Home > Designing and creating databases > Creating and managing layouts and reports > Drawing and inserting objects on a layout > Inserting the date, page number, or other variable onto a layout

Inserting the date, page number, or other variable onto a layout

You can display or print fixed information (such as the date as it was when entered) or variable information (such as today’s date) when you print or preview records. For example, display the current time in a report footer each time you print the report.

You can also display the date, time, or user name as it is when you place it on the layout. This information stays the same whenever you display, print, or preview records. (You can also insert the current date, time, or user name into a field in Browse mode.)

To insert the date, page number, or other variable onto a layout:

1.	In Layout mode, click the Selection tool in the status toolbar, and click where you want the information to appear.

If you want the information inserted into an existing text object, double-click where you want to place the insertion point.

2.	Choose Insert menu, then choose one of the following commands:

 

Choose	To insert	In Layout mode, you see
Current Date	A fixed date (taken from your computer's calendar). This date is static and doesn't change.	The current date
Current Time	A fixed time (taken from your computer's clock). This time is static and doesn't change.	The current time
Current User Name	A fixed user name (taken from the User Name specified in Preferences). This name is static and doesn't change.	The user's name
Date Symbol	A variable date. This date changes to show the current date taken from your computer's calendar.	{{CurrentDate}}
Time Symbol	A variable time. This time changes to show the current time taken from your computer's clock.	{{CurrentTime}}
User Name Symbol	A variable user name. This name changes to show the User Name specified in Preferences.	{{UserName}}
Page Number Symbol	A page number. (Page numbers only appear in Preview mode or on a printed report.)	{{PageNumber}}
Record Number Symbol	A record number (or a row number when inserted into a portal row)	{{RecordNumber}}
Other Symbol	The result of a specified Get function flag. For information about the flags available, see Get functions.	The Get function flag that you chose in the Select a symbol to insert dialog box surrounded by double curly braces. For example, {{AccountName}}
Merge Variable	A variable that you’ve created. See Inserting merge variables onto a layout.	Two dollar signs surrounded by double angle brackets (<<$$>>)

If you insert a symbol, only the variable's symbol appears in Layout mode (such as {{CurrentDate}}). You see the value of the variable in Browse, Find, and Preview modes, and when you print the layout.

Note  You can type the characters listed for the symbol instead of using the commands on the Insert menu. For example, you can type {{CurrentTime}} to insert a time symbol. Variables are not case-sensitive, but they can contain no spaces or extra characters between the curly braces.

3.	To set formatting options such as font, style, line spacing, text color, and alignment for the variable, see Formatting and setting up field objects in Layout mode.

4.	If necessary, resize the text block that contains the variable’s symbol.

In Browse mode and Preview mode, a text block displays and prints only as much text as will fit within its dimensions. Because a symbol often expands when replaced with its variable text, the contents of a text block may be clipped and may not appear in its entirety. If necessary, resize the text block to display all of the text. For information on resizing text blocks, see Resizing and reshaping objects.

Notes

•	You can also insert the date or other variables into fields while entering data in your database. For more information, see Inserting the current date or other variables into a field.

•	To display the current page number with the total number of pages in a report (for example, Page 1 of 10), see Inserting merge variables onto a layout.

Related topics 

Adding text to a layout