Table Heading Labels - Variables or Snippets?

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CoolLime
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Table Heading Labels - Variables or Snippets?

Post by CoolLime »

Anyone have any advice on whether things like repetive heading labels of tables, and repetitive pieces of content in the tables (example: "not applicable" or "n/a") are better made into variable or snippets?

I know variables are for short pieces of content, but I am wondering if there are things I have not considered when planning for these things.
doc_guy
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Re: Table Heading Labels - Variables or Snippets?

Post by doc_guy »

Use a variable in the following situations:
  • The text of the variable will inherit the style of the element it is placed in.
  • The text of the variable does not have any inherent style
  • The text of the variable may change over time
  • The text of the variable may need to change depending on the target
Use a snippet in the following situations:
  • The content of the snippet needs to have style applied.
  • The content of the snippet is more than a few words (It can be as small as a single character or image, if needed, but if you need more than a phrase, you probably need a snippet, not a variable.)
  • The content of the snippet needs to change depending on what topic the snippet is inserted in (snippet conditions)
For table headers, I'd generally recommend a variable for the following reasons:
  • The text is short, and should inherit the table header style
  • The text doesn't have it's own inherent style
You probably will want to create these variables in a unique variable set so you don't get them mixed up with the variables that you normally will edit from release to release like the version number, support dates, copyright information, etc.
Paul Pehrson
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CoolLime
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Re: Table Heading Labels - Variables or Snippets?

Post by CoolLime »

Thanks Paul, your reply is very succinct, I appreciate it!
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