Info Node: (texinfo)@anchor

texinfo: @anchor
Nodes
Node Menu Illustration
makeinfo Pointer Creation
Back to Software Index
6.3 '@anchor': Defining Arbitrary Cross Reference Targets
=========================================================
An "anchor" is a position in your document, labeled so that cross
references can refer to it, just as they can to nodes. You create an
anchor with the '@anchor' command, and give the label as a normal
brace-delimited argument. For example:
This marks the @anchor{x-spot}spot.
...
@xref{x-spot,,the spot}.
produces:
This marks the spot.
...
See [the spot], page 1.
As you can see, the '@anchor' command itself produces no output. This
example defines an anchor 'x-spot' just before the word 'spot'. You can
refer to it later with an '@xref' or other cross reference command, as
shown (Note: Cross References).
It is best to put '@anchor' commands just before the position you wish
to refer to; that way, the reader's eye is led on to the correct text
when they jump to the anchor. You can put the '@anchor' command on a
line by itself if that helps readability of the source. Whitespace
(including newlines) is ignored after '@anchor'.
Anchor names and node names may not conflict. Anchors and nodes are
given similar treatment in some ways; for example, the 'goto-node'
command takes either an anchor name or a node name as an argument.
(Note: (info)Go to node.)
Also like node names, anchor names cannot include some characters
(Note: Node Line Requirements).
Because of this duality, when you delete or rename a node, it is
usually a good idea to define an '@anchor' with the old name. That way,
any links to the old node, whether from other Texinfo manuals or general
web pages, keep working. You can also do this with the
'RENAMED_NODES_FILE' feature of 'makeinfo' (Note: HTML Xref Link
Preservation). Both methods keep links on the web working; the only
substantive difference is that defining anchors also makes the old node
names available when reading the document in Info.
automatically generated by info2www version 1.2