Synchronize InDesign and Excel data

Hello there! I am making a catalog with pricing and text information. Just curious if there is a way to bind your excel data to a textframe. For example, once you have placed your text frames with the text information and later you decided to change the prices but I don't want to manually update it one by one. Is there a way to tie this data to a textframe and later if I change my data on the excel file I will be able to pull the new information?
Please let us know. Thank you very much.

There are ways to do this, but it sounds to me like you really want a catalog plugin of some sort. (That you'd have to pay for, of course.) It depends on how often you need the data to update - are you willing to relink/update a csv file to update all prices all at once? If so, perhaps you don't need a commercial plug-in; look into the built-in Data Merge tool in InDesign.
But, if you're expecting to use your Excel file as-is without any pre-processing, your options are more limited. You can import named ranges of Excel files; I've seen that described on the forums but have never tried it myself.

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LiveCycle and Excel Data

I am relatively new to LiveCycle and I have looked across the forums but haven't found solid answers to what I am trying to do therefore I was wondering if someone is able to answer my questions:
1. Can you setup a LiveCycle for so that it will read from a set of Excel data files (or converted CSV/XML files) at the time you launch the PDF with a LiveCycle form in it. We intend to create Graphs and Charts from the data and wanted it so that for these to be updated, all that needs to happen is that the data files are overwritten with a new set of data. Can LiveCycle do this, or does the data get embedded in the PDF at the time that the PDF file is published??
2. Could you put the PDF onto Microsoft Sharepoint and have the data files in a document library and then have the PDF form read the data from these files within the document library?
Thanks for any help with these questions.

Are you saying publish the PDFs using a LiveCycle server? I know you can use LiveCycle server to initiate workflows that would include what you are asking but I have no experience in this.
I use VB.net with an iTextSharp plugin to deploy all our forms. It takes the PDF and imports XML generated by our data architect from a shared drive to generate many PDFs into a production environment.
Kyle

InDesign and Excel

Background: I have a localised InDesign file with a bunch of English "terms" identified by character styles. I need to find each term in the document and look it up in an Excel spreadsheet. When I find a match in the spreadsheet, the ajoining cell will have the correct value for that term. I then replace the term in the InDesign document with the value from the spreadsheet. My question here is, what is the best way to interact with Excel spreadsheets with InDesign scripting. I normally use JavaScript for the scripting language, but does VB give me more options for getting access to the spreadsheet? Or, should I build a NET application that will control both Excel and InDesign. I am mainly looking for some pointers for best practices for working with Excel and InDesign. This will give me a starting point for designing my solution.
In a FrameMaker/FrameScript environment, I have a couple of choices. I can FrameScript to access Excel as a COM (ActiveX) object and get at its data. Or, I can use ADODB and query the spreadsheet with SQL commands. Are either of these choices available to me with InDesign scripting?
Thanks in advance.
Rick

My question here is, what is the best way to interact with Excel spreadsheets with InDesign scripting. I normally use JavaScript for the scripting language, but does VB give me more options for getting access to the spreadsheet?
I think you know that it does.
It's really impossible to say whether you're better off using VB or .NET. Or even writing the ID side in JavaScript and having it call out to the Microsoft side written in whatever.
One observation is that COM+ and .NET access to InDesign has some rough edges, and is not well documented, and you won't find a lot of support for it here. (Not that there are a huge number of VB users here, but there are some.) But I think it's really about your comfort in those environments.

Crystal Reports 2008 and Excel data source

I want to use a large Excel-sheet (with 139569 lines) as a data source for a report. Crystal Reports 2008 only seems to accept Excel sheets as a data source if they are stored in Excel 97-2003 format. But, then there is a limit of 65536 lines and I miss more than half of the data I need to process. Does anyone have an idea how I can solve this problem??

