CS3 Data Merge Issue

I don't know why I can't figure this issue out! It's similar to the one the poster below had with CS4, but slightly different.
I am trying to make a page of labels with a different address on each one. I have followed all the steps exactly, selecting multiple records, adjusting, readjusting, and re-readjusting margins, but for some reason it still keeps printing one label per page. For example, the first page has the first name of the database, the second has the second record. It's recognizing the different records, apparently, but isn't displaying them right.
I don't know why I can't get this to work, any help?

Nothing lurking on the page. I have a template image but it's on another layer and hidden.
I have followed the steps exactly. I don't think it's the margins because no matter what numbers I put in there, when I click Preview it just shows the one textbox. I'm so confused as to why this isn't working, it seems to work great for everyone else.
I'll try to upload the file to my server, it's probably a little detail that would be hard to catch without looking at the document.

Similar Messages

CS3 Data Merge - Missing Fileds in Data Merge Dialog Box

Indesign CS3 5.0.1, XP SP2
Hi all,
I have a document that I have applied a Data Merge to.
I use a table in Excel 2003 with contact details, name, address etc...
When I open the Automation> Data Merge Dialog box I no longer see the list off all the fields as in Excel.
However, I can preview and create the mail merged document and place items using tags e.g <<Field 1>>.
When I try to remove the Data Source InDesign always crashes But I can relink to a new Data Source, this does not solve the problem.
Thank-you all for your time and help!
Alu

>>Did you perform the merge? Once you do, ID creates a new document. Which document are you looking at?
I am using the original document, not the product of the mail merge.
>>I assume it's a CSV file. ID can't use and Excel file for data merge.
Correct.
I have tried saving the document as an .inx file and then re-opening, but I still cannot view the .csv data merge fields from the Automation> Data Merge dialog box.
Any Ideas? - thx for the response Bob & K

Data merge issues in InDesign CS4

Hello
I'm having an issue with a data merge document that I've made. The issue I'm having is when ever I "update content in data fields" items are deleted off of the page. I have rebuilt it several times but always get the same issue, any ideas?
Cheers
Jack

That's a feature I have not used, but could not replicate.
It seems for that feature, you have set up a merge doc with the fields on the Master Page? (preferred method) and created the merged document, edited the data source, gone to the Data Merge Panel and selected Update Content in Data Fields? That generated a log of updated records on my machine with the new data.
More info needed on your process.

Indesign CS3 Data Merge "Merge Records" Command. Help?

I'm looking to automate the merging of a mountain of records. I have 587 tab-delimited text files with 40 records each. I want to process these via Data Merge using a single pre-designed template with built-in placeholders and variable data fields, including a variable barcode graphic. In the end, I want to create 704 multi-page, 6-up per page, indesign files with merged data, and 704 multi-page PDFs.
Here's where I am at. Using a combination of AppleScript, TextWrangler and InDesign CS3, I am able to set up a loop where I can open the single template, save it to a new file with a new name, change its data source to the appropriate text file, and as a test, make a PDF of the template using the correct export preset. What I cannot seem to do is get the template to perform a "Create Merged Document...".
In InDesign CS3's AppleScript dictionary there is a command called "Merge Records" under the Data Merge section. It appears to do exactly what I am after. But when I try to use it (and the good Lord knows I have tried numerous permutations), it only returns errors like "Adobe InDesign CS3 got an error: active document doesn't understand the merge records message."
Anyone know what I am doing wrong? I have set up a separate AppleScript for testing purposes that opens up the template, saves it under a new name, and attempts a "merge records" command. Here it is. Maybe someone smart out there can tell me what I am doing wrong.
set templatePath to "Welch_Jobs:0_JOBS:280019_Churchill:WPC FILES:Workup:280019_6up_master template.indt" as text -- the main template file that will be modified, saved with a new name, then merged with its data to create a new merge file
set newTemppath to "Welch_Jobs:0_JOBS:280019_Churchill:WPC FILES:Workup:goody.indd" as text
tell application "Adobe InDesign CS3"
open file templatePath
tell active document
save to newTemppath
merge records
end tell
end tell
I have this feeling that this is a command that is actually unsupported. Google searches have been fruitless except for one poor soul who can't get it to work either. I have, however, seen that a similar JavaScript command exists called "DataMerge.mergeRecords". If it is impossible to do this via AppleScript, is it possible to make a JavaScript that will do it, and access the JavaScript with a "do script" command in the main AppleScript? If so, how would I accomplish this? What whould the JavaScript look like, and where do i need to put it?
I would greatly appreciate any help you, dear reader, can give me on this.

