-reference that creates links to an element within a topic.

1. Search for and open the topic you want to link to.
2. In the topic, add an ID @id attribute for the element that you want to link to.

   For example, if you want to link to a section in the topic, you would add an ID to the <section> element: <section id="IntroSection">

   1. Right-click the element and select Edit Attributes.
   2. From the Name dropdown list, select id.
   3. In the Value field, enter a unique value.
   4. Click OK.
3. Open the topic you want to add the cross-reference in.
4. Place the cursor where you want to insert the cross-reference.
   Note: The cursor must be within an element that allows <xref> elements.
5. Right-click the topic that you want to link to, and select Oxygen Editor > Insert as XRef .
   You can select the topic from any of the views, such as the Search Results view, Documents view, or DITA Map view.
6. Right-click the cross-reference and and select Edit Attributes.
7. From the Name dropdown list, select href.
8. In the Value field, add the topic ID and the value for the @id attribute that you entered for the element you want to reference.
   Use the following syntax:

   filename.xml#topicid/idstring

   • filename is the file name of the topic, which should already appear in the Value field
   • topicid is the root ID of the topic
   • idstring is the ID of the target element

   For example, if your topic ID is acb4321987654321 and the target element's ID is firstbullet, then the value would be:

   acb4321987654321.xml#acb4321987654321/firstbullet

9. Optional: In the <xref> element, type any text that you want to display for the link.
   You can add text, such as like link, here, and click here.