Hello,
No work around in CR when connecting to xls files. CR can only use xls files which has the 65K row limit. Our next version does support xlxs files though. Cr for VS 2010 is available, no Designer outside of the IDE though. CR 2011 is still in beta and no release data announced yet.
For now all you can do is limit your sheets to 65k or export your XLS files to Access, must also be an MDB file type, not the new extended type. Once in an Access database now you can use it as your data sources.
You can use a temp database so it gets destroyed each time or simple delete all records. Up to you how to manage it.
Thank you
Don

Problem with Create PDF and linked data

Using Acrobat X standard.
I have a Word 2010 doc with links to Visio and Excel data.
When using the CreatePDF option from Word, I consistently get a prompt asking whether I want to update the linked data before creating pdf. I would like to either (1) turn this prompt off or (2) -- less preferable -- have the linked data always update without prompting.
Is thre a setting that would accomplish one of these two solutions?
Thanks,
Craig
PS. All settings in Word have been set such that data IS NOT updated when printing on a regular printer.

You can print to Adobe PDF.

Transfering Access and Excel to XML

Dear all,
Does anybody know the classes and APIs used to transfering Access and Excel to XML?
Kevin

There is no single Java API that is built to translate Access and Excel data into XML. However, you can use a simple combination of APIs to accomplish this task. A direct way of doing this is to create ODBC datasources from your Access or Excel sources, use JDBC to connect to and query those datasources. From there you can use the WebRowSet to convert your ResultSet into XML. If you require more control over the formatting of the data, you'll need write something that iterates over the ResultSet data, translating the column names and values into XML. I would recommend using JDOM to build your XML documents. WebRowSet is part of the Rowset API.
Hope this clears things for you.

Convert Word and Excel combined document

I need to convert a scanned document which has word data and excel data.Both are in separate parts of the scanned file. How do I convert each.

It sounds like Acrobat would be a better solution for you than ExportPDF. With Acrobat, you'll be able to OCR the document while it's still a PDF, then extract the content you need, section by section.
With ExportPDF, you can convert the entire document to a Word or Excel file. I would suggest converting to a Word file. You may be able to move the Excel content at that point.
-David

Populating InDesign templates with data from Excel or XML?

I have a client who does a weekly catalogue for computer parts. It’s very detailed and extremely time consuming, and we are looking at moving it to an automated InDesign workflow to save time and money in production. Once imported into InDesign, the resulting file can be exported as a formatted XML document to a webpage for auto formatting.
I know you can import XML directly into InDesign and vice versa. I have created some categories and tables in Excel and exported this as an .xml document. When I import that document into the View > Structure panel, it displays a whole list of attributes but not the actual text I was after.
Any help much appreciated. I’m using InDesign CS4 and doing some research on google at the moment.

Hi CDesign2,
If I understood you correctly, you are either trying to
View your xml data in Adobe LiveCycle form to redit the form???
View your xml data in Adobe acrobat pro
Or wishing to collate updated(new) data into adobe (lifecycle) tracker and view the data set
I suspect points 2, 3 may be the case.
My experience with migrating excel data back to adobe is this.
If you created the original form with adobe, you have the option of distributing the form (file/form distribution..)
to recipients list (could include form creator).
This allows adobe to generate a distribution and form response file and therefore able to track returned forms either as pdf (preferably) or excel/xml converted back to pdf after saving it.
For Point 2 above,assuming your original data set were created using an adobe form you previously saved, open your original form in acrobat pro, go to menu/forms/manage form data/import data (usually as xml). It automatically repopulates the form.
OR
To view returned forms as a set, go to menu/forms/compile returned forms and this will bring up a window that
requires you
-to browse and locate your response file (essentially defining the index form),which is opened into the top row
-then find and add each new completed form into a list in the second row.
You then click ok and all returned forms are opened in a tracker window...
I just realised I am talking about liveCycle ES version8 and this forum refers to pre ES!
I am not sure if this helps but I hope it answers some of your questions.

How to create form or tabbed template and import excel data

Hi there
I am wanting to know how I can create a rather comprehensive template that will be copied a number of times on the same page but each time will include different data from an excel spreadsheet.
The template will need to include quite a bit of layout and placement of text and images. The fields range from data type including names, phone number, email, prices, description and address. See attached image below of what I am wanting to acheive.
I'm just not quite sure how to set this up as a form/template in indesign and what the best and fastest way would be.
There will be about 6-8 blocks to a page.
Any ideas would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks

You need Data Merge
OPENS VIDEO
http://www.theindesigner.com/podcasts/tid43_theindesigner_43.mp4
http://www.theindesigner.com/blog/episode-43-data-merge-video

Place the links(Pictures and Excel table) to Indesign

Dear All,
We need place some Microsoft Word files into Indesign. and in the word files, contain some link for pictures, Microsoft excel tables. and we need use the C++ to build a InDesign add-in to do the following things( Indesign CS5, Windows 7, VS2008):
Place the word files into InDesign
Find and automatically insert the pictures link files into Indesign
Find and automatically insert the Microsoft Excel table into Indesign.
My Questions are:
Does Indesign CS5 SDK provide those APIs?
Can we build a standalone application to do those jobs?
if C++ can't do this, what kinds of Development tools can do those jobs.
Great thanks for any inputs.
My Best Regards,
Jerome

Hi Pudgesan,
You can paste data from an Excel spreadsheet into an InDesign or document. The Clipboard Handling preference settings determine how text pasted from another application is formatted.
If Text Only is selected, the information appears as unformatted tabbed text, which you can then convert to a table.
If All Information is selected, the pasted text appears in a formatted table.
If you want more control over formatting the imported table, or if you want to maintain spreadsheet formatting, use the Place command to import the table. If you want to maintain a link to the spreadsheet, select the Create Links When Placing Text And Spreadsheet Files option in File Handling preference settings.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Sumit Singh

What is the best way to lay out color-coded Excel data in InDesign?

I’ve been away from layout for some time. I now need to lay out color-coded Excel data (3 columns, 200 rows) in InDesign 5.5. The data will need to be in alpha order and each row will be color coded, with a color key at the top of the page. What is the best way to lay this out? Should I use the table tool and create a new style for each color that I need to use?
Thanks for your help.

I think this will work in CS3.
Start off by inserting Styles of WEEK, Mon to Friday (as per left)
Set the Week No. to Bullets and Numbering and insert as per screen shot
Do the same for Days Monday through to Sunday
Also set up Monday style NEXT STYLE to be Tuesday
When you get to Sunday - loop the Styles back to WEEK style.
Then as per first screen shot you just have to insert RETURNS all the way down to initiate the style.

Excel data read from users and upload in to Oracle DB using custom webpart

Hi Team,
I need to get the excel date from user using file upload control and read the data from the excel using custom webpart and validate the each rows whether having the values or not and need to upload the data to the oracle database.
Can you please let me know the best approach to read the data from excel using sharepoint custom webpart.
Thanks,
Mylsamy

Hi,
According to your post, my understanding is that you want to read excel data from the uploaded file and insert the data into Oracle Database.
The following way for your reference:
1.Create a Visual Web Part using Visual Studio.
2. Add an asp.net upload control into the .ascx file.
<div>
<asp:FileUpload ID="fileupload" runat="server" />
<asp:Button ID="btnUpload" runat="server" onclick="btnUpload_Click" Text="Upload" />
</div>
3. Add some logic methods into .ascx.cs file.
protected void btnUpload_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
//read data and insert the data into Oracle database.
4.We can create a web service for adding data to Oracle database, then consume this web service in the visual web part.
More information:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff597539(v=office.14).aspx
http://manish4dotnet.blogspot.in/2013/02/upload-ans-read-excel-file-using-c.html
http://msmvps.com/blogs/windsor/archive/2011/11/04/walkthrough-creating-a-custom-asp-net-asmx-web-service-in-sharepoint-2010.aspx
Best Regards
Dennis Guo
TechNet Community Support

Having a problem with dates when I send my numbers doc to excel. dates are all out and that they have to cut and paste individual entries onto their spreadsheet. Any idea how I can prevent this

having a problem with dates when I send my numbers doc to excel. dates are all out and that they have to cut and paste individual entries onto their spreadsheet. Any idea how I can prevent this.
I'm using Lion on an MBP and Numbers is the latest version

May you give more details about what is wrong with your dates ?
M…oSoft products aren't allowed on my machines but I use LibreOffice which is a clone of Office.
When I export from Numbers to Excel and open the result with LibreOffice, the dates are correctly treated.
To be precise, dates after 01/01/1904 are correctly treated. dates before 01/01/1904 are exported as strings but, as it's flagged during the export process, it's not surprising.
Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) mardi 3 janvier 2012
iMac 21”5, i7, 2.8 GHz, 12 Gbytes, 1 Tbytes, mac OS X 10.6.8 and 10.7.2
My iDisk is : http://public.me.com/koenigyvan
Please : Search for questions similar to your own before submitting them to the community
For iWork's applications dedicated to iOS, go to :
https://discussions.apple.com/community/app_store/iwork_for_ios

