There are a number of variables available to use in text widgets and in text based properties of other widgets e.g. the title of a chart. These variables are useful to add dynamic elements into a string of text such as the name of the selected feature, the indicator name, the date, or the indicator value.

Variables in Text widgets
When you are in the edit mode of a text widget (double-click on the text widget to open the editor), there are three button allowing you to add variables. The first one is labelled ‘Feature Name’. It inserts the variable #FNAME which gets replaced with the name of the selected feature.

The second button labelled ‘Indicator Name’ opens a drop down list with all indicators which have been made available for this widget. If you select one of them, inserts the variable #IINAME{<number>} where <number> stands for the index of the indicator within the list of available indicators. So if you wish to insert the fifth indicator in the list the variable will be #IINAME{5}. You can change the available indicators for this widget by leaving the edit mode and opening the widget properties. In the Data tab you need to tick the indicators you wish to use as variables in this widget.

Similarly to the Indicator Name variable, you can also insert the value of this indicator for the selected feature. To insert a variable for this, click on the button labelled ‘Value’ and pick the indicator of your choice from the drop down list. The inserted variable will be #IVALUE{<number>} where <number> again stands for the index of the indicator within the list of available indicators. So e.g. the variable for the value of the fifth indicator in the list would be #IVALUE{5}.

Variables in Chart and Table widgets
In the Properties of Chart and Table widgets you will come across other variables. For example the XAxis Label Format for bar charts has a default value of #NAME #DATE. The variable #NAME can either be the indicator name(s) or the feature name(s) depending on how the bar chart is set up (i.e. if indicators or features are chosen as series in the Series Binding Style property). #DATE will display the date of the indicator if it has one.

Some properties will have a little icon to the right of the text field which when clicked shows a list of commonly used variables for this property.

Most of the variables are fairly self-explanatory. If you don’t know what a certain variable does or if you want to know the syntax of a specific variable, please get in touch with support@instantatlas.com.