EAD (Encoded Archival Description, Version 2002 Official Site)

Encoded Archival Description Tag Library, Version 2002

Linking Attributes

The following attributes apply to elements used for linking.

ACTUATE -- A control that defines whether a link occurs automatically or must be requested by the user. It is used in conjunction with the SHOW attribute to determine link behavior. Values are:

  • onload (element is displayed automatically)
  • onrequest (element is displayed if user requests)
  • actuateother (some other action occurs with respect to the link)
  • actuatenone (no action occurs with respect to the link

ARCROLE -- URI preference that identifies a resource that describes some property of an arc-type or simple-type linking element.

ENTITYREF -- The name of a nonparsed entity declared in the declaration subset of the document that points to a machine-readable version of the cited reference.

FROM -- Resource from which traversal may be initiated, that is, a starting resource, in an extended link. Available only in <arc>.

HREF -- The locator for a remote resource in a simple or extended link. An HREF takes the form of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). If no URI is specified, the locator is assumed to be within the document that contains the linking element.

ID -- An identifier used to name the element so that it can be referred to, or referenced from, somewhere else. Each ID within a document must have a unique value. The ID attribute regularizes the naming of the element and thus facilitates building links between it and other resources.

LINKTYPE -- A fixed or default value that identifies the element as XLINK-compatible. Types are, simple, extended, locator, or resource.

PARENT -- A pointer to another container that holds the container item being described in the current element, e.g., points to the element that describes the box in which a folder is housed. Available in <container> and <physloc>.

ROLE -- Information that explains to application software the part that a remote resource plays in a link.

SHOW -- A control that defines whether a remote resource that is the target of a link appears at the point of the link, replaces the existing link, or appears in a new window. It is used in conjunction with the ACTUATE attribute to determine link behavior. Values are:

  • embed (the target resource displays at the point of the link)
  • new (the target resource appears in a new window)
  • replace (the target resource replaces the local resource that initiated the link)
  • showother (some other action takes place with respect to the target resource)
  • shownone (no target resource displays)

TARGET -- A pointer to the ID of another element.

TITLE -- Information that serves as a viewable caption which explains to users the part that a resource plays in a link.

TO -- Specification of a resource that may be traversed to, that is, an ending resource, in an extended link.

XPOINTER -- The locator for a remote resource in a simple or locator link. The XPOINTER attribute takes the form of a Uniform Resource Identifier plus a reference, formulated in XPOINTER syntax, to a sub-resource of the remote resource. XPOINTER enables linking to specific sections of a document that are relative, i.e., based on their position in the document or their content, rather than by reference to a specific identifier such as an ID.