Flattening Variables

Concept

When a text or an image has been tagged as containing variables (using the "contains variables" checkbox for a text, or by selecting a variable in the appropriate pulldown for an image), it is no longer directly accessible by end users. Administrators can still easily access the underlying content (by toggling the view mode in the document or by using "Edit Story"). But in some circumstances, you do want the user to be able to edit the underlying content directly. One example is offering two modes on the same document (variable driven and free design).

Flattening Snippets

Snippets can be converted to their constituent frames by using the "Convert to frames" button. This removes any link to the snippet, but also flattens any variables used inside the original document.

Flattening manually

Flattening an image or barcode can be done through the Image or Barcode Settings Panels by selecting none in the dropdown menu for the option "Variable" (operating on the selected frame).
A text can be flattened through the "Flatten Variables" button in the Variable Tools panel (Under the "Variable Data" tab on the right, in the default WorkSpace).
The button "Flatten All Variables" will flatten all variables in the document. The button "Flatten Variables" will flatten the variables inside the selected frame.

Programmatic flattening

It is also possible to flatten variables using JavaScript (eg after the DocumentFullyLoaded event):

editor.ExecuteFunction("document", "FlattenVariables");

Another option is to flatten the variables for a specific frame:

editor.ExecuteFunction("document.selectedFrame", "FlattenVariables");