Data Merge of bullet List

[GBoyd]

Is it possible to include a bulleted list in a Data Merge? I'm building a document that will have a lot of external images and text brought in from an Excel sheet. One of the text areas in this document has Bulleted Lists in it. I'm trying to figure out how to handle those.

Alternative question, is it possible to do this data merge entirely through a Script, rather than the Variables panel? I feel that I might have more flexibility for manipulating the data this way.

Right now I am running an action that brings in the data via a Data Merge then runs  a script on that data to modify it before it is saved as a PDF.

Thanks for any aid you can offer.

[pixxxelschubser · Accepted solution]

For bullet points I wrote a simple script last year:

Bullet Points in Illustrator 

In the same thread there are other (non script) suggestion for bullet points.

Data Merge with script:

There is a famous script available written by @Silly-V 

github.com | Silly-V | VariableImporter.jsx

[Silly-V]

That's right, and it may be possible with or without the VariableImporter script to do it via variable data by ensuring your CSV data contains bullet point symbols in the text (Win Alt+NumPad7) • .

With text wrap enabled in a spreadsheet program you can enter the list on new lines:

• Item 1

• Item 2

Or with the VariableImporter's line-break feature you can change the way it looks in the sheet:
• Item 1\\• Item 2

And it should work the same way. You can use tabs (I guess you have to paste them into a spreadsheet app - cause tabbing makes you go to a different cell/window) and have tab-fitting working in your text frame to achieve preferred distances between the side of the text frame and the bullet and the text.

[GBoyd]

Hi Silly-V,
Can you explain a little more about what you said regarding the spreadsheet program? The data I'm importing is from Excel. I do have word wrap enabled for the cel with the bullet points. I've also ensured that the bullets are symbols made with the Alt+NumPad7 as you suggested. When I deselect the cell after making those changes, it fills up the cell with what looks like gibberish. However, when I click on that cell again, the text in the Formula Bar looks correct in that it has multiple lines each starting with a bullet point.

When I attempt to load this data into my Illustrator Data Set, I get an error that reads "The incoming variable library is invalid."

Am I doing something different from what you were trying to tell me?

[Silly-V · Accepted solution]

Yes, what you say is all correct and it should according to latest versions of Excel behavior, put all the nextline stuff into one squished-together line unless you view the formula bar text or expand the row height manually.

Lame, but whatever, at least the functional stuff functions hopefully, right?

So, you may have tried to import this using the native Illustrator CSV import? If so, and you got the error, try the VariableImporter script https://github.com/Silly-V/Adobe-Illustrator/blob/master/Variable%20Importer/VariableImporter.jsx

(go to "Raw" and copy and save the raw text as a .jsx file)

If you still got the error even when using the script, can you please upload your CSV somewhere that you can link and share it on here?

[GBoyd]

The VariableImporter script worked perfectly. Thanks for getting back to me. This project I've built is a success in the eyes of my employer. We have a ton of documents that we've been having to redesign every couple years to update the look and style of them. Doing each one individually has been a pain, but doing it this way should make things much faster and easier in the future.