Cross-referencing topics outside a map

[antoterrence]

Hi,
We have a couple of maps that include topics which in turn contain cross-references to topics that are not part of the maps.
Is it a good practice to cross-reference topics that are not part of a map? If done, such cross-references will work only in HTML output and not PDF.
Can you guide us on a good strategy to cross-reference topics in DITA?

Regards,
Antony Terrence

[Radu]

Dear Antony,

As you also found out, using such cross references results in broken links in the PDF output. So links to topics not referenced in the DITA Map is not a good idea.
In the Oxygen DITA Maps Manager view there is a "Validate and Check for Completeness" and one of the checkboxes there is "Report links to topics not referenced in the DITA Map". You should use that to avoid having such problems in your DITA project.

Regards,
Radu

[antoterrence]

Thank you, Radu. The topic that contains cross references is being reused. So in one map, it works fine. In another, the writer does not want the links to appear in the output except the xref text. Is there a way to disable link (blue line) from the output without removing the xref element? Thanks for your help.

[Radu]

Hi Antony,

I would do this using key references.
So in the reusable component topic I would have the link something like this:

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<ph keyref="linkKey"/>

and then in the DITA Map where I want it as link, I would define the key like this:

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<keydef keys="linkKey" href="tasks/pruning.dita"/>

then in the other DITA Map where I want plain text I would define it like this:

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<keydef keys="linkKey">
    <topicmeta>
      <keywords>
        <keyword>
          LINK TEXT HERE
        </keyword>
      </keywords>
    </topicmeta>
  </keydef>

I tested this with the DITA OT 3.x bundled with Oxygen 21.1, it may not work with older DITA OTs.

Regards,
Radu

[antoterrence]

Thanks. It works.