When the extension "Color Markers to Match Stroke" is used on any object (or even on no selected object), then all link on all objects, selected or not, become absolute. Observes in 0.47 and 0.48. Not tested on earlier releases.
Steps to reproduce:
1)create a new file
2)create an object
3)create a link on the object
4)in the link properties, add a relative link inthe href field (e.g., relative.svg)
5)use xml editor to observe that the xlink is still relative
5)de-select the object (or leave it selected: no difference)
6)execute the "Color Markers to Match Stroke" extension. there is no difference if paths with markers exist or not.
7)use xml editor to observe that the xlink has chaned to absolute.
The use of relative links is explicitly allowed in the SVG standard and is essential for use in large sites hierarchical sites.
this bug may be relates #272520 and to #498645
reproduced with Inkscape 0.47 and 0.47+devel r8894 on OS X 10.5.8
This is not limited to the mentioned extension: apparently extensions that modify existing objects or insert/render new objects trigger a rewriting of the paths stored in 'xlink:href' attributes in the whole document: all
- (manually edited) relative links to imported bitmap images
- object links (implemented as attributes of a wrapped parent group to the selected/linked object)
are changed from relative to absolute filenames.
In parts reproduced with Inkscape 0.46:
only the relative links for imported/linked bitmap images are rewritten, relative object links stay untouched after using an effect like 'Render > Gear...' or 'Modify Path > Color Markers to Match Stroke'.