diff --git a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/common-definitions.xsl b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/common-definitions.xsl
index 2d0fb0efa..c7de1cbf1 100644
--- a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/common-definitions.xsl
+++ b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/common-definitions.xsl
@@ -156,12 +156,15 @@
             @name }</code></xsl:template>
 
 
-
-    <xsl:template match="define-assembly | define-field" mode="model">
-        <ul class="model">
-            <xsl:apply-templates select="flag | define-flag" mode="model-view"/>
-            <xsl:apply-templates select="model/*" mode="model-view"/>
-        </ul>
+    <xsl:template match="define-field" mode="model"/>
+        
+    <xsl:template match="define-assembly" mode="model">
+        <xsl:where-populated>
+            <ul class="model">
+                <xsl:apply-templates select="flag | define-flag" mode="model-view"/>
+                <xsl:apply-templates select="model/*" mode="model-view"/>
+            </ul>
+        </xsl:where-populated>
     </xsl:template>
 
     <xsl:template match="define-flag" mode="model"/>
diff --git a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/common-reference.xsl b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/common-reference.xsl
index a17499ba7..6045e955d 100644
--- a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/common-reference.xsl
+++ b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/common-reference.xsl
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
             <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="report-context"/>
             <span class="cnstr-tag">cardinality rule</span>
             <xsl:text> the cardinality of  </xsl:text>
-            <code>{ @target }</code>
+            <code>{ (@target,'.')[1] }</code>
             <xsl:text> is constrained: </xsl:text>
             <b>{ (@min-occurs,0)[1] }</b>
             <xsl:text>; maximum </xsl:text>
@@ -189,12 +189,7 @@
             <xsl:text>this value must correspond to a listing in the index </xsl:text>
             <code>{ @name }</code>
             <xsl:text> using a key constructed of key field(s) </xsl:text>
-            <xsl:for-each select="key-field">
-               <xsl:if test="position() gt 1">; </xsl:if>
-               <code>
-                  <xsl:value-of select="@target"/>
-               </code>
-            </xsl:for-each>
+            <xsl:call-template name="construct-key"/>
          </p>
       </div>
    </xsl:template>
@@ -207,19 +202,30 @@
             <span class="cnstr-tag">index definition</span>
             <xsl:text> an index </xsl:text>
             <code>{ @name }</code>
-            <xsl:text> shall list values returned by targets </xsl:text>
-            <code>{ @target }</code>
+            <xsl:choose>
+               <xsl:when test="matches(@target,'\S')">
+                  <xsl:text> shall list values returned by targets </xsl:text>
+                  <code>{ @target }</code>
+               </xsl:when>
+               <xsl:otherwise>
+                  <xsl:text> shall contain values </xsl:text>
+               </xsl:otherwise>
+            </xsl:choose>
             <xsl:text> using keys constructed of key field(s) </xsl:text>
-            <xsl:for-each select="key-field">
-               <xsl:if test="position() gt 1">; </xsl:if>
-               <code>
-                  <xsl:value-of select="@target"/>
-               </code>
-            </xsl:for-each>
+            <xsl:call-template name="construct-key"/>
          </p>
       </div>
    </xsl:template>
    
+   <xsl:template name="construct-key">
+      <xsl:for-each select="key-field">
+         <xsl:if test="position() gt 1">; </xsl:if>
+         <code>
+            <xsl:value-of select="(@target, 'its value')[1]"/>
+         </code>
+      </xsl:for-each>
+   </xsl:template>
+   
    <!-- XXX consolidate this w/ JSON code? -->
    <xsl:template mode="occurrence-code" match="*">
       <xsl:param name="require-member" select="false()"/>
diff --git a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-index-html.xsl b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-index-html.xsl
index 597237858..726ba8b58 100644
--- a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-index-html.xsl
+++ b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-index-html.xsl
@@ -45,14 +45,23 @@
          </span>
          <xsl:text> - </xsl:text>
          <span class="formal-name">
-            <a href="{ $definitions-link }#{ @_metaschema-json-id }">
-               <xsl:text>{ formal-name }</xsl:text>
-               <xsl:if test="empty(formal-name)" expand-text="true">{ name() }</xsl:if>
+            <xsl:variable name="target" select="(@_metaschema-json-id,*/@_metaschema-json-id)[1]"/>
+            <xsl:if test="empty($target)">
+              <xsl:message>Missing link?</xsl:message>
+            </xsl:if>
+            <a href="{ $definitions-link }#{ $target }">
+               <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="formal-name"/>
             </a>
          </span>
       </li>
    </xsl:template>
    
