Creating Cross References

Cross references are links between items in the database. They are how you show that an item is dependent on another item in some way. For example, one item may satisfy another item, or an item may be a decomposition (a child) of another item.

How are Cross References created?

Drag and Drop

You can select a group of items in a tree and then drag and drop them onto another item. Cross references will be created from the item that you dragged onto, to the items that you dragged.

If you would like more information on creating cross references using the Drag and Drop method then this cradle help article will help you.

Link Facility

You can select an item and choose Make Link From and then select another item and choose Make Link To. A cross reference is created between the items. This is available from the right click popup menus, and Item menus, and has the advantage that it can be used anywhere:

• Selecting items in a tree
• Selecting items in a table
• For an item in a form
• Selecting an item in a matrix

So it has the advantage that you do not need to have both items open in trees.

If you would like more information on creating cross references using the Link Facility then this cradle help article will help you.

Link Details Dialog

You can display the Link Details dialog that shows the details of a cross reference, including the user-defined attributes inside it. You can manually enter ‘from’ and ‘to’ Identities into the dialog and select Save to create cross references. This is sometimes the fastest way to create a set of cross references.

Of course, you can also import cross references from other tools, from Word tables and Excel spreadsheets. Cross references will also be created automatically when you import from source documents.

For more information on how to create cross references using the Link Details dialog then this cradle help article will help you.