Inserting Heading Variables Into Frames

You can insert Heading variables into page layouts or template pages in order to automatically display text based on the mc-heading-level style property, which by default is applied to the h1 through h6 heading styles that you use in your project. Like Running Head variables, they are useful when creating print-based output. It's an easy way, for example, to automatically display a chapter title in the header of a chapter.  For Adobe PDF output, you can also use Heading variables to automatically display glossary headings/terms and index headings/terms in a page layout frame.  See Heading Variables, Running Head Variables, and Inserting Running Head Variables Into Frames.

Heading variables are very similar to Running Head variables. The key appeal of Running Head variables is that they are supported in FrameMaker and help with the transition of authors from FrameMaker to Flare. So people who are familiar with FrameMaker might prefer to use Running Head variables because they are used to them. However, Heading variables are somewhat easier to use and therefore are recommended for people who do not have a FrameMaker background.

Following are steps for inserting a Heading variable into a page layout frame.

How to Insert a Heading Variable Into a Page Layout Frame

  1. Open a page in a page layout.

  2. Click on the frame to which you want to add text or other content.

    Note You can add text and content only to header, footer, and decoration frames. You cannot add text and content to a body frame (which automatically displays content from your topics). You can use image frames to insert images that use all of the space in the frame.

  3. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:

    • Keyboard Shortcut Press F2 on your keyboard.
    • Right-Click Right-click the frame and select Edit Text.

    A message opens, asking if you want to pick content from a template (e.g., a page number).

  4. Click No. The Frame Contents window pane opens.

    Note If you have already prepared content in the form of a snippet and added it to your template folder, you can click "Yes" instead in order to select the snippet. See Templates.

  5. Click in the Frame Contents window pane.

  6. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:

    • Ribbon Select Insert > Variable.

    • Local Toolbar Click Add a variable definition..
    • Keyboard Shortcut On your keyboard press CTRL+SHIFT+V.

    The Variables dialog opens, with the variable set(s) on the left and the variables associated with the selected set on the right.

  7. Select the Heading variable set.

  8. Select the variable you want to add. Much of the information that follows pertains to projects and are primarily for the authors of those projects.

    • AnyLevel Automatically displays the text in the first heading on a page that uses any of the h1 through h6 styles.

    • FirstGlossaryPageHeading Automatically displays the first glossary heading (e.g., A, B, C, D, E) that occurs on a page with a generated glossary. In order for this variable to work, it must be inserted in a page layout that is used for the topic where a Glossary proxy is inserted (see Creating a Glossary Manually Using a Proxy). In addition, you must specify in the outline TOC that your glossary topic is using the page layout where you have inserted this variable (see Specifying Chapter and Page Layout Breaks). The option is available only with Adobe PDF output.

      Example You want to include a generated glossary in a PDF manual. So you create a topic called "MyGlossary" and insert a Glossary proxy into it. Then you add that topic to the outline TOC being used to produce the manual. Next, you open the page layout you want to use for the topic holding that Glossary proxy. Let's call it "GlossaryPL." Suppose you open the page in the layout that will be used for all left-hand pages in the output. In the header frame, you insert the "FirstGlossaryPageHeading" variable. Perhaps you want to show the complete range of glossary headings on each page. So you type the word "through" and also insert the "LastGlossaryPageHeading" variable.

      Therefore, you would have something like this:

      Next, in the outline TOC, you create a chapter break on the entry linked to the topic holding the Glossary proxy, specifying that the entry should use the "GlossaryPL" layout.

      Now you generate the PDF. You scroll down to the first left-handed page showing the generated glossary. Let's say the first glossary heading you see on the page is F, with all of the terms beginning with the letter "f" following it. Toward the bottom of that page, you see the glossary heading H, and terms starting with the letter "h" are listed below it. In that case, when you look to the very top of the page, you will see this:

      F through H

    • FirstGlossaryPageTerm Automatically displays the first glossary term (e.g., Ants, Bugs, Cats, Dogs, Elephants) that occurs on a page with a generated glossary. In order for this variable to work, it must be inserted in a page layout that is used for the topic where a Glossary proxy is inserted (see Creating a Glossary Manually Using a Proxy). In addition, you must specify in the outline TOC that your glossary topic is using the page layout where you have inserted this variable (see Specifying Chapter and Page Layout Breaks). The is available only with Adobe PDF output.

