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bruceengland2
Known Participant
June 23, 2017
Question

Sometimes not all variables in a document update as expected

  • June 23, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 1225 views

I think it might have to do with having conditional text with the variable hidden, the variable definition changed, and then the conditional text exposed. Even if I run Update References, the variables can remain unchanged. In such cases, I have to go through the document and manually update the problem variables. This runs counter to the usefulness of variables, of course, especially if you have a lot of them. Any ideas/suggestions?

FrameMaker 13.0.3.495

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1 reply

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 23, 2017

No, I haven't had that experience with variables and conditional text. When I update a variable with hidden condition tags, and then show those hidden tags, they show the updated definition.

On a separate note, I'm not sure what Update References has to do it. There's no variables command in there...

Can you document your process—maybe show two variables on the same page where one updates and the other doesn't? Let's see if we can figure it out.

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
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bruceengland2Author
Known Participant
June 23, 2017

Unfortunately, I don't have any to show right now (all already manually corrected). I'm thinking about this as a workaround: Put the file in a book, have my variables in a separate empty file in the book, and import variables from the empty file as needed (e.g., prior to any publication). Ugly, but it just might work.

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 23, 2017

Well, if the variables aren't updating normally in the one file, will they update this way? I wouldn't think so, but you'd have to try.

While we know any software application has bugs, this is not one I've come across in FrameMaker, and as you said, it runs counter to the usefulness of variables, so it would be a big deal.

I'm guessing that there's an error in the process somewhere, but I can't help you find it if I can't see it in action.

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
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