Data Merge - Multiple Records on 1 Page

Question

Ok, I've searched the forum for this question. There are still similar answers, but my issue is unique.
I am trying to make an invoice that shows how many services they bought, how much those services cost and how much they owe.
I exported a CSV file of 1,500 customers from a separate program.
The issue is that the .CSV file sorts each service on a different row.
E.G.
          A                   B                    C               D          E          F
1   Service 1     John Smith     12345 street     city     state     $100.00
2   Service 2     John Smith     12345 street     city     state     $25.00
3   Service 3     John Smith     12345 street     city     state     $50.00
4   Service 4     John Smith     12345 street     city     state     $75.00
5   Service 1     Jack Brown     12345 street     city     state     $100.00
6   Service 2     Jack Brown     12345 street     city     state     $25.00
7   Service 1     Mary Johnson  12345 street     city     state     $50.00
8   Service 1     Nick Stewart    12345 street     city     state     $75.00
(colors just indicate different clients)
Rows 1 - 4 needs to be on one page, 5 - 6 on the next page and so forth. Is there a way to filter it so similar files get sorted onto the same page? All rows with "John Smith" would be filtered in sequence onto the same page.  Does anyone know how to do this?

Answer 1

CarrionMisery wrote:
Ok, I've searched the forum for this question. There are still similar answers, but my issue is unique.
I am trying to make an invoice that shows how many services they bought, how much those services cost and how much they owe.
I exported a CSV file of 1,500 customers from a separate program.
The issue is that the .CSV file sorts each service on a different row.
E.G.
          A                   B                    C               D          E          F
1   Service 1     John Smith     12345 street     city     state     $100.00
2   Service 2     John Smith     12345 street     city     state     $25.00
3   Service 3     John Smith     12345 street     city     state     $50.00
4   Service 4     John Smith     12345 street     city     state     $75.00
5   Service 1     Jack Brown     12345 street     city     state     $100.00
6   Service 2     Jack Brown     12345 street     city     state     $25.00
7   Service 1     Mary Johnson  12345 street     city     state     $50.00
8   Service 1     Nick Stewart    12345 street     city     state     $75.00
(colors just indicate different clients)
Rows 1 - 4 needs to be on one page, 5 - 6 on the next page and so forth. Is there a way to filter it so similar files get sorted onto the same page? All rows with "John Smith" would be filtered in sequence onto the same page.  Does anyone know how to do this?
As Peter S. notes, your database program needs to output the data differently. It's possible that InDesign's Data Merge isn't the best approach for the best control over the final form of this material.
For example, you may find that you need a total of all invoices for that customer at that address in that time period, so you'd have to reprogram the database output for that result. Perhaps you'd need more detail about the individual items and sub-items on each invoice, so again, reprogram. And, you may find that you want more control over the typographic appearance of the information on the page. Back to the drawing board again!
Exporting from the database to InDesign Tagged Text is an alternate approach that may be useful, and exporting to XML is another. James Maivald's book on XML for InDesign Users has good examples. I'm not aware of any specific material on tagged text, but InDesign's Help should have some information that could get you started. Google searches for InDesign XML database output, and InDesign tagged text database output, are two useful search phrases.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices