8.7

Variable Properties
When you edit tasks, you may notice that some of the properties that you can modify have a red
(or more precisely, a maroon) title. This means that the property can be dynamically determined
whenever your process runs, that is to say it will not remain static. This can be extremely useful
when, for example, you want to determine how many copies you will print out depending on
your data, or what document will be used in the printout depending on the department it came
from.
Variable properties may include:
l Static data.
l Standard Variables. See "Standard Variables" on page601.
l Local and Global Variables. See "Manipulate Local Variables" on page638.
l Job Infos. See "Job Info Variables" on page600.
l Data and Metadata Selections. See "Data selections" on page26.
l Printer Control Characters. See "Shared Printer Queue Properties" on page70. These
are normally only used in printer outputs.
Variable propertiescan also be used in these special locations:
l In the Set Job Infos and Variables Action Task. See "Set Job Infos and Variables" on
page345.
l In Scripts. See the chapter on "Using Scripts" on page91.
l In the Create File Input Task. See "Create File" on page197.
l Within a PlanetPress Design Document, using the ExpandString()function.See the
PlanetPress Design User Guide and PlanetPress Talk Reference Guide.
Variable properties can also be mixed, meaning you can combine, within a single variable
property box, any number and order of variable types. You can, for example, do the following for
an output file name: %O_@(1,1,1,30, KeepCase,Trim)_%y-%m-%d.txt. This would translate in
the original file name, followed by part of the first line of a text data file, then the current date.
Contextual Menu
In any variable properties box, you may use the contextual (right-click) menu to add variables
and control characters, as well as to get data and make data selections. The lower part of the
Page 261