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).

Similar Messages

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 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

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.

(CS5-MAC) Data Merge and Data Driven Graphics

Apologies in advance if this is slightly off topic, but I need some opinions and insight here.
I've been using InDesign since its creation and have recently been pushing the Data Merge feature of ID to its limits. My colecandoo blog highlights some of what I have achieved.
However, there are some things which the Data Merge cannot do, such as warping live text which can be done in Photoshop or Illustrator. But, I've recently learnt of the term "Data Driven Graphics" and that Photoshop and Illustrator handle both. Photoshop accepts txt/csv files and appears to be relatively workable, whereas Illustrator accepts XML which I can't get to work at all and it is frustrating me.
So here are my questions. I know the answer to some of these will most likely be "no" but if i don't ask, i'll never find out.
is there a way to integrate the Data Merge feature of InDesign with the data driven graphics feature of illustrator or photoshop WITHOUT scripting (e.g. something I may have missed)?
If scripting is the only option, is anyone out there actually doing what i'm trying to do, or know of any resources out there that i can look at?
is there a way to make the user unfriendly DDG feature in illustrator actually reference a txt/csv file rather than an XML file? Because I'm working on a Mac, making XML from excel is like putting marshmallows in a piggy bank (e.g. messy and ineffective).
what kind of images can InDesign's Data Merge reference? does it extend to other indesign files or incopy files?
I know there are third party products which can do the above (e.g. XMPie or DirectSmile), but i'm trying to get as much value as i can from the Creative Suite purely off-the-shelf.
here's hoping
colly

>Because I'm working on a Mac, making XML from excel is like putting marshmallows in a piggy bank (e.g. messy and ineffective).
It should be easy, shouldn't it? I found that running the Excel file through Filemaker made valid XML files easily. Import worksheet, export records as XML.
Can't help you with the rest of it.

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.

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...

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

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.

[CS5.5/6] - XML / Data Merge questions & Best practice.

Fellow Countrymen (and women),
I work as a graphic designer for a large outlet chain retailer which is constantly growing our base of centers. This growth has brought a workload that used to be manageable with but two people to a never ending sprint with five. Much of what we do is print, which is not my forte, but is also generally a disorganized, ad-hoc affair into which I am wading to try to help reduce overall strain.
Upon picking up InDesign I noted the power of the simple Data Merge function and have added it to our repetoire in mass merging data sources. There are some critical failures I see in this as a tool going forward for our purposes, however:
1) Data Merge cannot handle information stored and categorized in a singular column well. As an example we have centers in many cities, and each center has its own list of specific stores. Data merge cannot handle a single column, or even multiple column list of these stores very easily and has forced us into some manual operations to concatenate the data into one cell and then, using delimiter characters, find and replace hard returns to seperate them.
2) Data Merge offers no method of alternate alignment of data, or selection by ranges. That is to say: I cannot tell Data merge to start at Cell1 in one column, and in another column select say... Cell 42 as the starting point.
3) Data merge only accepts data organized in a very specific, and generally inflexible pattern.
These are just a few limitations.
ON TO MY ACTUAL DILEMMA aka Convert to XML or not?
Recently my coworker has suggested we move toward using XML as a repository / delivery system that helps us quickly get data from our SQL database into a usable form in InDesign.
I've watched some tutorials on Lynda.com and havent yet seen a clear answer to a very simple question:
"Can XML help to 'merge' large, dynamic, data sets like a list of 200 stores per center over 40 centers based off of a single template file?"
What I've seen is that I would need to manually duplicate pages, linking the correct XML entry as I go rather than the program generating a set of merged pages like that from Data Merge with very little effort on my part. Perhaps setting up a master page would allow for easy drag and drop fields for my XML data?
I'm not an idiot, I'm simply green with this -- and it's kind of scary because I genuinely want us to proceed forward with the most flexible, reliable, trainable and sustainable solution. A tall order, I know. Correct me if I'm wrong, but XML is that beast, no?
Formatting the XML
Currently I'm afraid our XML feed for our centers isnt formatted correctly with the current format looking as such:
<BRANDS>
     <BRAND>
          • BrandID = xxxx
          [Brand Name]
          [Description]
          [WebMoniker]
          <CATEGORIES>
               <CATEGORY>
                    • xmlns = URL
                    • WebMoniker = category_type
          <STORES>
               <STORE>
                    • StoreID = ID#
                    • CenterID = ID#
I dont think this is currently usable because if I wanted to create a list of stores from a particular center, that information is stored as an attribute of the <Store> tag, buried deep within the data, making it impossible to 'drag-n-drop'.
Not to mention much of the important data is held in attributes rather than text fields which are children of the tag.
Im thinking of proposing the following organizational layout:
<CENTERS>
     <CENTER>
     [Center_name]
     [Center_location]
          <CATEGORIES>
               <CATEGORY>
                    [Category_Type]
                    <BRANDS>
                         <BRAND>
                              [Brand_name]
My thought is that if I have the <CENTER> tag then I can simply drag that into a frame and it will auto populate all of the brands by Category (as organized in the XML) for that center into the frame.
Why is this important?
This is used on multiple documents in different layout styles, and since our store list is ever changes as leases end or begin, over 40 centers this becomes a big hairy monster. We want this to be as automated as possible, but I'd settle for a significant amount of dragging and dropping as long as it is simple and straightforward. I have a high tollerance for druding through code and creating work arounds but my co-workers do not. This needs to be a system that is repeatable and understandable and needs to be able to function whether I'm here or not -- Mainly because I would like to step away from the responsibility of setting it up every time
I'd love to hear your raw, unadulterated thoughts on the subject of Data merge and XML usage to accomplish these sorts of tasks. What are your best practices and how would you / do you accomplish these operations?
Regards-
Robert

