GNU Info 4.2: 7. Selecting Cross References

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# 7. Selecting Cross References

We have already discussed the ‘`Next`’, ‘`Prev`’, and ‘`Up`’ pointers which appear at the top of a node. In addition to these pointers, a node may contain other pointers which refer you to a different node, perhaps in another Info file. Such pointers are called cross references, or xrefs for short.

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## 7.1 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 (texinfo)xref section ‘Writing an Xref’ in the Texinfo Manual, for more information on creating your own texinfo cross references.

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## 7.2 Selecting Xrefs

The following table lists the Info commands which operate on menu items.

<1> (`menu-digit`)
<2> … <9>
<M-1>, vi-like operation
<M-2> … <M-9>, vi-like operation

  Within an Info window, pressing a single digit, (such as ‘`1`’), selects that menu item, and places its node in the current window. For convenience, there is one exception; pressing ‘`0`’ selects the last item in the node’s menu. When ‘`--vi-keys`’ is in effect, digits set the numeric argument, so these commands are remapped to their ‘`M-`’ varieties. For example, to select the last menu item, press <M-0>.

<0> (`last-menu-item`)
<M-0>, vi-like operation

  Select the last item in the current node’s menu.

<m> (`menu-item`)

  Reads the name of a menu item in the echo area and selects its node. Completion is available while reading the menu label. See section completion.

`M-x find-menu`

  Move the cursor to the start of this node’s menu.

This table lists the Info commands which operate on cross references.

<f> (`xref-item`)
<r>
<M-f>, vi-like operation
`C-x <r>`, vi-like operation

  Reads the name of a note cross reference in the echo area and selects its node. Completion is available while reading the cross reference label. See section completion.

Finally, the next few commands operate on menu or note references alike:

<TAB> (`move-to-next-xref`)

  Move the cursor to the start of the next nearest menu item or note reference in this node. You can then use <RET> (`select-reference-this-line`) to select the menu or note reference.

<M-TAB> (`move-to-prev-xref`)
<Shift-<TAB>> (on DOS/Windows only)

  Move the cursor the start of the nearest previous menu item or note reference in this node.

  On DOS/Windows only, the `Shift-<TAB>` key is an alias for `M-<TAB>`. This key is sometimes called ‘`BackTab`’.

<RET> (`select-reference-this-line`)
<M-g>, vi-like operation

  Select the menu item or note reference appearing on this line.

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