Changing a Version Layer

Changing a version layer in InDesign will force InDesign to re-fetch the data contents for your version from STEP. Changing context / workspace for a certain version layer will potentially affect all data in the selected version layer in the active document.

The reasons for changing the content on a version layer include the following:

  • You have finished creating the pages for the master language of your publication and are now ready to duplicate the layer and update the new layer with content from another version of your publication.
  • You have finished creating the pages for your publication by using a publication version that is using content from the Main workspace. You now need to update the pages with content from the Approved workspace.
  • You want to attach an existing document to another publication.
  • You actually want to avoid working with layers in your InDesign documents.

Adopting Layout and Content From Another Version

When creating new version layers it is possible to adopt the layout from another publication version—either within the same publication or a different one—then swap out the dimension-dependent content on the page using the Layer Version Update feature in Print Publisher.

A typical workflow for working with version layers in Print Publisher is that you first create your full master version layer. This means that you mount your products from your first version into your InDesign page or spread. Then you use the features of InDesign to edit the layout of the pages and the products on the pages. Only when you are happy with the way a version's pages look, you will start creating the other version layers. Following this procedure will make it easier for you to let the remaining version layers in a publication reuse the layout you have created on the original mounted pages.

It is possible to duplicate a version layer from the Layers panel (opened by navigating to Window > Layers in InDesign, or pressing F7) and then change the version afterward. This way, you keep all your formatting and layout from one version to another within a publication, and you can mount several versions of a publication within the same document.

The following directions are for adding content from a different publication version when working within the same publication or from a different publication.

  1. Select the relevant version layer in the Layers tab, then right-click and select Duplicate Layer.

  1. The layer is duplicated into a new layer with the name of the original layer followed by the word 'copy'.

  1. Rename the duplicated layer and change its color by following the instructions outlined in the Creating Layers in Templates topic here.
  2. Ensure that you are working on the duplicated layer by making sure that the pen icon is visible on the selected layer.

  1. Navigate to STEP > Layer Version Update.

  1. In the Layer Version Update dialog, select the version that you would like to update your layer to from the Version dropdown list.

To use a version from a different publication, click the ellipsis button () in the 'Revised' field. Select the desired publication from the Choose Publication dialog, then click OK. Updating the content with a version from a different publication will allow you to save your mounted pages back to that publication in STEP.

  1. Once the new version is selected, the Apply checkbox is automatically selected.

  1. Click OK to update the layer content.

Additional Options on the Layer Version Update Dialog

The following options available on the Layer Version Update dialog can be selected to further control how data on the duplicated layer is updated from STEP.

  • Clear Context Overrides: This option sets the context applied to all items on the layer to that is assigned to the version. If a frame or attribute had a specific context applied through the product template settings on the STEP Template Content panel, these context overrides are removed.
  • Override Version Workspace: This option swaps the workspace of mounted products. For example, if you built your publication using a publication version that was pulling content from the Main workspace, you can then swap the workspace to the Approved workspace to overwrite the values with those from the Approved workspace. To swap the workspace, check the 'Override Version Workspace' checkbox and select the workspace from which you would like to pull the content from when you update the content on your layer.

For more information about workspaces, refer to the Workspaces topic in the System Setup documentation here.

  • Under the Document Data update options label is a dropdown list that contains the following options.

  • Update all values: Updates all values within the document, even if the values are identical to those in STEP.
  • Do not update matching DB/placed values: Only updates values that do not match placed values. 'Placed' values refer to the values that exist on the page, which may or may not be different than the values that exist in STEP at the time of the update. The placed values will be compared to the values in STEP and if these two values are identical, no change will occur. This option is a useful way to retain styling made to placed values that match the new values in STEP. This also allows for quicker processing time, since all values do not have to be updated—only the ones that do not match.
  • Do not update any placed values: Updates the publication and version references of the mounted elements but does not update the page data.
  • Obtain values from transformed tables, preserve local table styling and structure: If there are mounted tables on the layer that you are updating, checking this box will retain the existing table structures and only update the values within the tables. For example, local styling might have been applied to the table on the InDesign page after its original mount, such as the alteration of row / column sizes or the addition of color shading (either manually or through a previous table transformation). Checking this box ensures that the table structure and formatting remain as-is and only the values are updated. If the box is not checked, the entire table is re-sent from the database (force updated) and any local updates made to the table are lost.

If actual table structural changes have been made to the table in STEP, such as the addition or removal of rows or columns, then a Table Structure Mismatch alert dialog will display.

  • Choose DB Attribute to only update the content in the table. The structure of the table will not change; any inclusions or exclusions of rows / columns or any other changes made to the table structure will not be updated.
  • Choose DB Table to update the table with all the structural changes made in STEP. This is the recommended option when any structural changes have been made to the table since it was mounted.
  • Choose Skip to make no changes to the table at all.
  • Update Repeat Area: Checking this box will compare the list of objects in STEP applicable to a repeat area to the objects mounted on the page (ignoring order). Additional objects are placed at the end of the list unless deleted items are also found, in which case added items replace the deleted items until there are no more deleted items and the remaining items are then placed at the end of the list.

A repeat area is created in the product template using the 'Repeat Selection' feature (STEPREPEAT). This function is applied to a group of attributes in the product template and causes the values of the selected attributes to repeat for the child objects of the mounted product. After the product has been mounted onto the page, if there are any inclusions or deletions on the child objects, then choosing this option will allow the user to update the inclusions and/or exclusions. For more information on STEPREPEAT, refer to the Using the Repeat Function for Subproducts topic here.

Alternative to Working With Version Layers

InDesign documents created from a publication that has multiple versions are not required to use layers. A single 'master' publication can be created that contains multiple versions, but layers are not needed because all versions will not be mounted at once.

For example, your business may publish a near-identical catalog in 15 languages, but the 'master' language catalog (e.g., US English) needs to go to press before the translated versions are ready. When the translated content is available in STEP, the single-layer US English catalog can be opened in InDesign, then the layer can be updated with content from a different version within the publication by using the Layer Version Update feature. This updated document can then either be saved back to the publication in STEP (as separate files from the original language) or saved locally, outside of STEP.