6       Text Fields

OpenDocument text documents or OpenDocument text content embedded in other types of documents can contain variable text elements called fields. There are several different types of field, each of which implements a different type of variable text element. Fields are most commonly used for:

�        Page numbers
A page number field displays the number of the page it appears on. This field is useful for footers. For every page on which the footer appears, the field assumes the current page number so that all pages are numbered correctly.

�        Creation dates
A creation date field displays the date on which the current document was created. This field is useful for document templates. Every document created using the template contains the date when it was created.

�        Number ranges
A number range field allows the user to number certain elements, for example, images or tables. A number range field displays its own position in relation to the other number range fields for the same range. Therefore, if an image and its associated number range field are moved within a document, the fields are automatically updated to reflect the new order.

This section describes how fields are represented in the OpenDocument file format.