Change/delete variable name bug

[Carsten Pedersen]

I experienced a funny thing with using variables.

I created a variable "V1" and then later changed the definition in the target.
Then I changed the name of the variable to "V2". Going to the target and changed the definition again.

Now, it seems that the target remembers the old name of the variable. By looking in the target XML I can
se changed definition of both "V1" and "V2", event "V1" is deleted from the variable set.

You can say that this does no hurt, but the problem is that it seems that when the target goes through
the variables, and discover "V1" it finds out it does not exist and then does not process the rest of the
variables, here "V2".

Removing the "V1" in the target xml solved the problem.

Changing/deleting the names of the variables should also change all the dependencies.

-cpede

[Nita Beck]

Flare has never supported renaming a variable in topics where said variable has been used. As is stated in the little information bar at the top of the Variable Editor, "Note: If you rename a variable, it is a good idea to do so before inserting that variable into topics. If you rename a variable after you have inserted it, your name change will not be captured in the content where you inserted the variable. This means that you will need to re-insert the renamed variable into the topics."

If you're comfortable working in the code of your topics (and it sounds like you are, given that you looked at the target's code), you can use Flare's Find-and-Replace tool to search for V1 and replace it with V2 in your project's source code.

After that, I'd submit a request for a feature enhancement to MadCap. The behavior you'd like -- of letting one rename a variable after one has starting using it -- is quite reasonable.

http://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx