Skip to main content
RobOctopus
RobOctopus
Inspiring
October 5, 2020
Answered

Data Merge Automatic XML Tags

  • October 5, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 690 views

So I am encountering an issue I have never seen, after using Data Merge for the past 3 years. I am trying to automate some of our design outputs by creating a script that allows a non-designer from our company to fill out information and then we can run the scripts and remove a lot of the tedious work and get us to a finished publication faster.

 

My issue is when it merges. the pre-merge document does not have any XML tags associated with it, but after merging everything is automatically tagged. it is throwing the script off and I am unsure how it is getting auto-tagged. This is a new issue for me.

 

Does anyone know why data merge might be doing this. I have tried googling and across different forums come up with nothing.

 

Thanks

 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Laubender

    Hi Robert,

    you say:

    "My issue is when it merges. the pre-merge document does not have any XML tags associated with it, but after merging everything is automatically tagged. it is throwing the script off and I am unsure how it is getting auto-tagged. This is a new issue for me."

     

    That's the typical behavior of a data merge result where the data merge template is built with data merge placeholders on master pages. Move the data merge placeholders to a document page and you are good to go.

     

    Regards,
    Uwe Laubender

    ( ACP )

    2 replies

    L
    Community Expert
    LaubenderCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    October 6, 2020

    Hi Robert,

    you say:

    "My issue is when it merges. the pre-merge document does not have any XML tags associated with it, but after merging everything is automatically tagged. it is throwing the script off and I am unsure how it is getting auto-tagged. This is a new issue for me."

     

    That's the typical behavior of a data merge result where the data merge template is built with data merge placeholders on master pages. Move the data merge placeholders to a document page and you are good to go.

     

    Regards,
    Uwe Laubender

    ( ACP )

      A
      anthonutri
      Participant
      November 15, 2024

      Leaving a comment to let you know that this solution helped me out in a big way! Thank you!

      M
      Mike Bro
      Legend
      October 5, 2020

      Hello Robert!

       

      What version of Indesign are you running?  I'm currently on 15.1.2

      I've seen this in the past also but not lately and I can remember what I did to fix it, try saving a new .csv file.

      The below snippet will remove the tags,  you can run it before you run your script or add it into your existing code.

       

      var doc = app.documents[0];  
  
doc.xmlElements[0].xmlElements.everyItem().untag();  

var tempRect = doc.rectangles.add();
  
tempRect.markup(doc.xmlElements[0]);  
 
tempRect.remove();

      Regards,

      Mike

      M
      Mike Bro
      Legend
      October 6, 2020

      Hello Robert!

      I updated the snippet to remove the the tags from the tags pannel as well.

       

      var doc = app.documents[0];  
  
doc.xmlElements[0].xmlElements.everyItem().untag();  

var tempRect = doc.rectangles.add();
  
tempRect.markup(doc.xmlElements[0]);  
 
tempRect.remove();

doc.deleteUnusedTags();

      Regards,

      Mike

      RobOctopus
      RobOctopusAuthor
      Inspiring
      October 6, 2020

      Thanks for the reply Mike, I am currently on 15.0.1 and due to company IT policies can not control my updating schedule. I'll do some more testing tomorrow and check the CSV file. I've tried a few save outs of it but may try building one from scratch to see if that is an issue.

       

      I appreciate the tag remover snippet, I was hoping to not need something like that

      Firefly Community Gallery
      Adobe Firefly

      Remix with Firefly Community Gallery

      Thousands of free creations to fall in love with and remix in Firefly.

      Explore now
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices