public static ComponentId getId(Element element) {
        return new ComponentId(getIdString(element));
    }
For searchers inside search chains, the id may be both a reference and an id at once, or just a reference.
In other cases, it is clear which one it is from context, so I think the difference is not worth bothering users
with, unless they are XML purists in which case they will have the option of writing this correctly.
- Jon
config-model/src/main/java/com/yahoo/config/model/builder/xml/XmlHelper.java