From what I've gleaned through watching Lynda tutorials on the subject is that what I'm hoping to do is indeed possible.
Peter, I dont disagree with you that there is a steep learning curve for me as the instigator / designer of this method for our team, but in terms of my teammates and end-users that will be softened considerably. Even so I'm used to steep learning curves and the associated frustrations -- but I cope well with new learning and am self taught in many tools and programs.
Flow based XML structures:
It seems as though as long as the initial page is set up correctly using imported XML, individual data records that cascade in a logical fashion can be flowed automatically into new pages. Basically what you do is to create an XML based layout with the dynamic portion you wish to flow in a single frame, apply paragraph styles to the different tags appropriately and then after deleting unused records, reimport the XML with some specific boxes checked (depending on how you wish to proceed).
From there simply dragging the data root into the frame will cause overset text as it imports all the XML information into the frame. Assuming that everything is cascaded correctly using auto-flow will cause new pages to be automatically generated with the tags correctly placed in a similar fashion to datamerge -- but far more powerful and flexible.
The issue then again comes down to data organization in the XML file. In order to use this method the data must be organized in the same order in which it will be displayed. For example if I had a Lastname field, and a Firstname field in that order, I could not call the Firstname first without faulting the document using the flow method. I could, however, still drag and drop content from each tag into the frame and it would populate correctly regardless of the order of appearance in the XML.
Honestly either method would be fantastic for our current set of projects, however the flow method may be particularly useful in jobs that would require more than 40 spreads or simple layouts with huge amounts of data to be merged.

Data Merge Errors in InDesign CS5 - need help please!

Trouble with Data Merge in InDesign CS5: We have a word doc that was created, then each appropriate section was cut and pasted into an excel file. When the Excel file is saved as a csv file and imported, the file unexpectedly stops, not completing its flow into the appropriate data fields. We are thinking that it is because of some unknown "special/hidden" characters within the original Word file. Is this a correct assumption, and if so is there a way to show those characters in order to eliminate them? (we did not create the word doc originally)
Or, is there another way that we can accomplish what we are trying to accomplish, which is to flow text from a database into an InDesign template?

I'd start by opening the .csv file in a plain text editor and taking a good look at it to make sure each record has the same number of fields (commas) and there are no obvious special character problems. Then resave from there as plain text with the .csv extension.

InDesign CS5 crashes when documents that have tables are sent to data merge.

I have several documents that I have been using for the past 6 months that have tables on some of the pages and when I go to data merge them, CS5 crashes. When I remove the tables, they merge just fine. Some of these documents have to have the tables, so not havaing tables is a problem. I have even tried redoing the tables in Excel, Word & InDesign, but that doesn't seem to work. Is there a setting or something that I am missing?

Hi, I have this ssue
I add a table to a data merge document
I can create a merged indd document ok
however if i try to export direct to pdf without creating the interim indd document CS5 crashes
CS5 7.04
Windows 7 SP 1

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

Data Merge Feature in Master page in InDesign CS5

I really need some help, because I'm running out of time...
I'm trying to create a merged document by using the Data Merge Feature in InDesign CS5. Normally it works fine, but right now I'm trying to create one with a .csv file imported in de master page so I can update it later on. That should work, fine but after 16 hours I still dont have a merged document. According to InDesign we aren't even at 25%! It only 142 records spread out over 9 pages. What do I do wrong? Can anybody provide me with an answer?

Dutch Lauwie wrote:
Normally it works fine, but right now I'm trying to create one with a .csv file…
Dutch, does that mean that you normally use a different kind of file as a data source other than .csv? If so, which? I tried with both .csv and .txt (tab delimited text), and both worked fine for me on a simple test. Both allowd me to update the ID file after I had updated the data source.
Dutch Lauwie wrote:
…but after 16 hours I still dont have a merged document. According to InDesign we aren't even at 25%! It only 142 records…
How long does something like this usually take for you? Is this a very complicated document when compared to the documents you usually do? You may have some document corruption, so trying the same data file on a new document might be worth a try. You might also want to try trashing your InDesign preferences also.

InDesign CS5 Data Merge to PDF Problem

Hello,
Need to make 2500 tickets, data merging a csv file causes indesign to fleeze up. When I try export to PDF, it creates the pages but does not merge the date, instead it just leaving the data field. What do I need to do to get the numbers to appear on the tickets when exporting to pdf?
Kinda in a time crunch!!
Thank you!!
Mac Pro
2.66 Quad
8GB ram
Mac OSX 10.5.8
InDesign CS5 7.0

Hi Jeff, thanks for the reply.
There are no comma's in the csv it is just numbers 0001-2500. The numbers are all that need merging.
When I go to preview, everything is perfect and all the numbers show up where they are needed, however, when merge and export the correct number of pages are generated but the numbers are replaced with the data field (<<nbr>>) instead.
Thank you for your time.

CS5.5 Data Merge Issues

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