Data merge is pulling old data

[Jo_Powell]

Hi, when I merge an InDesign document to pdf, old data populates the merge fields in the newly created pdf. However, the correct .csv file has been selected and in Preview mode the correct data is showing. Can anyone assist?

[leo.r]

1. What are your InDesign and operating system versions? Also, what do you mean by "old data"? Is it data from a different csv file or data from an earlier revision of the same csv file?

[Randy Hagan]

I think you may have precisely hit the point when you talked about working with fresh/updated data files.

I've had a couple of clients who have recoiled in horror to find out that when they updated their reports with the "latest data" that they essentially updated all their old reports, which in turn would contain the "latest data." This was complex, because they were financial reports subject to rigid data retention requirements. Much pencil whipping and 10-K/14-K footnoting was required to explain away the issue in financial terms. 

So it wouldn't surprise me at all to find the inverse could be true. I find that many of the folks who set up automation schemes through InDesign to update company data are more familiar with setting up the database/Excel supply side of things than they are the InDesign end products that make demands of it. Understanding all the products which automate the process, then establishing rigid and consistent version controls on both the data input and report output ends of the process will likely provide solutions to the issue.

Randy

[Jo_Powell]

Thanks for your responses. I discovered that I needed to 'remove the data source' to completely cut the link to the former .csv data that was already there. Updating the data source wasn't enough to break the link to the former .csv data.