Hyperlinks in print targets -- how to add a page number?

[CATERAF]

Hi,

I have a query for what to do with hyperlinks in print format (PDF, more specifically).

Generally I am using cross-references throughout my project and then I have these converted to a cross-reference with a page number for the print manual. However, I have a few hyperlinks which I added because I wanted to define my own text to have linked (and not take the content from the page being linked to).
For example, I am linking to a topic titled like 'Configure the Test Run Option' but I only want to have the word 'Run' linked, not the whole phrase. In the print manual, I need this to have the page number as well.
Currently I have a seemingly messy workaround where I have 'Run' written twice, with the first word being hyperlinked and being conditioned for online output. The second word I put 'Run' and then add a cross-reference with PageRef and condition all this for print manual. Essentially, when in print form it says 'Run (page 10)' but online it says 'Run' and that's it.
However, this is time consuming to put in place and leaves much room for error. It's also a pain to come back to fix should I change my wording and it's not longer 'Run' but called something else.

Has anyone else tackled this problem in another, simpler, fashion please? Is there an easy way to add a page number to the end of a hyperlink?

Thanks,
Avril

[Nita Beck]

As far as I know, there is no way to make a hyperlink behave as a cross-reference, to make it include a page reference.

The way many of us have solved this conundrum is to alter our writing style. Instead of including inline links (be they hyperlinks or cross-references), we have taken to adding a full sentence, perhaps within parentheses, following the sentence where we used to use the inline link.

For instance, instead of the following, with a hyperlink:

Use the XYZ feature to configure the test run option.

We'd write the following, with a cross-reference:

Use the XYZ feature to configure the test run option. (See Configure the Test Run Option.)

One might argue that this adds more words, but it's adding only the word "See." Furthermore, one can include "See" in the definition of the cross-reference style itself, so all one would be adding is the punctuation around the cross-reference.

To my way of thinking, this is simple and trouble-free.