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Link Commands in the Tools Menus
This section describes the link-related commands that are available in the Link submenu in the Tools menu of the Organizer and all SDL Suite editors.
The Link submenu contains the following menu choices:
- Link > Create
- Link > Create Endpoint
- Link > Traverse
- Link > Link Manager
- Link > Clear
- Link > Clear Endpoint
Link > Create
This menu command creates a link between the object selected in the editor and the object selected in the Entity Dictionary. If two such objects are selected, the Create Link dialog is opened (see Figure 135). The editor object does not need to have a link endpoint defined to be able to create a link, i.e. only one of the objects need to be present in the Entity Dictionary. It is possible to create a link to itself.
In the Text Editor, the selected text must already be a link endpoint. It is not possible to create links to text that is not an endpoint.
If no object is selected in the editor, or no endpoint is selected in the Text Editor, the menu command is dimmed.
If no object is selected in the Entity Dictionary, or the Entity Dictionary has not been opened, a warning dialog is issued (see Figure 134) and the Entity Dictionary window is opened or raised. When the dialog is closed and the instructions given in it are followed, the Create Link dialog is opened.
The Create Link dialog looks like this:
- Link <editor object> to/from <entity dictionary object>
- Link name
- The name of the link. A name can be entered or edited in the text field, or be selected from the associated option menu. The five latest used link names when creating links will be available in the option menu, and the name in the text field is preset to the latest used link name. A link name must be specified.
- Link comment
- Create
If the Entity Dictionary window was opened because of the Create Link command, it will stay up until the user explicitly closes it.
Link > Create Endpoint
This menu command defines the currently selected object as a link endpoint. The endpoint is immediately added to the Entity Dictionary and the Link Manager. The object is marked as a link endpoint in the invoking tool - an editor or the Organizer. (See Visualization of Endpoints and Links.)
This command is dimmed if not exactly one object that can be defined as a link endpoint is selected, or if the object already is an endpoint.
This command is also available in the popup menus of all editors and the Organizer.
Link > Traverse
This menu command traverses an existing link from the currently selected object. This is done by opening the tool where the other link endpoint is defined (an editor or the Organizer) and selecting the other endpoint object.
This command is dimmed if more than one object is selected, or if the selected object has no links defined.
This command is also available in the popup menus of all editors and the Organizer, as Traverse Link.
If there is only one link defined from the object, that link is traversed, as described above. If more than one link exists, a dialog showing all links is opened and one of the links has to be selected.
The dialog presents a list of all links to and from the object in the following form:
- From | To <type and name of linked object>, <file name>
The type and name of the linked object follow the same notation as in the Entity Dictionary; see Textual Notation. The file name of the document where the linked object is found contains a path if the file is not in the Organizer's Source Directory.
Link > Link Manager
This menu command opens or raises the Link Manager window. If exactly one object is selected and this object is a link endpoint, this endpoint will be selected and made visible in the Link Manager. This command is never dimmed.
For more information about the Link Manager, see The Link Manager.
Link > Clear
This menu command removes one or more links to or from the currently selected object. However, the link endpoints are preserved. This command is dimmed if more than one object is selected, or if the selected object has no links defined.
A dialog showing all links is opened and one or more of the links has to be selected.
The links to and from the object are listed in the following form:
- From | To <type and name of linked object>
The list of links is a multiple selection list, in which one or more links can be selected. When a selection is made in the list, the Clear button becomes active.
To remove links, select the links in the list and click the Clear button. A link is removed from both endpoint objects, but the link endpoints themselves are not removed. If either of the endpoint objects had only this link defined, and no others, the mark of the object changes to indicate that the object is only an endpoint with no links defined. For information on how to remove an endpoint, see Link > Clear Endpoint (below).
Link > Clear Endpoint
This menu command removes the link endpoint from the currently selected object, and subsequently all links connected to the endpoint.
This command is dimmed if more than one object is selected, or if the selected object is not an endpoint.
If the selected object has no links connected to the endpoint, the endpoint is removed without further user interaction. The endpoint is removed from the Entity Dictionary and the Link Manager. The object is no longer marked as a link endpoint in the invoking tool (an editor or the Organizer).
If the selected object has one or more links connected to the endpoint, a warning dialog is opened, since the operation of removing a link cannot be undone:
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