Adobe Illustrator CC 2015 - Manual (Page 519)

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Automating tasks
Last updated 6/5/2015
Unbind a variable
❖ Click the Unbind Variable button in the Variables panel, or choose Unbind Variable from the Variables panel
menu.
Lock or unlock all variables in a document
❖ Click the Lock/Unlock Variables button or in the Variables panel.
Delete variables
Deleting a variable removes it from the Variables panel. If you delete a variable that is bound to an object, the object
becomes static (unless the object is also bound to a variable of a different type).
1 Select a variable you want to delete.
2 Do one of the following:
• Click the Delete Variable icon in the Variables panel, or choose Delete Variable from the Variables panel
menu.
• To delete the variable without confirmation, drag it to the Delete Variable icon.
Edit dynamic objects
You change the data associated with a variable by editing the object to which it is bound. For example, if you’re working
with a Visibility variable, you change the object’s state of visibility in the Layers panel. Editing dynamic objects lets you
create multiple data sets for use in the template.
1 Select a dynamic object on the artboard, or do one of the following to automatically select a dynamic object:
• Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) a variable in the Variables panel.
• Select a variable in the Variables panel, and choose Select Bound Object from the Variables panel menu.
• To select all dynamic objects, choose Select All Bound Objects from the Variables panel menu.
2 Edit the data associated with the object as follows:
• For text, edit the text string on the artboard.
• For linked files, replace the image using the Links panel or the File > Place command.
• For graphs, edit the data in the Graph Data dialog box.
• For all objects with dynamic visibility, change the state of visibility for the object in the Layers panel.
Identifying dynamic objects using XML IDs
The Variables panel displays the names of dynamic objects as they appear in the Layers panel. If you save the template
in SVG format for use with other Adobe products, these object names must conform to XML naming conventions. For
example, XML names must begin with a letter, underscore, or colon, and cannot contain spaces.
Illustrator automatically assigns a valid XML ID to every dynamic object you create. To view, edit, and export object
names using XML IDs, choose Edit > Preferences > Units (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > Units (Mac OS),
and select XML ID.