The Insert submenu of the Type menu offers a selection of different variable types that can be inserted into an article at any insertion point. Once the variable type is selected it becomes part of the article and can only be edited as a single character. For example, if you select the Page number variable and insert the page number on the master page and have View Master page Objects on, the page numbers will appear automatically on all the pages based on that master page.

To insert a variable type: Select the Text tool from the toolbox and place the insertion point where the variable type will be inserted. Choose Insert from the Type menu and select the appropriate variable option. Depending on which option is selected a dialog box may appear to allow you to customize the variable type. To edit an existing variable types settings, select the variable with the text tool and then choose the corresponding insert variable menu item. Settings will default to the current settings of the inserted variable.

Insert Variable Types:

• Page #: Inserts the current page number.
• Previous Frame Page #: Inserts the page number of the previous linked framed. Use for Continued from page #.
• Next Frame Page #: Inserts the page number of the next linked frame. Use for Continued on page #.
• Page Count: Inserts the number of pages at the current document level. Use for Page # of #.
• Chapter #: Inserts the chapter number.
• Chapter Count: Inserts the number of chapters at the current document level. Use for Chapter # of #.
• Document Name: Inserts the name of the document.
• Chapter Name: Inserts the name of the current chapter.
• Master Page Name: Inserts the name of the current master page.
• Page Name: Inserts the name of the current page.
• Text Mark: Inserts an invisible mark into the text. Text marks are special codes which can be searched for with script commands. Text marks are invisible unless Show Invisibles is toggled on.
• Text Mark Name: Opens a dialog box to select a text mark name to insert.
• Text Mark Page #: Opens a dialog box to select the text mark whose page number you want to insert.
• Date: Opens the Insert Date dialog box to specify the format of the date to insert.
• Time: Opens the Insert Time dialog box to specify the format of the time to insert.
• Revision #: Opens the Insert Revision Number dialog box to specify the format of the revision number to insert.
• Variable Text: Opens the Define Variable String dialog box to select a user-defined variable to insert. Use this to insert constants in your text that you may want to change in the future.

Holding down a Shift key while choosing a Page or Character variable will open a dialog box to override the default number format for the document or chapter.

Date Variables

Select the Text tool from the toolbox and place the insertion point where the date will be inserted. Choose Date from the Insert submenu in the Type menu. The Insert Date dialog box will appear. Choose the language from the Language pop-up menu to use for long date formats if different than the defined language for the text. Choose the prefered date style from the Format pop-up menu. If the date should change to reflect critical dates in the documents creation, choose the critical event in the Update pop-up menu. Click Insert.

To customize a date variable: Choose Custom from the Format pop-up menu. Enter a date variable in the Custom text box. Refer to the table below for more information on formatting options. You do not need to include all parts of the date. Use a slash, hyphen, comma, space or any other character to separate them.

Note: One character following a backslash or text inside double quotation marks ("") will appear as is. If the first letter of a format is capitalized (Mmm), that part of the date will be capitalized (if applicable). If at least the first two letters are capitalized (MMm), it will be uppercase. If the first two letters are lowercase, it will be lowercase.

Custom Date Syntax:

• y or yy
  The last 2 digits of the year. i.e., 94, 95, 96
• yyyy
  All 4 digits of the year. i.e., 1994, 1995, 1996
• yyyyy
  Long year. i.e., Nineteen Hundred Seventy Four
• m
  Number of the month, no leading zero. i.e., 1, 6, 7, 10
• mm
  Number of the month, leading zero. i.e., 01, 06, 07, 10
• mmm
  3 letter abbreviated month. i.e., jan, jun, jul
• mmmm
  3-4 letter abbreviated month. i.e., jan, june, july
• mmmmm
  Full name of the month. i.e., january, june, july
• d
  Number of the day, no leading zero. i.e., 1, 2, 12
• dd
  Number of the day, leading zero. i.e., 01, 02, 12
• dddd
  Ordinal number of the day. i.e., 1st, 2nd, 12th
• w
  Number of the day of the week. i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
• ww
  1-2 letter abbreviated day of the week. i.e., su, m, tu, w, th, f
• www
  3 letter abbreviated day of the week. i.e., sun, mon, tue, wed
• wwww
  Full day of the week. i.e., sunday, monday

