Adobe InDesign CS3 User Manual
Page 93
INDESIGN CS3
User Guide
86
Different options are available depending on the variable type you select.
Text Before / Text After
For all variable types (except Custom Text) you can specify text that will be added before or
after the variable. For example, you can add the word “of ” before the Last Page Number variable and the phrase “total
pages” after the variable to create an “of 12 total pages” effect. You can also paste text into the these boxes, but special
characters such as tabs and auto page numbers are stripped out. To insert special characters, click the triangle to the
right of the text box.
Style
For all numbered variable types, you can specify the numbering style. If [Current Numbering Style] is selected,
the variable uses the same numbering style selected in the document’s Numbering & Section Options dialog box.
Variable types
Chapter Number
A variable created with the Chapter Number type inserts the chapter number. You can insert text before or after the
chapter number, and you can specify a numbering style.
If the document’s chapter number is set to continue from the previous document in the book, you may need to
update the book’s numbering in order for the appropriate chapter number to appear.
Creation Date, Modification Date, and Output Date
Creation Date inserts the date or time the document is first saved; Modification Date inserts the date or time the
document was last saved to disk; Output Date inserts the date or time the document starts a print job, exports to PDF,
or packages the document. You can insert text before and after the date, and you can modify the date format for all
date variables.
Date Format
You can type date formats directly into the Date Format box, or you can choose format options by
clicking the triangle to the right of the box. For example, the date format “MM/dd/yy” displays as 12/22/07. By
changing the format to “MMM. d, yyyy” the date will display as Dec. 22, 2007.
Date variables use the language applied to text. For example, the creation date may appear in Spanish text as “01
diciembre 2007” and in German as “01 Dezember 2007.”
Abbrevia-
tion
Description
Example
M
Month number, no
leading zero
8
MM
Month number, leading
zero
08
MMM
Abbreviated month
name
Aug
MMMM
Full month name
August
d
Day number, no leading
zero
5
dd
Day number, leading zero 05
E
Weekday name, abbrevi-
ated
Fri
EEEE
Full weekday name
Friday