Changing Local Related Link into External Related Link to Existing Document

To change a local related link into an external related link to an existing document, do the following:

Place the cursor in the related link.
Call up the Change Local Related Link Dialog.
To call up the Change Local Related Link Dialog, choose DITA > Insert External Related Link or click the Insert External Related Link button on the toolbar.
Select the target location.
To change the local related link into external, click the External Link tab.
Specify the target file.
In the Change External Related Link Dialog, specify the target file one of these ways:
1. Select an existing file.
  From the Files list, select a file.
  
  Note:
  To filter the files by type, select a type from the File type drop-down list.
2. Enter the path to an existing file or URL manually.
  1. In the Path field, type the path to the target file or URL .
    
    Note:
    URLs must start with "http://", e.g. http://www.syntext.com.
    
    Note:
    It is also possible to type the reference to a topic within a document, using the following format: filename.xml#topicid.
  2. Press Enter to apply the typed path.
Specify the target.
From the Targets list, select the target.

Note:
You can see the list of available targets in the current document.

To filter the targets by type, select a type from the Show types drop-down list.
Specify Attributes if needed:
1. Select a format.
  From the Format drop-down list, select one of the following:
  - dita
  - html
  - pdf
  - ditamap
  Note:
  If you've typed a URL , e.g. http://www.syntext.com, and pressed Enter, the format attribute automatically gets the value html.
2. Select a type.
  From the Type drop-down list, select a type: e.g. concept, task, etc.
3. Select a scope.
  From the Scope drop-down list, select one of the following:
  - local
  - peer
  - external
Click the Change button to change the related link.
Click the Close button to close the dialog.
Note:
You can also check the Close on Change checkbox, and then click the Change button.