Data Merge fails to properly populate data on merge

[JangoFett140]

Working on cards for a boardgame im designing. Got my data merge all set up doing multiple records per page. 30 lines in my CSV file to make 30 cards. Everything looks perfect in the merge preview but when I hit merge it just does the data from around line 25 and just repeats it on cards 1-25 and then does the last few correct.

Multiple columns in the CSV and images linked as well. the placement is all great except that its the wrong data in the final merge

[JangoFett140]

Here's the csvThe preview (Sometimes the background shows in the preview)Final merge wit different info then the preview.

[maxwithdax]

I would take a look at your database. The rows seem inconsistent. Remember that you are using a CSV and that your data needs to have the same number of elements in the record sets to import correctly. Without playing with your file a bit I cannot be certain but I would be willing to bet that your record sets are the issue.

[John Mensinger · Accepted solution]

Your data sheet has some "dirt" potential; a lot of blank cells, A2 looks like it could be merged with B2, + symbols and ampersands can be problematic in some cases. Your unique identifier appears to be [Class Name]. While it should work with that column in any position, it's most logical for the unique identifier to bet first read, positioned in the A column, with all other fields for the given record following. As it stands, your data contains records that, effectively,  start with an empty field. Consider some cleanup actions there, and try saving as tab-delimited (.txt) rather than .csv.

It might also help to show us your pre-merge layout.

[SJRiegel]

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@JangoFett140 wrote:

 Everything looks perfect in the merge preview but when I hit merge it just does the data from around line 25 and just repeats it on cards 1-25 and then does the last few correct.

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There may be other issues, but the preview being different from the merge output points to this being a result of the long-standing preview bug in multiple-records-per-page data merge. For many years now, previewing a multiple-record layout introduces permanent corruption in the template page. 

The only way forward is to rebuild the template in a new document, and process the merge without previewing.