Well, did you look at the dictionary?:
merge recordsv : Merges records and produces an optional overset report.
merge records
data merge
output overset report file alias or
text] : The path to the file in which to store the overset report.
Note also that it's part of the Preferences Suite, not the Datamerge suite. Do you see differently?
Anyhow, you're clearly not calling it with a data merge parameter.
I also have a suspicion that it needs to not be inside a "tell active document" but it probably doesn't matter.
But my AppleScript is rusty.

InDesign Data Merge Issues...

Hey all, I'm relatively new to using InDesign, I've used it previously for basic artwork layouts etc, and I'm familiar with Illustrator and Photoshop, but InDesign is something I'm still getting to grips with.
I run a mailing company and we have an ongoing requirement for variable data merging. Software designed for variable data work when dealing with PDFs and high res images is incredibly expensive, and so I figured I could try and make use of InDesign's own data merging feature.
Now I'm fully aware of some of the irritating little issues surrounding this tool, such as the way if you've got two blank fields it only removes one of them, and I also know it used to have an issue where it would pull data through from the next record to replace blanks, but I don't see that happening any more.
There are lots of webpages and forums discussing the blank fields problem, but my problem is currently something else.
I've noticed that some of the fields often don't like to display anything other than the header row, the field name. You drop the field onto the page and create your merge, but when you preview it or publish it whilst most of the fields do as expected and change to show the data, some of the fields do not, they just continue to show <contact> for instance, rather than a name.
I'm at a loss to explain this really, it's not even particularly consistent.
As an example of my problem, I laid out the following address block
<Contact>
<Add1>
<Add2>
<Add3>
<Add4>
<Add5>
<Postcode>
What I get sometimes is this...
<Contact>
123 Sample Street
Sample Town
Sample County
Sample Postcode
Or...
Mr AB Sample
123 Sample Street
Sample Town
<Add3>
Sample Postcode
If you add the same field again beneath the one that is playing up, the new field will work, but the one beneath it will then play up, so where in the example above it is <Add3> that isn't merging, if I added another <add3> beneath it, I could almost guarantee that <Add4> would then play up.
I just don't understand it, and it's frustrating me immensely.
Ironically I know a local professional printers who are using InDesign for all their digital variable print runs, without issue, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. They are using Macs whereas I am using a PC with Windows 7 Ultimate x 64bit, but I've had the same problem on other Windows version, so is it a Windows related problem, or are Mac users just not spotting this??
Anyone who has ever experienced something similar and perhaps found a solution, please help!!!!!
Best Regards
Richard

RikRamsay14 - thank you for your response, the issue regarding blanks isn't really the concern here, I'm aware of this issue, and the remove blank lines works where this is only one blank field, if there's two blank fields then it only seems to remove one. But I can happily work around this by just shifting all my data across. The data source is fine and is not the problem.
Peter Spier - Many thanks for your reply Peter, I thought you might be on to something with this, so I tried opening it from scratch and merging instantly without the use of any previewing, at first I thought it had worked, but when I got further down the merge results I spotted the same problem, field headers appearing where content should be. These instances are not even where the data cell is blank, it just decides not to display the content, but to display the field header instead, it's inconsistent too so it's really hard to analyse to find a pattern.
My layout incorporates multiple text placeholders containing multiple variable fields. I am starting to wonder if this could be contributing to the fault. I have tried just creating one text placeholder, and then using the multiple record layout option to display the other three images (it's a postcard four-up on an SRA3 sized page, with four address blocks). This seems to be less buggy this way, but I have less control with the layout. I'm going to continue to test this theory today, but it could simply be that it can't cope with multiple variable address blocks.
Thanks for all your help guys.
Regards
Richard

