3.6 Links and Link Dialogs

Links are displayed references to data stored in external documents (or sometimes to data stored within the same document). Because linking relies on a dialog with source documents, an interface for maintaining and updating such links is necessary in client applications. Figure 22 shows the Links dialog box, which allows users to change the type of link updating (automatic or manual), update linked objects, cancel links, and repair broken links.

When the Links dialog first opens, the Links list shows each link contained in the document. Links contained in the current selection in the document are initially selected in the list. (Embedded objects are not shown in the list.) The list is an extended-selection list; the user can select one or several links by using SHIFT+click for range selection and CTRL+click for disjoint selection, as described in The Windows Interface: An Application Design Guide which is part of the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit for Microsoft Windows, version 3.1.

Figure 22. Links dialog box