+   <xsl:template mode="formal-name" match="*" expand-text="true">{ @name }</xsl:template>
+   
+   <xsl:template mode="formal-name" match="*[exists(formal-name)]" expand-text="true">{ formal-name }</xsl:template>
+   
+   <xsl:template mode="formal-name" match="array[exists(*/formal-name)]" expand-text="true">{ */formal-name }</xsl:template>
+   
    <xsl:template match="." mode="linked-path">
       <xsl:apply-templates select="parent::*" mode="linked-path"/>
       <xsl:apply-templates select="@key" mode="linked-path"/>
diff --git a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-map-html.xsl b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-map-html.xsl
index 2cc2bfd41..1da3590d4 100644
--- a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-map-html.xsl
+++ b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-map-html.xsl
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
    exclude-result-prefixes="#all">
 
 
-   <xsl:output omit-xml-declaration="true" indent="no"/>
+   <xsl:output omit-xml-declaration="true" indent="yes"/>
 
    
    <xsl:param as="xs:string" name="outline-page"   select="'json/outline'"/>
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ details:not([open]) .show-closed { display: inline }
                   <xsl:call-template name="cardinality-note"/>
                </span>
                <span class="sq">-->
-                  <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-key"/>
+                  <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-group-description"/>
                   <xsl:call-template name="cardinality-note"/>
                   <xsl:text>: </xsl:text>
                   <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="inline-link-to"/>
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ details:not([open]) .show-closed { display: inline }
                   <xsl:call-template name="cardinality-note"/>
                </span>-->
             <!--<span class="sq">-->
-                  <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-key"/>
+                  <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-group-description"/>
                   <xsl:call-template name="cardinality-note"/>
                   <xsl:text>: </xsl:text>
                   <span class="OM-lit">
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ details:not([open]) .show-closed { display: inline }
    <xsl:template match="m:array/m:object | m:singleton-or-array/m:object | m:object[empty(*)]">
       <div class="OM-entry">
          <p>
-            <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-key"/>
+            <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-group-description"/>
             <xsl:text> </xsl:text>
             <xsl:call-template name="cardinality-note"/>
             <xsl:if test="not(empty(*))">
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ details:not([open]) .show-closed { display: inline }
                   <xsl:call-template name="cardinality-note"/>
                </span>-->
                <span class="sq">
-                  <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-key"/>
+                  <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-group-description"/>
                   <xsl:call-template name="cardinality-note"/>
                   <xsl:text>: </xsl:text>
 
@@ -193,35 +193,37 @@ details:not([open]) .show-closed { display: inline }
    </xsl:template>
    
    
-   <xsl:template match="*[exists(@key)]" mode="json-key">
-      <a class="OM-name" href="{ $reference-link }#{  @_tree-json-id }">
-         <xsl:value-of select="@key"/>
-      </a>
-   </xsl:template>
-   
-   <xsl:template match="*" mode="json-key">
-      <xsl:value-of select="(@key,@name)[1]"/>
+   <xsl:template match="*" mode="json-group-description">
+      <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-object-link"/>
    </xsl:template>
    
-   <xsl:template priority="3" match="m:array/*" mode="json-key">
+   <xsl:template priority="3" match="m:array/*" mode="json-group-description">
       <span class="OM-lit">
          <xsl:text>An array of </xsl:text>
-         <xsl:next-match/>
+         <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-object-link"/>
          <xsl:text expand-text="true"> { local-name() }{ if (@max-occurs != '1') then 's' else '' }</xsl:text>
       </span>
    </xsl:template>
    
-   <xsl:template priority="3" match="m:singleton-or-array/*" mode="json-key" expand-text="true">
+   <xsl:template priority="3" match="m:singleton-or-array/*" mode="json-group-description" expand-text="true">
          <span class="OM-lit">
             <xsl:text>Array members, or a singleton </xsl:text>
-            <span class="OM-name">
-               <xsl:value-of select="(@key,@gi,use-name,@name)[1]"/>
-            </span>
+            <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="json-object-link"/>
             <xsl:text expand-text="true"> { local-name() }</xsl:text>
          </span>
    </xsl:template>
    
-   <xsl:template priority="2" match="*[exists(@json-key-flag)]"  mode="json-key" expand-text="true">
+   <xsl:template match="*" mode="json-object-link">
+      <xsl:if test="empty(@_tree-json-id)">
+         <xsl:message expand-text="true">not seeing json tree id for { name(.) }</xsl:message>
+      </xsl:if>
+      <a class="OM-name" href="{ $reference-link }#{  @_tree-json-id }">
+         <xsl:value-of select="(@key,@gi,@name)[1]"/>
+      </a>
+   </xsl:template>
+
+
+   <xsl:template priority="2" match="*[exists(@json-key-flag)]"  mode="json-group-description" expand-text="true">
       <span class="OM-lit">
          <xsl:next-match/>
          <xsl:text> { local-name()}s </xsl:text>
@@ -279,11 +281,12 @@ details:not([open]) .show-closed { display: inline }
       <span class="OM-datatype"><a href="{$datatype-page}/#{lower-case(@as-type)}">{ @as-type }</a></span>
    </xsl:template>
    