Report is executing in background and need data(output) in excel format

Report is executing in background and need data(output) to get downloaded in excel format in my PC from an internal table;;in any drive i.e. C: or D: .When executing in backround it prompt to user with which location excel file to be saved and the name of file.How to download in background in excel format?
Edited by: PRASHANT BHATNAGAR on Aug 26, 2008 6:24 AM

Hi
Download a report to excel with format (border, color cell, etc)
Try this program...it may help you to change the font ..etc.
Code:
REPORT ZSIRI NO STANDARD PAGE HEADING.
this report demonstrates how to send some ABAP data to an
EXCEL sheet using OLE automation.
INCLUDE OLE2INCL.
handles for OLE objects
DATA: H_EXCEL TYPE OLE2_OBJECT,        " Excel object
      H_MAPL TYPE OLE2_OBJECT,         " list of workbooks
      H_MAP TYPE OLE2_OBJECT,          " workbook
      H_ZL TYPE OLE2_OBJECT,           " cell
      H_F TYPE OLE2_OBJECT.            " font
TABLES: SPFLI.
DATA H TYPE I.
table of flights
DATA: IT_SPFLI LIKE SPFLI OCCURS 10 WITH HEADER LINE.
*&   Event START-OF-SELECTION
START-OF-SELECTION.
read flights
SELECT * FROM SPFLI INTO TABLE IT_SPFLI UP TO 10 ROWS.
display header
ULINE (61).
WRITE: /     SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
          (3) 'Flg'(001) COLOR COL_HEADING NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
          (4) 'Nr'(002) COLOR COL_HEADING NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
          (20) 'Von'(003) COLOR COL_HEADING NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
          (20) 'Nach'(004) COLOR COL_HEADING NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
          (8) 'Zeit'(005) COLOR COL_HEADING NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP.
ULINE /(61).
display flights
LOOP AT IT_SPFLI.
WRITE: / SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
           IT_SPFLI-CARRID COLOR COL_KEY NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
           IT_SPFLI-CONNID COLOR COL_NORMAL NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
           IT_SPFLI-CITYFROM COLOR COL_NORMAL NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
           IT_SPFLI-CITYTO COLOR COL_NORMAL NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP,
           IT_SPFLI-DEPTIME COLOR COL_NORMAL NO-GAP, SY-VLINE NO-GAP.
ENDLOOP.
ULINE /(61).
tell user what is going on
CALL FUNCTION 'SAPGUI_PROGRESS_INDICATOR'
     EXPORTING
          PERCENTAGE = 0
           TEXT       = TEXT-007
       EXCEPTIONS
            OTHERS     = 1.
start Excel
CREATE OBJECT H_EXCEL 'EXCEL.APPLICATION'.
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
SET PROPERTY OF H_EXCEL 'Visible' = 1.
CALL METHOD OF H_EXCEL 'FILESAVEAS' EXPORTING #1 = 'c:\kis_excel.xls'
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
tell user what is going on
CALL FUNCTION 'SAPGUI_PROGRESS_INDICATOR'
     EXPORTING
          PERCENTAGE = 0
           TEXT       = TEXT-008
       EXCEPTIONS
            OTHERS     = 1.
get list of workbooks, initially empty
CALL METHOD OF H_EXCEL 'Workbooks' = H_MAPL.
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
add a new workbook
CALL METHOD OF H_MAPL 'Add' = H_MAP.
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
tell user what is going on
CALL FUNCTION 'SAPGUI_PROGRESS_INDICATOR'
     EXPORTING
          PERCENTAGE = 0
           TEXT       = TEXT-009
       EXCEPTIONS
            OTHERS     = 1.
output column headings to active Excel sheet
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 1 1 'Flug'(001).
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 2 0 'Nr'(002).
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 3 1 'Von'(003).
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 4 1 'Nach'(004).
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 5 1 'Zeit'(005).
LOOP AT IT_SPFLI.
copy flights to active EXCEL sheet
    H = SY-TABIX + 1.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 1 0 IT_SPFLI-CARRID.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 2 0 IT_SPFLI-CONNID.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 3 0 IT_SPFLI-CITYFROM.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 4 0 IT_SPFLI-CITYTO.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 5 0 IT_SPFLI-DEPTIME.
ENDLOOP.
changes by Kishore - start
CALL METHOD OF H_EXCEL 'Workbooks' = H_MAPL.
CALL METHOD OF H_EXCEL 'Worksheets' = H_MAPL." EXPORTING #1 = 2.
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
add a new workbook
CALL METHOD OF H_MAPL 'Add' = H_MAP EXPORTING #1 = 2.
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
tell user what is going on
SET PROPERTY OF H_MAP 'NAME' = 'COPY'.
CALL FUNCTION 'SAPGUI_PROGRESS_INDICATOR'
     EXPORTING
          PERCENTAGE = 0
           TEXT       = TEXT-009
       EXCEPTIONS
            OTHERS     = 1.
output column headings to active Excel sheet
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 1 1 'Flug'(001).
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 2 0 'Nr'(002).
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 3 1 'Von'(003).
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 4 1 'Nach'(004).
PERFORM FILL_CELL USING 1 5 1 'Zeit'(005).
LOOP AT IT_SPFLI.
copy flights to active EXCEL sheet
    H = SY-TABIX + 1.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 1 0 IT_SPFLI-CARRID.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 2 0 IT_SPFLI-CONNID.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 3 0 IT_SPFLI-CITYFROM.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 4 0 IT_SPFLI-CITYTO.
    PERFORM FILL_CELL USING H 5 0 IT_SPFLI-DEPTIME.
ENDLOOP.
changes by Kishore - end
disconnect from Excel
     CALL METHOD OF H_EXCEL 'FILESAVEAS' EXPORTING #1 = 'C:\SKV.XLS'.
FREE OBJECT H_EXCEL.
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
      FORM FILL_CELL                                                *
      sets cell at coordinates i,j to value val boldtype bold       *
FORM FILL_CELL USING I J BOLD VAL.
CALL METHOD OF H_EXCEL 'Cells' = H_ZL EXPORTING #1 = I #2 = J.
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
SET PROPERTY OF H_ZL 'Value' = VAL .
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
GET PROPERTY OF H_ZL 'Font' = H_F.
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
SET PROPERTY OF H_F 'Bold' = BOLD .
PERFORM ERR_HDL.
ENDFORM.
*&      Form ERR_HDL
      outputs OLE error if any                                       *
--> p1        text
<-- p2        text
FORM ERR_HDL.
IF SY-SUBRC <> 0.
WRITE: / 'Fehler bei OLE-Automation:'(010), SY-SUBRC.
STOP.
ENDIF.
ENDFORM.                    " ERR_HDL
Regards
Murali Papana

