In DITA, a reference lets you include the content of an element in a component, including phrases, topics, images, and maps. You can see all references a component includes without having to open the component using the Details option. The References tab provides a list of components that are referenced in the selected component using a content reference (conref), key reference (conkeyref), or crossreference (xref) . You can also export the list of referenced components.
![](References_tab_cd0ade50-6f00-4317-bc56-c37e24a622d5.png)
![](a1whitespace_7ad30086-0bad-460d-9943-21d2fde8f192.png)
![](a1whitespace_7ad30086-0bad-460d-9943-21d2fde8f192.png)
To view component references:
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Click
Components.
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In the Folders pane, navigate to the folder where you've saved the component.
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In the Components pane, select the component you want to open.
Note: You can verify you have the correct component by looking in the
Content details pane at the preview.
![](Comp_Preview_Ex2_350_2024_40e4a51c-f5ff-42f9-b129-17660408c125.png)
If the pane isn't open, click the down arrow in the pane's title bar.
![](Content_details_DA_9f8ef116-39ce-4c6f-9ce5-0cb932811c62.png)
If you think the preview isn't showing the latest version, click Refresh
.
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Right-click a component, and then click Details...
Note: You can also access this option from the component's
![](Action_Menu_ce13076b-933f-4067-8de5-672b063fd798.png)
Options menu.
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On the Components Details dialog, click the References tab.
Tips and tricks
- Select a column title to sort the list.
- You can also add additional columns to the list.
- If the number of references is large:
- Use filtering options to limit the number of references in the list.
- Use the page navigation options at the bottom of the list to move to the next or previous page in the list.
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Optionally, to filter the list of references by words in the component name, enter text in the Search text box and click Search
.
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Optionally, to save the list of component relationships to a CSV file:
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Click Save as CSV
.
![](GL_Info_small_d043eb92-e862-4e0a-9c8a-12c397010c1a.png)
You can filter the list of components before saving the list to a CSV file.
- In the Search field, enter key words.
- In Saved Queries, select a query.
This creates a CSV file that contains relationship details only for the results of the search.
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To choose what time zone is used, on the Convert time confirmation screen, select one of the following:
![](SaveasCSVBrchToast1_a0a63c60-0a5e-440e-8bd3-4a619fff8913.png)
You see the date displayed in the header of the CSV as: All date/times are shown in {timezone} or UTC.
UTC is a time zone standard used as a basis for all time zones worldwide. It is a constant time scale and does not change for Daylight Saving Time.
- To use your local time, click Yes.
- To use UTC time, click No
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Optionally, to open the referenced component in the Oxygen-based editor, click the reference's
Options menu and select Edit.
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Optionally, to open the referenced component in a read-only viewer, click the reference's
Options menu and select View.
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Optionally, to locate the referenced component in the Components browser, click the reference's
Options menu and select Go to.
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Optionally, to automatically repair an invalid reference, click the reference's
Options menu and select Auto-Repair.
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Optionally, to change the referenced component and to locate a new component, click the reference's
Options menu and select Browse.
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To save any changes you made, click Save.
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To close the Component Details dialog, click Cancel.