-   
    <xsl:template mode="contents" match="m:array | m:object | m:singleton-or-array | m:group-by-key">
-      <div class="model-container {name()}">
-         <xsl:apply-templates select="*"/>
-      </div>
+      <xsl:where-populated>
+         <div class="model-container {name()}">
+            <xsl:apply-templates select="*"/>
+         </div>
+      </xsl:where-populated>
    </xsl:template>
    
    <xsl:template name="datatype-link">
diff --git a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-reference-html.xsl b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-reference-html.xsl
index fdd1411e5..0cceb5e0d 100644
--- a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-reference-html.xsl
+++ b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/json/object-reference-html.xsl
@@ -63,7 +63,9 @@
          <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="produce"/>
          
          <xsl:apply-templates>
-            <xsl:with-param tunnel="true" name="constraints" select="$constraints, constraint"/>
+            <xsl:with-param tunnel="true" name="constraints" select="constraint"/>
+            <!-- for later when constraint allocation is working: -->
+            <!--<xsl:with-param tunnel="true" name="constraints" select="$constraints, constraint"/>-->
          </xsl:apply-templates>
          
       </section>
@@ -95,8 +97,6 @@
       </p>-->
    </xsl:template>
    
-   
-   
    <xsl:template match="*" mode="produce" expand-text="true">
       <xsl:param tunnel="true" name="constraints" select="()"/>
       <div class="obj-desc">
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
          <xsl:copy-of select="@id"/>
          <div class="obj-matrix">
             <p class="obj-name">
-               
+               <xsl:value-of select="formal-name"/>
                <xsl:if test="empty(formal-name)">
                   <xsl:text>{ name(.) => replace('^define\-','')  } of </xsl:text>
                   <xsl:for-each select="*/child::formal-name">
diff --git a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/xml/element-index-html.xsl b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/xml/element-index-html.xsl
index 72b047c85..13d148748 100644
--- a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/xml/element-index-html.xsl
+++ b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/xml/element-index-html.xsl
@@ -53,14 +53,23 @@
          </span>
          <xsl:text> - </xsl:text>
          <span class="formal-name">
-            <a href="{ $definitions-link }#{ @_metaschema-xml-id }">
-               <xsl:text>{ formal-name }</xsl:text>
-               <xsl:if test="empty(formal-name)" expand-text="true">{ name() }</xsl:if>
+            <xsl:variable name="target" select="(@_metaschema-xml-id,*/@_metaschema-xml-id)[1]"/>
+            <xsl:if test="empty($target)">
+               <xsl:message>Missing link?</xsl:message>
+            </xsl:if>
+            <a href="{ $definitions-link }#{ $target }">
+               <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="formal-name"/>
             </a>
          </span>
       </li>
    </xsl:template>
    
+   <xsl:template mode="formal-name" match="*" expand-text="true">{ @name }</xsl:template>
+   
+   <xsl:template mode="formal-name" match="*[exists(formal-name)]" expand-text="true">{ formal-name }</xsl:template>
+   
+   <xsl:template mode="formal-name" match="array[exists(*/formal-name)]" expand-text="true">{ */formal-name }</xsl:template>
+   
    <xsl:template match="." mode="linked-path">
       <xsl:apply-templates select="parent::*" mode="linked-path"/>
       <xsl:apply-templates select="@gi" mode="linked-path"/>
diff --git a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/xml/element-reference-html.xsl b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/xml/element-reference-html.xsl
index 112a58b07..3ccdcbf9f 100644
--- a/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/xml/element-reference-html.xsl
+++ b/toolchains/xslt-M4/document/xml/element-reference-html.xsl
@@ -67,9 +67,10 @@
          <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="produce"/>
          
          <xsl:apply-templates>
-            <xsl:with-param tunnel="true" name="constraints" select="$constraints, constraint"/>
+            <xsl:with-param tunnel="true" name="constraints" select="constraint"/>
+            <!-- for later when constraint allocation is working: -->
+            <!--<xsl:with-param tunnel="true" name="constraints" select="$constraints, constraint"/>-->
          </xsl:apply-templates>
-         
       </section>
    </xsl:template>
    
@@ -79,9 +80,12 @@
       <xsl:param tunnel="true" name="constraints" select="()"/>
       <div class="obj-desc">
          <!-- target for cross-linking -->
-         <xsl:copy-of select="@id"/>
+         <xsl:attribute name="id" select="@_tree-xml-id"/>
          <div class="obj-matrix">
-            <p class="obj-name">{ name(.) => replace('^define\-','')  } { formal-name }</p>
+            <p class="obj-name">{ (formal-name, name())[1] }</p>
+            <!--<xsl:if test="empty(formal-name)">
+               <xsl:message expand-text="true">{ name() } is missing formal-name</xsl:message>
+            </xsl:if>-->
             <p class="occurrence">
                <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="occurrence-code"/>
             </p>