Fields allow various pieces of information or metadata within your document to be automatically inserted into the document text. Fields will automatically update as data—for example, a date—changes.
About fields
Fields can be used to insert relevant section information. For example, adding a Name or Page Number field from the Fields panel's Document Sections to a master page's footer will automatically display the correct section name or page number, respectively, wherever the master page is applied.
Inserting fields
Items that may be inserted as fields can be found on the Fields panel (accessed by opening the Window menu, then selecting References>Fields).
Available fields include:
Document Information—displays the Author, Tags, Comments, Title, Subject, and Revision.
Document Statistics—displays key statistics for the document: Last edited by, Created, Saved, Printed, Save Count, Filename, Path, and Total Pages.
Document Sections—displays the following for each section of the document: Name, Running Header, Page Number, Last Page and Run Last Page.
Continuation—displays the page number of the Previous Frame and Next Frame in a sequence of linked text frames, so you can add jump lines to publications.
General Information—displays the current Date & Time.
Data Merge (data source file name)—dynamically displays fields from a currently connected external data source.
Custom—allows you to create your own fields, whose values can be any text you wish.
Converting regular text to fields
Text in a document can be converted to a field, directly from a text selection or via the Find and Replace panel.
A text selection can be converted only if it does not:
include any hard breaks, such as paragraph breaks and section breaks.
include filler text.
consist of multiple text ranges.
produce a blank string of text.
Using the Find and Replace panel is useful in a document containing multiple instances of the same text—or similar text, which can be found using regular expressions—that you wish to convert
Formatting fields
Fields with editable formatting include Date & Time, Created, Saved, Printed/Exported, and Running Header.
Field formatting can be edited, via the Fields panel or the document view.
Formatting dates and times
Fields that display the date and time can be customized to display any of a wide variety of details. When editing their formatting, select Custom and enter the required details in the Pattern setting.
The table below lists items supported by the setting. Patterns can be combined as you wish, including with regular text to form longer phrases.
The Language setting affects the values shown by each pattern. For example, MMMM displays July when an English language is selected, julio for Spanish, and Temmuz for Turkish.
Dates
Symbol
Meaning
Pattern
Example value
Notes
G
Era designator
G GGGG GGGGG
AD Anno Domini A
y
Year
y yy
2023 23
Q
Quarter
Q QQ QQQ QQQQ
2 02 Q2 2nd quarter
M
Month in year
M MM MMM MMMM MMMMM
9 09 Sep September S
L
Standalone month in year
L LL LLL LLLL LLLLL
9 09 Sep September S
Some languages use a different spelling of the month in certain contexts, e.g. when a month is mentioned without a date and year. These spellings can be accessed using these patterns. For example, in Polish MMMM displays lipca for July, whereas LLLL displays lipiec.
w
Week of year
w
27
Consecutive instances of the symbol add a leading zero to the resulting value.
W
Week of month
W
2
Consecutive instances of the symbol add a leading zero to the resulting value.
d
Day in month
d dd
2 02
D
Day of year
D DD DDD
1 01 001
Example is 1st of January.
F
Day of week in month
F
2
Example is second Wednesday in July. Consecutive instances of the symbol add a leading zero to the resulting value.
E
Day of week
E EEEE EEEEE EEEEEE
Tue Tuesday T Tu
e
Local day of week
e eee eeee eeeee eeeeee
2 Tue Tuesday T Tu
When the field's language is set to US English, Monday is day 2 as the week starts on Sunday, whereas for UK English it is day 1 as the week starts on Monday.
Times
a
AM or PM
a aaaaa
PM p
B
Flexible time periods
B
at night
Possible values are in the morning, noon, in the afternoon, in the evening and at night.
h
Hour in day (1–12)
h hh
7 07
H
hour (0–23)
H HH
7 07
k
Hour number in day (1–24)
k kk
4 04
K
Hour in am/pm (0–11)
K KK
7 07
m
Minute in hour (0–59)
m mm
8 08
s
Second in minute (0–59)
s ss
3 03
z
Short/Long Timezone
z zzzz
BST British Summer Time
O
Time Zone: short localized GMT Time Zone: long localized GMT
O OOOO
GMT-8 GMT-08:00
V
Time Zone: short time zone ID Time Zone: long time zone ID Time Zone: time zone exemplar city Time Zone: generic location
V VV VVV VVVV
gblon Europe/London London United Kingdom Time
x
Time Zone: ISO8601 basic hm Time Zone: ISO8601 basic hm Time Zone: ISO8601 extended hm
x xx xxx
+01, -0930 +0100, -0930 +01:00, -09:30
Other
'
Escape character to include literal text
'Today is' EEEE
Today is Tuesday
Surround literal text with apostrophes to display it alongside date and time values in a field.
' '
Two single quotes produce one
'Today''s date is' dd/MM/yyyy
Today’s date is 03/07/2023
To insert a field:
In a text object, create an insertion point or select text that you want to replace.
On the Fields panel, expand the section that contains the required field.
Double-click the required field's name.
To edit formatting of an existing instance of a field:
Do one of the following:
-click the field in document text and select Edit Field.
In document text, select the field or create an insertion point immediately before or after it. On the corresponding entry on the Fields panel, select Edit Format (or Edit Running Header Defaults for that field).
On the dialog that appears, select your preferred format.
Other instances of the field are unaffected.
To set default formatting for future instances of a field:
In the document view, ensure that:
an instance of the field is not selected.
the insertion point is not immediately before or after an instance of the field.
On the required field's entry on the Fields panel, select Edit Format Defaults.
On the dialog that appears, select your preferred format.
Instances of the field that you insert afterwards will use your preferred format.
To convert a field to regular text:
In document text, -click the field and select Expand Field.
To convert a text selection to a field:
Select the text range to be converted.
-click the selection and then select Convert Text to Field.
(Optional) Edit the proposed name and value for the field.
Select OK.
To highlight fields in document text:
From the Text menu, select Highlight Fields.
To create a custom field:
On the Fields panel, expand the Custom section.
Select Create Custom Field (the + button).
Type a name and a value for the field into the corresponding boxes.
Select Close.
To edit a custom field's value:
On the Fields panel, expand the Custom section.
To the right of the custom field's name, click the existing value (or the blank space if there is no value).
Type the new value.
Press the .
To rename or delete a custom field:
On the Fields panel, expand the Custom section.
On the field's entry, select Edit Custom Field.
Do one of the following:
To rename the custom field, click its current name, edit the text, and then press the .
In document text, select the field or create an insertion point immediately before or after it. On the corresponding entry on the Fields panel, select Edit Format (or Edit Running Header Defaults for that field).
Select Create Custom Field (the + button).
To delete the custom field, select Delete.