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.

* Parts of an Xref::            What a cross reference is made of.
* Selecting Xrefs::             Commands for selecting menu or note items.

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 Writing an Xref in the Texinfo Manual, for more information on creating your own texinfo cross
references.

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 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 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.


