The Link File

The link file contains definitions of hyperlinks. Each definition defines a link symbol, which can be used in the source files and a destination, pointing to an internal or external web page or other ressource.

A line of the link file has the following format defining one link:

linksymbol linkdestination

The linksymbol may contain alphanumeric and underscore, colon and dot characters (:./).

If the linkdestination starts with this: it points to an internal web page and is interpreted as relative path. If the linkdestination is * it equals the linksymbol. All other linkdestinations are interpreted as references to external web pages and are prefixed with http://.

Lines starting with # are treated as comments and define no link symbol. Empty lines are ignored.

I recommend to use some kind of hierarchical naming scheme for the linksymbols, for example by prefixing the linksymbols with a category and if required additional subcategories seperated by colons. An example would be:

w3:html:spec4 www.w3.org/TR/html4/

And another advice: Use the link file and don't put URLs in your source code. It may look easier in some cases at first sight, but you will regret it later, when maintenance of changing links becomes a nightmare.