      Example You want to include a generated glossary in a PDF manual. So you create a simple topic called "MyGlossary" and insert a Glossary proxy into it. Then you add that topic to the outline TOC that is being used to produce the manual.

      Next, you open the page layout that you want to use for the topic holding that Glossary proxy. Let's call it "GlossaryPL." Suppose you open the page in that layout that will be used for all left-hand pages in the output. In the header frame, you insert the "FirstGlossaryPageTerm" variable. Perhaps you want to show the complete range of glossary terms on each page. So you type the word "through" and also insert the "LastGlossaryPageTerm" variable. In addition, you type quotation marks around each of the variables so that the terms will stand out in the output. Therefore, you would have something like this in the frame:

      Next, in the outline TOC, you create a chapter break on the entry linked to the topic holding the Glossary proxy, specifying that the entry should use the "GlossaryPL" layout.

      Generate the PDF. Scroll down to the first left-handed page showing the generated glossary. Let's say the first glossary term on the page is Moose. The last term on the page is Sharks. When you look to the very top of the page, you will see this:

      "Moose" through "Sharks"

    • FirstIndexHeading Automatically displays the first index heading (e.g., A, B, C, D, E) that occurs on a page with a generated index. In order for this variable to work, it must be inserted in a page layout that is used for the topic where an Index proxy is inserted (see Creating an Index Manually for Print). In addition, you must specify in the outline TOC that your index topic is using the page layout where you have inserted this variable (see Specifying Chapter and Page Layout Breaks). The is available with Adobe PDF output.

      Example You want to include a generated index in a PDF manual. So you create a simple topic called "MyIndex" and insert an Index proxy into it. Then you add that topic to the outline TOC that is being used to produce the manual.

      Next, you open the page layout that you want to use for the topic holding that Index proxy. Let's call it "IndexPL." Suppose you open the page in that layout that will be used for all left-hand pages in the output. In the header frame, you insert the "FirstIndexHeading" variable. Perhaps you want to show the complete range of index headings on each page. So you type the word "through" and also insert the "LastIndexHeading" variable. Therefore, you would have something like this in the frame:

      Next, in the outline TOC, you create a chapter break on the entry linked to the topic holding the Index proxy. When doing this, you specify that the entry should use the "IndexPL" page layout.

      Now you generate the PDF. You scroll down to the first left-handed page showing the generated index. Let's say the first index heading you see on the page is C, with all of the index entries beginning with the letter "c" following it. Toward the bottom of that page, you see the glossary heading J, and index entries starting with the letter "j" are listed below it. In that case, when you look to the very top of the page, you will see this:

      C through J

    • FirstIndexTerm Automatically displays the first index term (e.g., Ants, Bugs, Cats, Dogs, Elephants) that occurs on a page with a generated index. In order for this variable to work, it must be inserted in a page layout that is used for the topic where an Index proxy is inserted (see Creating an Index Manually for Print). In addition, you must specify in the outline TOC that your index topic is using the page layout where you have inserted this variable (see Specifying Chapter and Page Layout Breaks). The option is available only with Adobe PDF output.

      Example You want to include a generated index in a PDF manual. So you create a simple topic called "MyIndex" and insert an Index proxy into it. Then you add that topic to the outline TOC that is being used to produce the manual.

      Next, you open the page layout that you want to use for the topic holding that Index proxy. Let's call it "IndexPL." Suppose you open the page in that layout that will be used for all left-hand pages in the output. In the header frame, you insert the "FirstIndexTerm" variable. Perhaps you want to show the complete range of index terms on each page. So you type the word "through" and also insert the "LastIndexTerm" variable. In addition, you type quotation marks around each variable so that the terms stand out in the output. Therefore, you would have something like this in the frame:

      Next, in the outline TOC, you create a chapter break on the entry linked to the topic holding the Index proxy. You specify that the entry should use the "IndexPL" layout.

