XPointer enables addressing into the internal structures of
XML documents. In particular, it provides for specific reference to elements, character strings, and other parts of
XML documents, whether or not they bear an explicit ID attribute. XPointers can be used as fragment identifiers in
URI references to specify a more precise sub-resource. Any
URI fragment identifier that points into an
XML resource must be an XPointer. XPointer is often used together with
XLink, which specifies how to use hyperlinks with
XML.