Hi, sorry if the subject is misleading, I'm not sure how to say it in few words. I'm trying to have the date in a layer in an environment. In the text using the environment, I want to be able to set the date. If the date is not set, the current date should be used, otherwise the set date. This is what I've tried, but it is always the currentdate, that is displayes. Environment file: \def\mydate{} \definelayer[firstpage] % name of the layer [x=0mm, y=0mm, % from upper left corner of paper width=\paperwidth, height=\paperheight] % let the layer cover the full paper \setlayer[firstpage] % name of the layer [hoffset=14cm, voffset=3.5cm] % placement (from upper left corner of the layer) {\framed[frame=on, width=4cm, height=2cm]{ % always shows \currentdate \doiftextelse{\mydate}{\mydate}{\currentdate} }} \setupbackgrounds[page][background={firstpage}] File using this environment: \environment[testenv] \def\mydate{2011-11-11} \starttext % this shows the value from mydate \doiftextelse{\mydate}{\mydate}{\currentdate} \stoptext Is it possible to get \mydate in the layer? Kind regards, Ingo