[Emacs-orgmode] Recent changes: Internal linking

[Carsten Dominik]

I a going to seed the mailing list with a few posts about features 
recently added to OrgMode.  Maybe some of you have not noticed these 
changes, and maybe starting to use them will let me fix more bugs :-)

In 4.05 and 4.06, the internal linking system was strongly modified, 
mostly thanks to a discussion with David Wainberg.  Before the changes, 
the only way to make a link from one location in a file to another 
location in the same file used to be:

- CamelCase words, that would start a search for "camel case" when 
activated.  CamelCase for links is still supported because of backward 
compatibility, but it is not turned on by default, and I myself have 
actually stopped using it.

- <file:::SearchOption>, a degenerate link to an external file that was 
in fact a link to the current file because the file name was left out.

After discussion with David, the following modifications were put it:

You can write a link as [[link text]] now.  This type of links looks 
similar to what Wiki-mode does.  The text between the brackets will be 
searched for in the current buffer.  First a search for a target like 
<<link text>> is attempted, and then more lenient searches for this 
text.  Preceding the text with a star limits the search to headlines.

The HTML exporter already supports formatting and using these links, at 
least when they match a target.  Also, you can write [[link 
text][description]], and the HTML formatter will put "description" as 
the clickable text to follow this link.  This is not documented yet, 
because there is no supported way to create such links in org-mode yet, 
except for just typing them into the buffer of course.  I am planning 
to to put this in, for example for links to the different email 
systems.

Another new thing are "radio targets".  If you surround a target text 
no only by double, but by triple angular brackets, like <<<find me>>> 
(press C-c C-c with the cursor on that text to tell Org-mode that there 
is a new radio target....), then each occasion of "find me" in the 
buffer will automatically become a link to this target.  This can be 
useful if you have particular locations in the file you need to reach 
often.

Since jumping around with links is fun, but makes you loose your 
current location, each time you follow a link, a mark is pushed onto 
Org-modes dedicated mark ring, and you can jump back with `C-c &'.  
Using this command several times in direct succession goes back to 
earlier and earlier locations from where you have followed a link.

- Carsten

--
Carsten Dominik
Sterrenkundig Instituut "Anton Pannekoek"
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Kruislaan 403
NL-1098SJ Amsterdam
phone: +31 20 525 7477