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Multiple record data merge into paragraph styles-applies the wrong style

New Here ,
Nov 22, 2013 Nov 22, 2013

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Hi, I've been working on this project for sometime and everytime I manage to get one part of the workflow to work another seems to break. My agency publishes catalogs in multiple formats: large-print, audio, braille, and HTML. I've been trying to redesing our work process so that the catalogs will be laid out from merged data out of comma-separated file. The data merges have worked fairly well in Word, but InDesign is a challenge. I'm merging multiple records on a page, like a mailing label. The paragraphs need to be formatted and I'm trying to apply a paragraph style to them. After much work, I think I've finally got the data merge to work correctly, but the wrong paragraph styles are applied. I'm going to apply a new master page to the data once the data is merge that uses the paragraph styles for text variable running headers and I need to build a table of contents based on the paragraph styles so I need this to work. Attached are some screenshots.

Master page set up for data merge with paragraph styles:

datamerge master page.gif

Here is the merged document with the wrong paragraph styles applied:

Merged document has wrong paragraph styles applied.gif

I have only a few weeks to get this process ironed out to keep to our rigorous production schedule. If anyone can help I would really appreciate it.

thanks,

Lina

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New Here ,
Jan 31, 2014 Jan 31, 2014

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Mike, I was reading through this thread again and I think learn something new each time I read it. You, Peter, and Uwe were so much help to me! I really do appreciate all of your work.

Lina

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Community Expert ,
Nov 28, 2013 Nov 28, 2013

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As I suspected, it doesn't help here....

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Valorous Hero ,
Nov 25, 2013 Nov 25, 2013

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Yep, me too. Thanks.

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New Here ,
Nov 25, 2013 Nov 25, 2013

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You guys are fabulous! Thanks so much for the help. Will try this out let you know what I find.

Lina

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New Here ,
Nov 25, 2013 Nov 25, 2013

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I deeply appreciate all of your help. I used a combination of Mike's and Peter's solutions: I did the find/change with the double empty paragraph returns and changed the paragraph style to title. This got rid 438 instances of these empty lines and applied the right paragraph style. Then I still had about 80 or so instances where there was a subject code, but no genre so I used Peter's solution of getting rid of blank paragraphs. But the genre style code is still in the document reaking havoc! See the screenshot below. Is there a way just to delete the instances of genre paragraph styles that are empty? I feel like I'm being haunted. Peter, I also had another question for you related to apply a new Master page to these pages, once the data is correct. Is there a way to apply the new master so that it doesn't apply a new default text box on top of the existing text box that's there?

ghostgenreparagraphstyle.gif

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Community Expert ,
Nov 25, 2013 Nov 25, 2013

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LinaD36 wrote:

Peter, I also had another question for you related to apply a new Master page to these pages, once the data is correct. Is there a way to apply the new master so that it doesn't apply a new default text box on top of the existing text box that's there?

Just don't use a master page that has a text frame on it where you don't want on.

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New Here ,
Nov 25, 2013 Nov 25, 2013

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How do you delete the text frame on the master page? I can't seem to get

rid of it.

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Community Expert ,
Nov 25, 2013 Nov 25, 2013

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There wouldn't be one, by default, on any master other than the first one (master A) or a copy of Master A, or another "based on" Master A, and then only if you asked for one during document setup, or added it later yourself. You should be able to open any master page by double-clicking it in the Pages panel, and then you can select and delete anything you like, or add anything new you might need.

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Community Expert ,
Nov 23, 2013 Nov 23, 2013

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I'm not going to put words in Mikes mouth, but I think he was aking why there are what look like XML tags around all the text strings in the merged file.

I suspect, too, that the problem may be that when you start out with null fields and remove blank lines you are essetnially shifting the following lines into the first paragraph.

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Valorous Hero ,
Nov 23, 2013 Nov 23, 2013

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Putting words in my mouth is better than the other day when I put my foot into it...

Lina,  I do think it is the tagging and assigning paragraph styles to both the fields and tags that is fouling things up. Do take a look at the sample file. It will work fine for you to create it as per the sample.

Mike

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Community Expert ,
Nov 23, 2013 Nov 23, 2013

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Peter Spier wrote:

I suspect, too, that the problem may be that when you start out with null fields and remove blank lines you are essetnially shifting the following lines into the first paragraph.

Well I just ran a basic test to see if that's true, and it isn't, so now I'm back to wonderaing if you've really formatted things correctly. From waht you've shown us there's no way to see what paragraph styles are assigned to the placeholders. The easiest way might be to select the placeholder frame in the template, then switch to Story Editor view. Show us a screen shot of the story editor.

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