Examples:

• y-m-d results in 94-12-19
• mm/dd/yy results in 12/19/94
• d/mm/yyyy results in 19/12/1994
• Mmm d, yyyy results in Dec 19, 1994
• Wwww "the" dddd results in Monday the 19th

Time Variables

Select the Text tool from the toolbox and place the insertion point where the time will be inserted. Choose Time from the Insert submenu in the Type menu. The Insert Time dialog box will appear. Choose the language from the Language pop-up menu to use for long time formats if different than the defined language for the text. Choose the prefered time style from the Format pop-up menu. If the time should change to reflect critical times in the documents creation, choose the critical event in the Update pop-up menu. Click Insert.

To customize a time variable: Choose Custom from the Format pop-up menu. Enter a time variable in the Custom text box. Refer to the table below for more information on formatting options. You do not need to include all parts of the time. Use a colon, space or any other character to separate them.

Note: One character following a backslash or text inside double quotation marks ("") will appear as is.

Custom Time Syntax:

• h
  hour, no leading zero. i.e., 5
• hh
  hour, leading zero. i.e., 05
• m
  minutes, no leading zero. i.e., 8
• mm
  minutes, leading zero. i.e., 08
• s
  seconds, no leading zero. i.e., 3
• ss
  seconds, leading zero. i.e., 03
• ampm
  shows am or pm as appropriate. i.e., 5 am
• pm
  shows only pm when time>12:00. i.e., 7 pm no indicator specifies 24 hour time. i.e., 19

Examples:

• h:m results in 19:30
• h:m ampm results in 7:30 pm
• h:m PM results in 7:30 PM
• hh:mm:ss results in 19:30:46
• hh\hmm results in 19h30

Revision Number Variables

Select the Text tool from the toolbox and place the insertion point where the revision will be inserted. Choose Revision # from the Insert submenu in the Type menu. The Insert Revision Number dialog box will appear. Choose the prefered revision number style from the Format pop-up menu. For the format "Major.Minor", enter the character to use as a separator in the Separator text box. Click Insert.

Using text marks for cross-referencing documents

You can use text marks for adding cross-references in your documents. When you insert a text mark before a section, you assign a name to it and add it to the list of text marks. Later, if you want to refer the reader to a specific section, you would simply insert the text mark's page number by choosing the text mark's name from the list of text marks. PageStream will then insert the page number automatically without making it necessary for you to search for the corresponding section to find the correct page number. Additionally, if you later edit the text or move sections so as to change the text marks' locations, the text marks' page numbers will be updated automatically by PageStream.

User Variables

To insert a user variable in text: Select the Text tool from the toolbox and place the insertion point where the user variable will be inserted. Choose Variable Text from the Insert submenu in the Type menu. The Define Variable String dialog box will appear. Choose the variable from the list box. Click Insert.

To create a new user variable: Choose Variables from the Define submenu in the Edit menu or if in text mode choose Variable Text from the Insert submenu in the Type menu. The Define Variable String dialog box will appear. Choose the document, chapter or subchapter in the Chapter pop-up menu to define the level to create the new variable. Click New. The Edit Variable String dialog box will appear. Enter the text in the Name text box that will appear in the list box. Enter the text that will appear in the document where ever the variable is placed in the String text box. Click OK.

To edit an existing user variable: Choose Variables from the Define submenu in the Edit menu or if in text mode choose Variable Text from the Insert submenu in the Type menu. The Define Variable String dialog box will appear. Choose the user variable from the list box. Click New. The Edit Variable String dialog box will appear. Change the text that will appear in the document where ever the variable is placed in the String text box. Click OK. Any location in the document that this variable appears in the text will update automatically.

To remove an existing user variable: Choose Variables from the Define submenu in the Edit menu or if in text mode choose Variable Text from the Insert submenu in the Type menu. The Define Variable String dialog box will appear. Choose the user variable from the list box. Click Remove. Any reference in the document to that variable will be removed.

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