: Is there an easy way to handle minor content changes in InDesign? I would like to know if there is a way to handle minor content changes in InDesign 5.5. I need to create a few different

@Carla748

I ended up rolling my own rudimentary solution using the Scripts feature. A tab-delimited text file is used to define "variables", and then the script runs a search and replace for each variable defined. I will have one document that acts as the master, and then generate my child documents from the master.

Input file test.txt

{adj} quick
{Animal} Fox
{animal} fox
{action} jumped
{item} chair


InDesign document before running script



InDesign document after running script



jsx script

//TODO: figure out a better way to set the files
var parts=readVars("test.txt");

//run the replace
for (var i in parts){
find(parts[i].find,parts[i].replace);
}

//read a tab delimited file
function readVars(fileName)
{
var fileIn=File(fileName);
fileIn.open("r");
var data = fileIn.read();
fileIn.close();
return getData(data);
}

//split up a string into tab delimited data
function getData(data)
{
var parts=data.split("n");
var result=[];
for (var i=0;i<parts.length;i++)
{
var itemParts = parts[i].split("t");
result.push({"find": itemParts[0],"replace": itemParts[1] });
}

return result;
}

function find(text,replacement)
{
app.findTextPreferences = NothingEnum.nothing;
app.changeTextPreferences = NothingEnum.nothing;
app.findTextPreferences.findWhat = text;
//Set the find options.
app.findChangeTextOptions.caseSensitive = true;
app.findChangeTextOptions.includeFootnotes = false;
app.findChangeTextOptions.includeHiddenLayers = false;
app.findChangeTextOptions.includeLockedLayersForFind = false;
app.findChangeTextOptions.includeLockedStoriesForFind = false;
app.findChangeTextOptions.includeMasterPages = false;
app.findChangeTextOptions.wholeWord = false;

var foundItems = app.documents.item(0).findText();

for (var i=0;i<foundItems.length;i++)
{
//alert(foundItems[i]);
//alert(foundItems[i].contents);
foundItems[i].contents=replacement;
}

}

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@Nimeshi706

If you're looking at tiny edits within paragraphs of text, I think I'd handle this with 2 documents.

While using Master pages or layers can be helpful it is often too easy to overlook something.

Variable text may also work, but that seems like a great deal of overhead for a few minor changes.

I'd use 2 documents. This makes things much easier to track, proof, and return to later.

I often create sales pieces for clients with 20+ versions and the only difference between versions is a phone number and address. I've tried many dynamic methods for retaining those minor items in a single file and nothing has been as bullet-proof as simply creating a new document, making changes, and cataloging the file well.

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