Multiple Records Data Merge issue

Hi all, could really use some help here, I've been trying to solve this for hours now:
Made 3 different designs for labels that I'm printing based off of Avery label templates for InDesign. When I go ahead to do my data merge on any of them, I select "Multiple Records" under Records per Document Page, but the preview and the actual creation just spit out a single unique label onto each new page. For example, I'm using 2x4" labels on 2 of these, so it should print 10 per page, but instead of putting 10 unique labels on a page, it puts each new label on a new page. Therefore, instead of 100 pages for the 1,000 labels I'm printing, I end up with 1,000 pages.
I know to double check the size constraints on the text box and make sure it fits when duplicated, and to my understanding, that is looking like it's fine. I'm also fairly certain that the CSV files I'm using are in the right format, too. I'm pretty stuck at this point as to what I need to do to fix this problem, any guidance would be awesome. Below are screenshots of what I'm looking at, please let me know if there's anything else I can provide that would help diagnose the problem.

I thinnk the easiest way to deal with this would be to make sure all the template information from Avery is on the master page. Leave it active while you do the layout in the upper left position ON THE DOCUMENT PAGE, then assign the None master to leave nothing showing but your placholders and added art.
Reassign the template master after the merge.

CS5.5 Data Merge Issues

Right now, I have my text block with my data fields entered on my master page. The text block has been set to allow master item overrides, as recommended in the Adobe data merge tutorial for CS 5 & 5.5. When I preview my data merge, it looks perfect.
The problem is that once I tell it to merge, it repeats the first entry on all the pages instead of going down the records in my .csv file. I checked the .csv file in TextEdit, and it doesn't seem to have any errors.
Has anyone else had this problem and managed to figure it out?
Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi Peter,
Thanks for the suggestion — I tried it without the preview and it worked! And I also figured out I only need one page in the document — otherwise it will create extra copies for each entry (I had 12 pages, so it made 12 copies for each record).

Digital Magazine layout & data merge issues

If anyone can help or offer some advice on the following I would be extremely grateful. My main problem is applying a data merge to either an existing layout I have created or creating a layout from scratch but having varying box sizes containing merged data and specific numbers of records on particular pages.
The brief is:
Create a 28 page digital magazine.
The magazine will be published either weekly or fortnightly and contain around 500 'listings'. Each listing has an image, and 4 pieces of variable text.
My initial plan was to manually enter the listings information - this will take far too long each week. I am hoping to keep the same layout each week but just change the data on the listings pages by creating a new .csv file each week and applying it using the data merge feature.
22 of the pages contain 'listings'. The remaining pages are editorial.
I'm relatively new to data merge in InDesign. My knowledge of it's feature is limited to being able to create multiple records but they are all the same size and I don't see any options where I can designate how many records I would like to appear on a particular page and to then keep that layout so I can come back to it each week with a new .csv file and literally just drop it in and i'm done.
I need the layout of the 'listings' pages to vary so that in some cases there are 30 listings (records) on one page and on other pages there are 23, some are to have 35 etc. Also on the pages where there are 23 listings - the first 3 listings are to take significantly larger amoutns of space on the page (as featured listings of the week).
If anyone has used data merge in this way before and can help please let me know. I have produced a complete layout of the magazine but i'm guessing i'll have to scrap this and start again if I'm going to start using data merge.
thanks in advance!
Mark

like i said, the XML learning curve is steep as indesign's ability to handle XML on its own is pretty user unfriendly, but ID does get the job done.
depending on how dirty you want to get your hands, there is an additional book in conjunction to the title i'd mentioned earlier, and it is called "InDesign CS5 Automation Using XML & Javascript" by Grant Gamble which you may want to read. however this is a LOT to digest and certainly not for anyone unfamiliar with programming in javascript.
is the data for the publication exclusively coming from excel or is it coming from Management Information Software (MIS) which can export XML information? excel on a PC can generate XML but it is useless as a jelly pickaxe as there is a lot of extraneous information saved with the exported XML file.
there are several people on this forum with a wider experience on this topic than me, and hopefully they are reading this and can carry on with more detailed explanations.
i'm used to using online converters to take csv files to convert them to XML but the only real advantage of using XML generated this way is to create variable data which flows on in the same text box. This is opposed to ID's data merge which would not flow on the information but instead start the next record in a brand new text box, meaning if an entry has to move from the start to the end, it means making the merge again, whereas if an XML file was used i could simply open up the structure pane and move the record from record 1 to the last record.
AFAIK apart from indesign and the MIS used to generate the data, i believe that a piece of software called oxygen XML would help in editing the XML once it is generated, but i do not use oxygen XML myself, but perhaps other readers do and can assist you.
FYI, the project you are talking about is remarkably similar to one which i deal with at work... but we only ever receive the finished art as a PDF, but it appears that the construction method was the same as your idea - that is, take database file, parse it through indesign using different templates and then output it to a media, in my case a printed magazine. unfortunately i can't tell you exactly how they made it as it is proprietary to the client.

