What are functions?
Certain properties of elements within the document can be defined as a function or formula. This function can refer to other elements properties and variable values.
To turn a static frame property into a calculated value based on a function, you simply click the function button next to the property input field in the interface.
Case Sensitivity
Important to know, functions, tags and references are not Case Sensitive.
E.g. The variable with name "AddWidth" can be used in a formula as "addwidth".
E.g. The PageWidth can be used in a calculation as "pageWidth"
A function field will appear below the property input field. The property input field is now no longer editable because the value is calculated based on the function defined in the function input field.
If a function is not valid and cannot be calculated properly, the last calculated value is kept.
Errors
When a function does not work out, it will turn red, and you'll get a notification.
What is supported within a function?
Arithmic operators
+ | adding |
- | substracting |
* | multiplying |
/ | deviding |
() | parentheses |
Parentheses will influence the order of calculation.
Referencing
In the functions, you can use absolute numbers, or you can reference other elements.
E.g. Start my frame 10mm left of the left side of the page / output
E.g. Position the top right of my logo 200px from the top/left corner of my banner
If the output then resized, the relative position of the element will move with the resize.
Functions can reference properties of frames, the page and also reference variable values. The way to do this is:
- For frames:
By typing the frame tag followed by a dot and the name of the property you want to reference. If frame tag contains a space or special character, the frame tag can still be used in the function but must be put between brackets. For example: [My frame tag]
- Page:
By typing “Page” followed by a dot, and the name of the property you want to reference. - Paragraph within a text frame:
A text paragraph can be tagged, and can also be referenced in a Dynamic Layout function. This is possible by first typing the name (tag) of the frame, followed by a dot, followed by the name of the paragraph (tag)
- Variable:
By typing the name of the variable, nothing more.
Properties (to reference of)
These properties can be used from the page, frame, inline frame or tagged paragraph which is referenced by the tag of the frame.
| X | The X position of the referenced rotated frame (note reference point) (or 0 for page) |
| Y | The Y position of the referenced rotated frame (note reference point) (or 0 for page) |
| Top | The Y value of the top of the referenced rotated frame (or 0 for page) |
| Bottom | The Y value of the bottom of the referenced rotated frame or page height |
| Left | The X value of the left of the referenced rotated frame (or 0 for page) |
| Right | The X value of the right of the referenced rotated frame or page width |
| CenterY | The Y value of the center of the referenced rotated frame or page |
| CenterX | The X value of the center of the referenced rotated frame or page |
| Width | The width of the referenced frame or page (note value is scaled) |
| NonScaledWidth | The non scaled width of the referenced frame |
| Height | The height of the referenced frame or page (note value is scaled) |
| NonScaledHeight | The non scaled height of the referenced frame |
| Rotation | Rotation of the frame (note doesn't exist on inline frames) |
| ScaleX | X Scale of the frame |
| ScaleY | Y Scale of the frame |
Examples
- page.width
- frametag.height
- frametag.paragraphtag.centerX
Variables
It is possible to use variables in the calculation, but only variables of type number or coordinate. For now, only the value of the variable can be referenced. No other meta information.
"variable.value" or "variable" will both resolve to the actual value of the variable.
In case a variable has the same name as a frame tag, this property being used will indicate if the user intends to use the variable value or the frame property. (there is no "value" property on frames and no width, height, etc on a variable)
If page.property is used in a calculated value, it will always refer to the page in the document, never to a frame with tag "page".
Functions within the calculation
Following additional functions are available for application in the calculations
MinMax(min, max, input) | Clamps a given value between a minimum and maximum value. E.g. MinMax(300,700, addwidth) When the width of the add is lower than 300, the function will return 300. |
ClampMin(min, input) | If the input value is less than the minimum, return the minimum value otherwise return the input value |
ClampMax(max, input) | If the input value is greater than the maximum, return the maximum value otherwise return the input value |
Use of units within a function
Units (millimeters, inches, points, pixels) can be used within a function.
If no unit are specified the Dynamic layout engine will assume the value is in points. Multiple units can be used within a single function.
E.g.:
frameA.width=50mm+10in+5pt