Inserting variables in headers and footers

Know how to add variables to headers and footers in Adobe FrameMaker.

In this topic

Introduction
Running H/F variables
Using markers to display text in a running header or footer
Creating a dictionary-style header or footer

Introduction

In Adobe FrameMaker, you can add a variable to a running header or footer on the master page of a document. The variable displays across all body pages of the document that have this master page applied.

Running H/F variables

The following table describes the default Running H/F (Running Header/Footer) variables available in a (new) blank document:

Default Running H/F variable	Description
Running H/F 1	Chapter title
Running H/F 2	First-level heading. For example, Heading 1.
Running H/F 3, H/F 4, H/F 13 through H/F 18	Marker text defined for markers of type Header/Footer $1 through $8.
Running H/F 5 through H/F 12	Paragraph text as defined by the paratag part of the definition.

Important: You can modify the default definition of all Running H/F variables as per your project’s requirements. For example, you can create a Running H/F variable that contains fixed text, one or more building blocks, and character styles.

Using markers to display text in a running header or footer

You can use the Running H/F variables (4, 5, and 13 through 18) to add marker text to a running header or footer. Use these variables to display text in a header or footer that is not available in the content or a system variable.

Choose View > Body Pages to display the body pages of a document.
Place the insertion point at any location in the document. Choose Insert > Marker to open the Marker dialog.

Note: The location of the marker in the document is not relevant. For example, you can place all the markers to include header or footer text at one location in the document.
In the Maker Type pop-up list, choose Header/Footer $1.
In the Marker Text box, enter the text to display in the header or footer.
Choose View > Master Pages to display the master pages of the document. Insert the Running H/F 3 variable in the header or footer.

Similarly, use the Running H/F 4 and H/F 13 through H/F 18 with the corresponding Header/Footer $2 through Header/Footer $8 marker type to add additional marker text to a running header or footer.

Creating a dictionary-style header or footer

The term displayed in the header or footer of an odd-numbered page of a dictionary is the first term described on the odd number page. Similarly, the term displayed in the header or footer of an even number page is the last term described on the even number page. To create a dictionary-style header or footer, use one of the paratext variables (Running H/F 5 through H/F 12):

Choose View > Master Pages to display the master page of the document. Navigate to the odd master page.
Select a paratext variable and click Edit in the Variables panel. The Add/Edit Variable dialog is displayed.
In the Add/Edit Variable dialog, edit the definition of the variable to specify the paragraph style that is used by the dictionary terms in the document. For example, edit the definition of Running H/F 5 to <$paratext[Heading3]>.
Insert the variable into the odd page header.
Go to the even page header.
In the Add/Edit Variable dialog, edit the definition of the variable to specify the paragraph style that is used by the dictionary terms in the document. For example, edit the definition of Running H/F 5 to <$paratext[+, Heading3]>.

Important: The plus (+) sign preceding the paragraph style displays text from the last paragraph with the style specified in the variable definitions.

The odd page headers of the document display the first paragraph style defined in the Running H/F variable. The even pages display the last paragraph style.