Adobe FRAMEMAKER 7 Manual page 128

142 LESSON 6
Document Editing
Defining a user variable
The name of the dog breed (Labrador Retriever) appears often in the article, as does a
shorter version of the name (Labrador). The long name is already defined as a user variable.
A user variable is a placeholder for text, such as a technical term or name, that you can
define once and use repeatedly in a document. When you change the definition,
FrameMaker 7.0 updates the variable throughout the document. In this way, variables can
help save you time and ensure consistency in your documents.
Note: FrameMaker provides system variables that you can redefine but cannot delete.
In this part of the lesson, you'll create a user variable.
1 Click once on the heading, LABRADOR RETRIEVERS. The entire phrase (except for the
S at the end) is selected, indicating that you can't edit the variable as you do regular text.
First you'll define a user variable for the short name. Then you'll simply insert the variable
rather than type the name yourself.
2 Choose Special > Variable.
3 Click Create Variable.
4 Enter ShortName in the Name text box, and enter Labrador in the Definition text box.
5 Click Add, and then click Done.
The new variable appears in the Variable dialog box.
6 Click Done.