Can User Variable value be changed at book level?

[Combs, Richard]

Radha Padmanabhan wrote: 
    
>   I have got a FM book with about 50 chapters (files). But 
> they are logically grouped as 5 guides. All chapters in all 
> guides have footers with Product Name, Release No. and Date 
> and Guide identification. For each guide, the footer has a 
> User Variable-DocumentNumebr. Its value is partially 
> different for each guide. Every time there is a release, the 
> variable value changes. I am having to edit the master page 
> of each of 50 chapters manually. 
>    
>   Is there a possibility to change the value of the variable 
> from book level for a range of chapters?

Sure -- you do it by importing variables to a range of chapters. Let's
say chapters 1-10 are in Guide A. Change the variable definition in
Chap. 1 and save it. In the book window, select Chaps. 2-10 and click
File > Import > Formats. In the dialog, deselect everything except
Variable Definitions and click Import. Five files to update instead of
50. Plus five additional steps at the book level to propagate the
updates. 

Alternatively, the not-quite-awake David Spreadbury was on the right
track for a process that requires more setup, but is even easier to
update. You need a separate variable for each guide, as he suggested
(but there's no need to divide the doc number into two parts; it really
doesn't matter, unless the "shared" portion is likely to change). 

In the Guide A chapters, put the variable <GuideANumber> in the footers;
in the Guide B chapters, <GuideBNumber>; and so forth. Using File >
Import > Formats, propagate all the variables throughout the book. When
it's time to update doc numbers, pick a file -- the title would be a
good one -- and update all the doc number variable definitions in it.
Then, from the book window, import those definitions to all the files in
the book. Only one file to update, and one additional step to propagate
all the updates to all the files in the book. 

The only caveat for either process is that importing variable
definitions imports them all, so this won't work if other variables are
redefined from chapter to chapter. If you have FrameScript, Rick
Quatro's script bundle (www.frameexpert.com) has a script that imports
user variables only. Or someone with some scripting skills (like
Rick)could write a custom script to automate the entire process for you.


HTH!
Richard


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Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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