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Inserting variables

If you have some repeating text used throughout your publication which you’d like to swap for replacement text, you can use variables. Typically, you would do this to change a product name or version, making your publication easy to update when product versions change. The variable fields change automatically, updating with the new values.

Variables are used in a similar way to user details. They can be added and inserted just like user detail fields and be updated from the same User Details dialog.

The variable can be stored just within the publication or made globally for other publications. The latter would be a good choice for product names as they are likely to be used again globally in a company environment.

To add, edit or delete variables:

1. Click  Set User Details on the Pages context toolbar (deselect objects to view).
   – or -
   Choose Set User Details… from the Tools menu.

2. Select the Global or Publication tab if you want the added variable to be available to all publications or just to the document, respectively.

3. From either tab, click the Add button.

4. In the variables list, type over the created Variable name, giving it a unique string that identifies the variable easily.

   

5. Click in the column adjacent to the new Variable and type the variable value (i.e. the text that will appear on the page).

   

6. Add additional variables as required to either the Publication or Global tab.

7. Click Update.

Once you’ve decided on your choice of variables you can insert variables as fields in place of “static” text. You can’t take advantage of variables unless they are inserted into your publication.

To insert a variable field:

1. Click in the text for an insertion point (or make a text selection).

2. Choose Information from the Insert menu, then select Variable… from the submenu.

3. Select a variable entry, and optionally any text Prefix or Suffix to include with your variable.

4. Click OK.

When you want to change the variable, all that’s needed is to edit and update the variable’s value. The variable fields throughout your publication are updated with the new values.

To update variables:

1. Click  Set User Details on the Pages context toolbar (deselect objects to view).

2. Edit the existing variables with new values.

   

3. Click Update.

Inserting variables