1.7

of the content to move up or down. If, in a Print context, you don't want the result of
the script to be part of the text flow (for example, when a letter is going to be sent in
an envelope with a window), put the placeholder for the script in a positioned box
(see "Boxes" on page454 and "How to position elements" on page502).
Tip
An example of how to create an address block using the Text Script Wizard is described in a how-
to; see How to create an Address Block.
Formatting variable data
When a Text Script, made with the Text Script Wizard (see "Using the Text Script Wizard" on
page537) adds variable data to a template, it can easily change the way the data are formatted
as well. This is done in the Text Script Wizard through a special formatting modifier or a format
mask for each field that the script adds to the template.
The available formatting functions depend on the data type of the corresponding field in the
Data Model. In a Data Mapping Configuration you can set the data type of each field. When you
open a data file or database without a Data Mapping Configuration, all fields are text fields
(fields of the type string).
You could also format data in a script using the formatter ; see "Designer Scripts API" on
page786.
Date
Dates in variable data can be displayed as long, medium and short dates with different time
displays. There are quite a few presets, but you can also enter a custom format mask.
1. Open the Text Script Wizard: double-click to open an existing script in the Scripts pane or
create a new Text Script using the Text Script Wizard; see "Using the Text Script Wizard"
on page537.
2. Click a data field that contains text, or add such a data field to the script with the Add field
button on the right.
Page 540