Re: [Docutils-develop] [docutils:bugs] #446 Links with bracket references cause unexpected "Hyperlink target is not referenced" error

[Guenter M. <mi...@us...>]

On 2022-04-29, Jesse Brennan via Docutils-develop wrote:

> Thank you both, that makes a lot of sense. I guess I was confused
> because I was thinking of "a link" as a reference, not a target. But if
> I understand now correctly, unless the link is anonymous, then "a link"
> is both a reference *and* a target.

A "normal" link is not a target but a link with embedded target sets up
both, a target element (identifier) and a reference to it.

The syntax

  `link name <file:target.txt>`_

is just a shorthand for ::

  `link name`_
  
  .. _link name: file:target.txt
  
This is explained in the reStructuredText specification but I assume it
feels "natural" only in hindsight.

> It sounds like the solution I'm looking for here is just making the
> link anonymous.

Another option would be to increase the report level.

Günter