How to get new and updated data into LO Excel in Xcelsius

Dear Experts,
I have created dashboard on top of webi report by using Live-Office connection. Latest data of webi report is imported into excel and mapped data with components and generated SWF file and exported into server.
To day my webi report has latest instance with new and updated data. But until unless by clicking "Refresh All Objects" i am not getting updated data into excel.
When i am trying to open dashboard in BI Launch Pad/CMC it is showing data whatever exist in excel(i.e yesterday data). But here we need to show data of latest instance of webi report.(i.e New and updated data as of now).
I have selected option "Latest instance: From latest instance scheduled by" in "refresh options".
My Question & Doubts:
1) Is it mandatory to open dashboard every day and need to click on "Refresh All Objects" to get updated data into excel or dashboard.
2) Is there any option to automate this process.
Regards,
PRK.

Hi,
Schedule the webi report to get the latest data from the source. To answer your query no is doesn't require to open the dashboard every time to refresh the excel to get the latest data.
Please use the Refresh Before Components are Loaded: Select this option to refresh the data each time the model loads and to use that data as the initial data for the model (using a Reset Button component, it will reset the data to the values from the last time the model was loaded).
You are using the Live Office so here automatic refresh is not possible without touch the swf file, you need to use the refresh but to get the latest data. If you are using QAAWS, Web Service & XML then automatic refresh is possible.
For more information please check the below document for in-depth idea on the design pattern.
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/b02e31fb-3568-2e10-e78f-92412c3c0a96?overridelayout=t…
Kindly revert for more clarification!!!
--SumanT

Synchronize InDesign and Excel data

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