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Package variables

Use package variables to access an item in the package or a value of such an item.

A package variable is a string consisting of an item name, possibly followed by a value selector, a further string that specifies the value to retrieve for that item. Strings are concatenated using the period (.) character.

For example, the string Component.MetaData.Author refers to the value of the Author field of the MetaData fields of the current Component. Component is the item name and .MetaData.Author is the value selector.

Predefined item names

Some item names in a package have a special and specific meaning to the Compound Template that processes the package. Do not create items in the package that have one of these names, unless they are in fact items as specified here.

The reserved item names (stored in constants in the Package class) are as follows:

Item nameDescription
ComponentThe Component currently being processed.
ComponentsThe list of Components associated with the Page currently being processed.
PageThe Page currently being processed
ComponentTemplateThe Component Template used to transform the Component currently being processed.
FieldThat Field of a Component that is currently being processed; or, when iterating over the values multivalue field, the Field value that is currently being processed.
OutputThe publishable output to send to the Content Delivery server.
TemplateRepeatIndexThe index of the repeating region currently being processed. A Dreamweaver template uses repeating regions to iterate over items, such as the Components on a Page or the Fields in a Component.
FieldPathThe full path to the current item being iterated over.

Value selectors

Depending on the content type of the package item, you can add the following value selectors to the item name:

Name or Title

Returns the name or title of the item. You can also place this after a value selector if the expression refers to a Content Manager item.

Use with: Component, Page, Component Template, Field, Schema selector, Publication Selector

ID

Returns the unique identifier (Content Manager URI) of the item. You can also place this after a value selector if the expression refers to a Content Manager item.

Use with: Component, Page, Component Template, Schema selector, Publication Selector

ContentType

Returns the type of content of the item. You can also place this after a value selector if the expression refers to a Content Manager item.

Use with: Component, Page, Component Template, Field, Schema selector, Publication selector

Properties.<PropertyName>

Returns the value of the package item property called <PropertyName>.

Use with: Component, Page, Component Template, Field, Output

<FieldName>

Returns the value of a data or metadata field of the item called <FieldName>. If there both a data and a metadata field with this name exist, returns the value of the data field. If <FieldName> is identical to the name of a modifier, use Fields (see below).

Use with: Component, Page, Component Template, Publication selector

Fields

Use this selector, followed by a <FieldName>, to access a data field with a name that is identical to that of a value selector.

Use with: Component

MetaData

Use this selector, followed by a <FieldName>, to access a metadata field with a name that is identical to that of a data field or to that of a value selector.

Use with: Component, Page, Component Template, Publication selector

<EmbeddedFieldName>.<SubFieldName>

Return the value of a data field called <SubFieldName> of an embedded field called <EmbeddedFieldName>. For example, if a Component contains an embedded field called Address that is based on a Schema with a field called StreetName, Component.Address.StreetName returns the street name.

Use with: Component

Values

Placed after a <FieldName> selector that refers to a multivalue field, returns an array of values for the field.

Use with: Component

Schema

Returns the Schema on which this item is based

Use with: Component

Publication

Returns the Publication that contains this item

Use with: Use with: Component, Page, Component Template, Schema selector

Content

Returns the string contents of a Component Template

Use with: Component Template

TemplateType

Returns the type of a Component Template

Use with: Component Template

OutputFormat

Returns the output format of a Component Template

Use with: Component Template

IsRepositoryPublishable

Returns true if Component Presentations that use this Component Template can be published separately, false if they cannot.

Use with: Component Template