8.1 Parts of an Xref
Cross-references have two major parts: the first part is called the
label; it is the name that you can use to refer to the cross
reference, and the second is the target; it is the full name of
the node that the cross-reference points to.
The target is separated from the label by a colon ‘:’; first the
label appears, and then the target. For example, in the sample menu
cross-reference below, the single colon separates the label from the
target.
* Foo Label: Foo Target. More information about Foo.
Note the ‘.’ which ends the name of the target. The ‘.’ is
not part of the target; it serves only to let Info know where the target
name ends.
A shorthand way of specifying references allows two adjacent colons to
stand for a target name which is the same as the label name:
* Foo Commands:: Commands pertaining to Foo.
In the above example, the name of the target is the same as the name of
the label, in this case Foo Commands
.
You will normally see two types of cross-reference while viewing nodes:
menu references, and note references. Menu references
appear within a node’s menu; they begin with a ‘*’ at the beginning
of a line, and continue with a label, a target, and a comment which
describes what the contents of the node pointed to contains.
Note references appear within the body of the node text; they begin with
*Note
, and continue with a label and a target.
Like ‘Next’, ‘Prev’, and ‘Up’ pointers, cross-references
can point to any valid node. They are used to refer you to a place
where more detailed information can be found on a particular subject.
Here is a cross-reference which points to a node within the Texinfo
documentation: See Writing an Xref in the Texinfo
Manual, for more information on creating your own texinfo cross
references.