These are called relative links because the path to the linked file, relative to the location of the current file is specified.

Case 1

If the file to be accessed is stored on a lower level of directory than the current directory, then that file can be accessed by typing the directory name/ filename in the href attribute. In the following example, the file ‘work’ is a subdirectory of the current directory and the file myfile.html is stored in ‘work’.

Case 2

If the file to be accessed is stored on a higher level of directory than the current directory, then we can access that file by simply typing ../ before the name of the file. Each ../ tells the web browser to go one level up relative to the current directory. In the following example, the browser has to go two levels up to link the file to the document.

Absolute Path

Absolute path is used to link those documents that are not directly related to the current document. Links to some other websites should be absolute, as they are not related to the current directory. So even if the current directory is moved, it will not affect the links.

Linking

XHTML, like HTML, becomes all the more powerful from the fact that different documents can be linked together. With the help of this tool, a text or an image can be linked to any part of the document or section of a document. A browser highlights the identified text or image with color or underlines to indicate that it is a hyperlink. A new document opens on clicking that hyperlink.

Linking is done with the help of the following tags:

Anchor Tag

The anchor tag is indicated by <a>. An anchor is a piece of text or some other object (like image) to mark the beginning and/or end of a hypertext link. It is used to create a link to some other document by using the “href” attribute.

The anchor tag of XHTML is similar to the anchor tag of HTML. All the attributes of the anchor tag in HTML are also applicable in XHTML. An anchor tag by itself doesn’t do anything. It has to be enhanced with attributes like:

Href

Href stands for Hypertext Reference. The address of the file or the address of the website is typed in the href attribute. The address is of that document which the web page links to.

Target

The target attribute specifies where the target URL should open. It takes up various values which are:

• _Blank

The target file will open in a new window.

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