Data Merge issue: Rejects CSV document

I've been using the same business card template for a while now, and it's worked seamlessly with the CSV files I've been getting from our HR department.
After switching to CS3, something went wrong. ID is rejecting the CSV file when I "select data source" in the DataMerge window.
I thought it might be the new version...maybe they switched something up....but I can merge the old CSV's fine, and the new CSV also does not work in CS2.
So I think the problem lies in the CSV file, but I'm not sure where to look, or what to look for.
Has anybody ever had any similar issues?

Perhaps where you have it open is significant.
I can create a CSV file, open and edit it in TextPad, and while it's still open, select it as a data source in InDesign.
Just check.
yep, did it again.
k

Large Volume Data Merge Issues with Indesign CS5

I recently started using Indesign CS5 to design a marketing mail piece which requires merging data from Microsoft Excel. With small tasks up to 100 pieces I do not have any issues. However I need to merge 2,000-5,000 pieces of data through Indesign on a daily basis and my current lap top was not able to handle merging more than 250 pieces at a time, and the process of merging 250 pieces takes up to 30-45 mins if I get lucky and software does not crash.
To solve this issue, I purchased a Desktop with a second generation Core i7 processor and 8GB of memerory thinking that this would solve my problem. I tried to merge 1,000 piece of data with this new computer, and I was forced to restart Adobe Indesign after 45 mins of no results. I then merged 500 pieces and the task was completed, but the process took a little less than 30 minutes.
I need some help with this issue because I can not seem to find another software that can design my Mail Piece the way Indesign can, yet the time it takes to merge large volumes of data is very frustrating as the software does crash from time to time after waiting a good 30-45 mins for completion.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

Operating System is Windows 7
I do not know what you mean by Patched to 7.0.4
I do not have a crash report, the software just freezes and I have to do a force close on the program.
Thank you for your time...

Dose Indesign CS3's Data Merging List not surpport double byte language?

Please help?
Dose Indesign CS3's Data Merging List not surpport double byte language? But Indesign CS2 works well with Chinese Language!
Thanks
David

I just did a test, in IDCS3 with a mixed English/Traditional Chinese/Simplified Chinese/Korean tab-delimited text file, and after some coaxing, it worked like a charm.
1) I did it with a Unicode-encoded tab-delimited text file. When I went to "Select Data Source," I checked the "import options" box so that I could specify that the text file was Unicode. (What encoding is your data merge source file?)
2) When I hit Preview, I realized that I'd set the generic form letter in a font that had no Korean support, so I had to select an appropriate font with Korean glyphs. (Are you using a font in ID that has Chinese support? I assume so.)
So, yes, Data Merge works with Chinese characters. I didn't test it with csv, but I will if you're stuck using it. If you're starting with an Excel file, it's not hard to get it to spit out a tab-delimited Unicode text file.

CS3/OSX 10.5 - data merge directly to PDF

g'day there
i'll ask this question anyway despite expecting the answer "no, use CS5".
in InDesign CS3, when using the data merge feature, is there any way to export the merged data directly to PDF like one would in CS4/CS5, as opposed to merging to a new indesign file and making the PDF from there? i use CS3/CS4/CS5 in my workplace and export data merges directly to PDF when using CS4/CS5, but the machine that i am on 90% of the time has CS3 and my workload has an increasing amount of VDP art which is not just in the hundreds of results, but in the tens of thousands.
to me, the obvious answer is of course to swap machines, install CS4/CS5 on my machine, give the artwork to another operator who has CS4/CS5... but for the sake of this post imagine that these solutions could not be used.
in my situation, i'd imagine that this answer would either lie in a scripted solution or a third party plug-in such as XMPie. Maybe the solution lies outside of indesign and with VDP software which may be available on the EFI Fiery RIP maybe?
any ideas, or should i plead my case to management to pony up the cash for an upgrade? I figure whatever answer there is, money will have to change hands at some point.

