Showstrings are inline PIs (processing instructions) generally used to manipulate, conditionally test and display strings of text. These strings or integers can be extracted from the main stream, specific element attributes, static hand coded values and many other sources.
Although showstring syntax can look daunting to a novice, it is actually very logical and it is well worth utilising the power of showstrings to automate document formatting. Showstrings offer flexible solutions to many tasks often impossible on other systems.
Showstrings are used in 3B2 for a multitude of functions from basic page numbering to conditionally formatting a paragraph depending on its attribute value. From outputting the running header text of a partner showstring in the main stream to testing multiple integer values, performing an arithmetic expression and showing the resulting value to another part of the document.
The showstrings mechanism in 3B2 provides a very powerful and versatile tool that avoids labour intensive procedures. A vast range of publishing processes that would otherwise be completed manually can be automated using showstrings.
Showstrings are one of the most efficient methods of formatting text and provide considerable savings in the time that it takes to process your work. Setting up showstrings in your work can take time, but the result in time saved and long term ease of use fully justifies the extra effort in long complex typesetting tasks.
Technical information on scripts is available to users in the technical documentation available from documentation.3b2.com
See also