Updating Data Merge files

Hi there. I'm working on a catalogue with multiple sections. I'm using data merge to import all of the necessary fields of information for each item. Everything works great but a question that I have is after I apply the fields on a master page using data merge, I get a new document. That's fine. Example of potential problem: After creating a catalogue the client tells me they want to add french to the descriptions. I can add the french immediately after the English description and can even keep it in the same column in my .csv file. Can I rename the new French/English csv to be the exact same as the original English only and update my source on the new document created from the original file? This would save me a pile of work but after trying it it doesn't seem to work. Is there any way to do this or will I have to start fresh?

You can use conditional text in CS5. With proper setup and formatting, you can import special style for French, and special styles for English. This is exactly what the Conditional Text feature was built to do.
See this video for details:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/instant-indesign/using-indesign-cs4s-new-conditional-text-featur e
You might have to experiment with the import of your CSV data to ensure it gets imported with the proper styles applied.
Good luck!

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