Smart Connection 9 Enterprise Text Variables

Transcription

1 12 Smart Connection 9 Enterprise Text Variables This document is part of the documentation for Smart Connection 9 and is an extract from the former Smart Connection 9 User Guide for InDesign. For more information about using Smart Connection, visit the Online Help. Smart Connection allows you to add text variables that hold Enterprise-specific content. Following the same functionality as regular InDesign text variables, these Enterprise text variables allow you to insert a variable on a layout to automatically display the name of the Brand, Status, publication date, etc. Since text variables are dynamic, the value of the Enterprise text variable on the layout can be updated automatically. Text variables are most powerful in headers and footers on a Master page or on a template. 1

2 1. Enterprise Text Variables Enterprise text variables are added to the list of regular InDesign text variables which is found in the Type > Text Variables > Insert Text Variables menu. Enterprise text variables are split into two groups: File based. Variables that are part of the Enterprise properties of the document. These can be dynamically updated. Logon based. Variables that are part of the Brand setup on the Enterprise server. These stay static during the whole log-in session. Table 1 shows the Enterprise text variables that are available: Table 1. Enterprise text variables Variable Brand Issue Category Editions Status Description File based Displays the name of the Brand that the layout is part of. Displays the name of the Issue that the layout is part of. Displays the name of the Category that the layout is part of. Displays the name of the Edition(s) that the layout is part of. Multiple Editions are separated by a comma. Displays the Status that is assigned to the layout. Table 1. Enterprise text variables (continued) Variable Publication date Issue Subject Issue Description User Name Description Logon based Displays the publication date of the layout. (The date formatting is determined by the short date format of the operating system on which InDesign is installed.) Displays the content of the Issue Subject field, as entered on the Issue Maintenance page. Displays the content of the Issue Description field, as entered on the Issue Maintenance page. Displays the name of the user who had the file open for editing at the time of logon. Inserting Enterprise text variables is possible at any time, even when not logged in to Enterprise. (For more information, see section 2. Availability.) (Continues in next column) 2

3 1.1 Appearance Unlike regular InDesign text variables (which appear as a box with a faint outline), Enterprise text variables appear between orange square brackets when viewing the layout in Normal screen mode (View > Screen Mode > Normal). [WW News] Figure 1.1. Enterprise text variables appear between orange square brackets 1.2 Setup Unlike regular InDesign text variables, Enterprise text variables are set up within the Enterprise system itself and cannot be further defined or modified. For that reason, Enterprise text variables will not appear in the Text Variables dialog box that can be accessed via Type > Text Variables > Define. 2. Availability All Enterprise text variables are available at any time through the Insert Text Variable menu, even when not logged in to Enterprise. However, in order for the value of the variable to appear, the layout needs to be part of a Brand and you have to be logged in to Enterprise. If either is not the case, the name of the Enterprise text variable is displayed instead. Table 2 shows the possible scenarios. In these examples, assume that the Enterprise text variable Brand is inserted and that the name of the Brand is Our Globe: Table 2. Enterprise text variable display scenarios Logged In to Enterprise? Layout part of Brand? Enterprise text variable display Yes No [Brand] Yes Yes [Our Globe] No Yes [Our Globe] No No [Brand] The third scenario (not logged in but the layout is part of a Brand), is possible by taking a document offline and logging out of Enterprise. Of course, since no connection to Enterprise exists, the Enterprise text variables are not automatically updated. Figure 1.2. Enterprise text variables cannot be edited and therefore do not appear in the Text Variables dialog box 3

4 3. Inserting an Enterprise Text Variable Inserting an Enterprise text variable is similar to inserting a regular InDesign text variable. Whereas variable text in InDesign does not break across lines, Enterprise variable text does break across lines. To insert an Enterprise text variable, do the following: Step 1. Place the insertion point where you want the variable to appear. Step 2. Use one of the following methods: Choose Type > Text Variables > Insert Variable, and then choose the Enterprise text variable that you want to insert. Open the Quick Apply panel by pressing Cmd+Return (Mac OS) or Ctrl+Enter (Windows). Locate the desired text variable and press Return or Enter. More information about using the Quick Apply panel can be found in the InDesign documentation. 4. Updating an Enterprise Text Variable The method of updating an Enterprise text variable in the layout requires you to be logged in and is dependent on the type of variable: Layout-based variables To update the value of any of the layout-based text variables (Brand, Issue, Category, Edition, or Status), do the following: Step 1. Open the layout (does not apply to opening offline documents when no connection to Enterprise exists). Step 2. Save the layout by using one of the following save actions: Save As, Save Version, Check In. Logon-based variables To update the value of any of the logon-based text variables (publication date, Issue Subject, Issue Description, or User Name), do the following: Step 1. Open a layout (only the values are loaded that were fetched from the Enterprise server at log on time. If any of these values have changed, these do not reflect until logging in next). Step 2. Close the layout, log out of Enterprise, log back into Enterprise and open the layout once more. 4

5 5. Converting an Enterprise Text Variable There may come a time when you want the text displayed by the Enterprise text variable to be static and to not automatically update anymore. In these circumstances, the text variable can be converted to regular text. Converting an Enterprise text variable to regular text is done in the same way as for regular InDesign text variables: Step 1. Place the text cursor anywhere in the text variable. Step 2. Use one of the following methods: From the Type menu, choose Convert Variable To Text from the Text Variables submenu. 6. Revisions The following sections list the changes that have been made to this document. 6.1 Version Released November 2014 First version created by extracting chapter 12 Enterprise Text Variables from the Smart Connection User Guide for InDesign. Right-click the text variable and from the context menu, choose Convert Variable To Text from the Text Variables submenu. 5