IF-THEN-ELSE For Merge?

[Gidget5]

Is it possible to use a conditional statement in InDesign CC for merge? I have a document for creating nametags and one of the fields is optional. If a value isn't provided for that field, I'd like to print default text. Is there any way to do this?

[MW Design]

Only using a plug-in. Likely a post-merge script could be used or even a f/r grep. At least for what I think is being described.

The linked thread was about conditional application of master pages during a merge. Same would apply to any merge when conditional merging is a good solution.

Apply master to pages with Data Merge?

My example actually was for name tags. But whether the condition is for changing master pages like in the example, it could be a single field and use replacement data during the merge.

Mike

[Colin Flashman · Accepted solution]

As Mike points out, not without a plug-in.

That said, if you are using Excel to prepare the data, could the IF/ELSE statement be created in the data file itself prior to exporting as a txt/csv file?

[MW Design]

Great thought, Colin. I should have thought of that!

If it is as simple as it appears in the OP's post, that should do nicely. The formula is fairly simple. I do this for way more complex text insertions in Excel.

Mike

[Gidget5]

I figured out that the easiest thing for me would be to (a) do the nametags in Word or (b) put the alternate text in the field in the data file or (c) do a search-and-replace after the merge.