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The Complete Guide to the SAS Output Delivery System

HTML Links and References

What Are Links and References?

An HTML link is a place in a document that allows you to jump to another specific place in the same document or in another document. A browser typically highlights the text that is between the tags that begin and end the link. When you click on the highlighted text, the browser displays the text at the link target. The browser might then display the contents of the target, or it might open a second browser window to display the contents of the target.

An HTML reference names a file for the browser to display. When a browser reads a reference, it displays the referenced file as if it were part of the file that it is displaying. You can't tell by looking at the browser's display that some of the material is in the file that you are actually viewing and that some is referenced.

When you use ODS, the software automatically creates the links and references that you need. You can, however, customize these links to some extent. If you wish to do so, you will need to understand how HTML implements links and references.

Implementing HTML Links and References

Note:    This simplified discussion of HTML links and references is designed to provide information that will help you understand what ODS does when it builds links and references for you. For a complete discussion of HTML tagging, consult one of the many reference books that are available on the subject.  [cautend]

Each link in HTML is implemented with a combination of two sets of <A> (anchor) tags. One anchor tag, which is the starting point of the link, has an HREF attribute that identifies the anchor tag to link to. The other anchor tag, which is the target of the link, has a NAME attribute. This NAME attribute is what the HREF attribute in the first anchor tag points to. The value of each NAME attribute in a file must be unique so that each value of HREF points to a single, unambiguous location. (See Linking within a File.)

Linking within a File
 Note about figure

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The important features at the starting point of this link are

When a link points to a target outside the file that is being displayed, the HREF attribute must include the path to that file. The path can be the path within the file system or the uniform resource locator (URL) of the file. Linking to Another File illustrates a link from one file to another file that is specified with a URL.

Linking to Another File
 Note about figure

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The important features at the starting point (the anchor) of the link are

ODS provides features that enable you to customize the text that precedes the pound sign and the text that follows the pound sign. For information on how to do this, see the discussions of HTML-file-specification, ANCHOR=, BASE=, PATH=, and GPATH= as well as How ODS Constructs Links and References.

HTML implements references in much the same way as it implements links. The main difference is that a link points to a particular location within a file and that a reference points to the file itself. HTML uses the SRC attribute to identify a file to reference. The value of the SRC attribute is constructed the same way that the value of the HREF attribute is constructed except that there is no pound sign and no text following it.

How ODS Constructs Links and References

Several options in the ODS HTML statement affect how ODS constructs the links and references that point from the frame to the table of contents, table of pages, and body file and from the table of contents or table of pages to the body file. Links are made as HREF attributes on <A> (anchor) tags inside the HTML files. Each HREF attribute points to the NAME attribute on another A (anchor) tag. The HREF must identify both the file that contains the target and the name of the anchor within that file. The value of HREF must be a valid target in a valid URL. It uses the following form:

<A href="URL#anchor-name">
ODS constructs the value of an HREF attribute based on information that you provide in the ODS HTML statement.

Note:    HTML references to files use other tags, but the logic for creating the string that identifies the file is the same as the logic for creating an HREF attribute (see Implementing HTML Links and References).  [cautend]

The URL in an HREF attribute is composed of information from three options in the ODS HTML statement: the BASE option; the GPATH= or the PATH= option; and the BODY=, the CONTENTS=, or the PAGE= option.

  1. If you specify BASE=, the value of that option is the first part of the URL for every HREF attribute that ODS writes.

  2. If you specify GPATH= or PATH=, the next part of the URL in an HREF attribute comes from that option.

    If the file that you are linking to is a graphic, ODS uses information from the GPATH= option as the next part of the HREF. (For information on these options, see the discussion of GPATH= and the discussion of PATH=.) Building an HREF Attribute from the GPATH= Option shows how ODS uses information from the GPATH= option in the URL in HREF attributes.

    Building an HREF Attribute from the GPATH= Option
    If the file-specification in GPATH= is ... And the URL= suboption is*... ODS uses this information in the second part of the URL in the HREF attribute#...
    an external-file or libref.catalog not specified the name of the file
    an external-file or libref.catalog specified, but not NONE the value of the URL= suboption
    an external-file or libref.catalog NONE No information from GPATH=
    a fileref specified or not specified No information from GPATH=
    *In the CMS operating environment, you must use the URL= suboption in the GPATH= option because CMS filenames do not form valid URLs.

    #If you do not specify GPATH=, ODS uses the value of PATH= to create this part of the HREF.

    If the file that you are linking to is not a graphic, ODS uses information from the PATH= option as the next part of the HREF. Building an HREF Attribute from the PATH= Option shows how ODS uses information from the PATH= option in the URL in HREF attributes.

    Building an HREF Attribute from the PATH= Option
    If the file-specification in PATH= is ... And the URL= suboption is*... ODS uses this information in the second part of the URL in the HREF attribute#
    an external-file or libref.catalog not specified the name of the file
    an external-file or libref.catalog specified, but not NONE the value of the URL= suboption
    an external-file or libref.catalog NONE No information from PATH=
    a fileref specified or not specified No information from PATH=
    *In the CMS operating environment, you must use the URL= suboption in the PATH= option because CMS filenames do not form valid URLs.

    #If you do not specify PATH=, ODS does not use any values from the PATH= option to create the HREF attribute.

    Note:    If you use a fileref as the file specification in the BODY=, CONTENTS=, or PAGE= option in the ODS HTML statement, and you do not use the URL= suboption in that option, ODS does not use information from GPATH= or PATH= when it creates the complete URL for any corresponding HREF attributes.   [cautend]

  3. The last part of the URL that is used in an HREF attribute is, by default, the name of the file that contains the target. ODS determines the name of the file from the file-specification that you use in the BODY=, CONTENTS=, or PAGE= option. (ODS does not create links or references to frame files.) For more information on these options, see the discussion of HTML-file-specification.)

    If you specify the URL= suboption in one of these options, ODS uses the string that you specify instead of the file name.

    Note:    If you use a fileref as the file specification and do not use the URL= suboption, ODS does not use information from GPATH= or PATH= when it creates the complete URL for the HREF attribute.  [cautend]

    Operating Environment Information:    In the CMS operating environment, you must specify the URL= suboption with the BODY=, CONTENTS=, or PAGE= option because CMS file names do not form valid URLs.  [cautend]

The anchor-name comes from the value of the ANCHOR= option.

Creating the Value of an HREF Attribute illustrates the creation of the HREF:

Creating the Value of an HREF Attribute

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