Tell management they're going to pay one way or the other.
Bob

Issues with images when using data merge

Here's the deal. We are converting from CS6 to CC2014. I have a file that opens fine in CS6, the merge works fine.
If I open that file in CC2014 it works fine with the exact same list. But, if I relink a new list or change and update the current list, the data merge no longer works for the images in data merge. Even though nothing has changed in the file links.
I get the error that it cannot find the images.
Is this a know issue?
Mac OSX 10.10.1

It could be that the template is some how bunged up, even though it is evidently working in CS6. You might want to try, as a test, setting upa new document in CC, add the data file, put your placeholders in the document and merging. Then change the merge file, then try to update it.
All I can really say is that I have not experienced this issue (yet). And as far as I can tell, yours is the first post on the matter that isn't document corruption related, or that Previewing the records hasn't caused some malady. either needs the template remade or brought into a new file to fix. You issue sounds sort of half-way between.
Mike

CS3 hangs on multiple document data merge

I am using data merge to create documents for high school graduation issues for two different high schools for the newspaper I work for.
For each school, I have created a single document data merge to print proofs of the individual students. For the first and largest school,
I've done a successful test run of a multiple document data merge of all the students. I then used the Excel .txt file from high school #1 to create the .txt file for high school #2. We have successfully done the individual data merges for proofs for each of the students in high school #2.
However, when I try to run the multiple document data merge for high school #2, InDesign gives me the spinning wheel of death. Forever.
I cand run or preview a single item, but it hangs up if I try to run them all or a range (even just 1-2).
I am stumped as to why in what are basically the same documents one works and the other does not. Can anyone help?

Brainstorming with a co-worker solved the problem. A graphic I was using was too large for InDesign to handle on the multiple document data merge. So I reducd the file size, and that did the trick.

ID.CS3: Make Data Merge more useful?

Data merge is a useful function of Indesign but its scriptability is limited. I've searched this forum and found some scripts that run a pre-linked ID document. I'm trying to script the linking of fields with known text strings.
Looking at the dictionary I see that the only thing that has read/write is properties.
My attempt to see what properties I can read/write seems to only point to its own reference.
Is this part of data merge (assignin fields to text strings) just not scriptable? thanx, sam

OK, here is my latest attempt to take what Olav's javascript uses and apply it to Applescript. I'm stuck on applying the myNamePlaceholder as notedby by myNamePlaceholder:
It yields no placeholder. But I believe I've done it right because I've followed the record generated when I manually make a placeholder and get the data merge text placeholders of document 1. What am I missing?
thanx, sam
set myTextFile to ("path:to:working:date.txt") as alias --I'm using a text file that works manually.
tell application "Adobe InDesign CS3"
set {find text preferences's find what, find change text options} to {"[Sample Name]", nothing}
tell document 1
tell data merge properties
select data source data source file myTextFile
set myDataMergeProperties to properties
end tell
set allObj to (find text)
set objCt to count of allObj
repeat with thisObj from 1 to objCt
set NameObj to item thisObj of allObj
set myStory to parent of NameObj
set myFrame to parent text frames of NameObj
set NameObjOffset to item -2 of insertion points of NameObj --of myFrame
set dmFcount to count of every data merge field of data merge 1
repeat with i from 1 to dmFcount
if field name of data merge field i of data merge 1 is "FirstName" then set myNamefield to object reference of data merge field i of data merge 1
end repeat --dmFcount
set myNamePlaceholder to {story offset:NameObjOffset, field:myNamefield}
set {myNamePlaceholder} to end of data merge text placeholders
return properties of data merge text placeholders
--yields {} if I have no placeholders manually made. If I have manually made a placeholder, it yields only the manually made placeholder. What am I missing?
tell myStory
end tell
end repeat -- iterate over each instance of obj
end tell --doc1
end tell --app

CS3 Data Merge Issue

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for