      Now you generate the PDF. You scroll down to the first left-handed page showing the generated index. Let's say the first index term you see on the page is Moose. The last term on the page is Sharks. When you look to the very top of the page, you will see this:

      "Moose" through "Sharks"

    • LastGlossaryPageHeading Automatically displays the last glossary heading (e.g., U, V, W, X, Y, Z) that occurs on a page with a generated glossary. In order for this variable to work, it must be inserted in a page layout that is used for the topic where a Glossary proxy is inserted (see Creating a Glossary Manually Using a Proxy). In addition, you must specify in the outline TOC that your glossary topic is using the page layout where you have inserted this variable (see Specifying Chapter and Page Layout Breaks). The option is available only with Adobe PDF output.

    • LastGlossaryPageTerm Automatically displays the last glossary term (e.g., Sharks, Tigers, Wombats, Zebras) that occurs on a page with a generated glossary. In order for this variable to work, it must be inserted in a page layout that is used for the topic where a Glossary proxy is inserted (see Creating a Glossary Manually Using a Proxy). In addition, you must specify in the outline TOC that your glossary topic is using the page layout where you have inserted this variable (see Specifying Chapter and Page Layout Breaks). The option is available only with Adobe PDF output.

    • LastIndexHeading Automatically displays the last index heading (e.g., U, V, W, X, Y, Z) that occurs on a page with a generated index. In order for this variable to work, it must be inserted in a page layout that is used for the topic where an Index proxy is inserted (see Creating an Index Manually for Print). In addition, you must specify in the outline TOC that your index topic is using the page layout where you have inserted this variable (see Specifying Chapter and Page Layout Breaks). The option is available only with Adobe PDF output.

    • LastIndexTerm Automatically displays the last index term (e.g., Sharks, Tigers, Wombats, Zebras) that occurs on a page with a generated index. In order for this variable to work, it must be inserted in a page layout that is used for the topic where an Index proxy is inserted (see Creating an Index Manually for Print). In addition, you must specify in the outline TOC that your index topic is using the page layout where you have inserted this variable (see Specifying Chapter and Page Layout Breaks). The option is available only with Adobe PDF output.

    • Level1 Automatically displays the first text on a page that uses the mc-heading-level style property set at 1. By default, the h1 style has the mc-heading-level set to 1 (that's why it's called a first-level heading), but you can change it, and you can set the mc-heading-level to 1 for other styles if you want.

      Example You are using the keep the mc-heading-level set to 1 for the h1 style. Furthermore, you use the h1 style only for your chapter titles at the beginning of each chapter. If you insert the Heading.Level1 variable into the heading frames in the page layout that you are using for chapters, the appropriate chapter title will display automatically at the top of each chapter in the output.

    • Level2 Automatically displays the first text on a page that uses the mc-heading-level style property set at 2. By default, the h2 style has the mc-heading-level set to 2 (that's why it's called a second-level heading), but you can change it, and you can set the mc-heading-level to 2 other styles if you want.

    • Level3 Automatically displays the first text on a page that uses the mc-heading-level style property set at 3. By default, the h3 style has the mc-heading-level set to 3 (that's why it's called a third-level heading), but you can change it, and you can set the mc-heading-level to 3 for other styles if you want.

    • Level4 Automatically displays the first text on a page that uses the mc-heading-level style property set at 4. By default, the h4 style has the mc-heading-level set to 4 (that's why it's called a fourth-level heading), but you can change it, and you can set the mc-heading-level to 4 for other styles if you want.

    • Level5 Automatically displays the first text on a page that uses the mc-heading-level style property set at 5. By default, the h5 style has the mc-heading-level set to 5 (that's why it's called a fifth-level heading), but you can change it, and you can set the mc-heading-level to 5 for other styles if you want.

    • Level6 Automatically displays the first text on a page that uses the mc-heading-level style property set at 6. By default, the h6 style has the mc-heading-level set to 6 (that's why it's called a sixth-level heading), but you can change it, and you can set the mc-heading-level to 6 for other styles if you want.

  9. Click OK. The variable is added to the Frame Contents window pane.
  10. Click Save the active file. to save your work. The variable can now be seen in the frame.