You can use dynamic text variables to insert the value of an element or attribute from your content into a topic. For example, you could add the value of the edition, author or releaseinfo elements from a Publication Topic into the topic. To learn more, see Supported Elements, Supported Info Elements and Supported Attributes.

To reference elements and attributes, you will need:

• A basic understanding of XPath 1.0. XPath is required for navigating the elements in the XML output, see https://www.w3schools.com/xml/xpath_intro.asp.

• Access to the XML file that contains all of your content, see Plan your References with the Debug XML File. You can use this file to plan your XPath references. Once you know which elements and attributes are needed, you can insert the appropriate references in your dynamic text variables.

• To Insert a Dynamic Text Variable in your topics, and add the references using the appropriate syntax.

With dynamic text variables, you can enable time and date to be automatically added to your content during the Publish Content. Since the information is retrieved from your browser's client session time and date, it will be accurate for your location. To find out more about the syntax for time and date variables, see SimpleDateFormat (Java 2 Platform SE 5.0).

To Insert a Dynamic Text Variable in your topics, add the references using the appropriate syntax in a phrase element. There are many different ways of displaying the time and date and we have included some examples below.

Syntax	Returns
${date:date-time()}$	The current date, time, and timezone information.
${date:format-usertime('h:m')}$	The current hour and minutes. Use this function for greater control over the format of the date and time in the output. Set the arguments for the function in brackets, where string arguments must be enclosed in single quotes (as shown in the table).
${date:format-usertime('EEE, MMM d, yyyy')}$	The current day, month, and year.
${date:format-unixtime(ancestor::d:section[@xinfo:time-modified][1]/@xinfo:time-modified, 'EEE, MMM d, yyyy')}$	This syntax formats the Unix time stamp into readable text: Thu, Aug 10, 2023. Replace the date format in the syntax to change how the date is presented. To find suggestions, see Simple Date Format. If ${@xinfo:time-modified}$ is used on its own, it presents the date as a computer code (1691661600). Embedding the syntax (like in the left column) the date becomes readable.

When you know what elements and attributes you want to use for your dynamic text variables, you add them to your topics. This works for both HTML5 and PDF output.

To write XPath expressions, there are several things you need to be aware of:

• Include the "d:" prefix for navigatingthe XML, for example: ${/*[1]/d:info/d:title}$. The namespace prefix d is bound to http://docbook.org/ns/docbook

• Some DocBook attributes and Paligo extension attributes do not require a prefix. To access the extension attributes, use the @xinfo prefix, for example ${@xinfo:time-modified}$. It will show the date as a computer code, see Dynamic Text Variables for Time and Date for examples of how to make it readable. The namespace prefix xinfo is bound to http://ns.expertinfo.se/cms/xmlns/1.0.

• For PDF output the top-level node that you can access is article. You cannot access the article's parent node (part).

To insert a dynamic text variable:

Paligo can provide you with a single XML file that contains all of the content in a publication (the publication itself and all of the topics). You can use this XML file to get a better understanding of the structure of your content, so that you plan the XPath expressions for your dynamic text variables. Use XPath 1.0 expressions to access the elements and attributes in your content.

To get the XML file: