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This powerful plug-in lets users quickly and easily connect data sources to Adobe InDesign documents. Users can link CSV (Comma Separated Value or a flat text data file) and, with an add-on plug-in, ODBC-compliant databases to a document by using a simple, user-friendly palette. DataLinker will automatically insert new information or changes made to the data source with a synchronise feature. The versatile plug-in offers powerful merge capabilities to insert data from a data source one field at a time or from multiple records simultaneously. DataLinker integrates closely with the TableStyles/CellStyles and BarcodeMaker plug-ins, offering extra productivity gains for people working with tables or barcodes. DataLinker is a valuable time saver for anyone who needs to connect directly to external data such as price lists, product catalogs, budgets or annual reports. New features in the CS4 version:
- Regex find/replace on your data as it is placed in the document. This allows for much more flexible data formatting
- Unlimited field length when using the ODBC plug-in. Previously, DataLinker could only handle the first 1000 characters in an ODBC data source.
- Prefix and suffix areas in alphanumeric fields can now handle all InDesign special characters, such as ^n for a carriage return, and ^t for a tab.
- Use XML rule scripts to modify data after it is merged into the document, using the full power of the InDesign scripting API. Ideal for anyone working in catalogue publishing or with price lists, DataLinker allows an unlimited number of data sources to be added to an InDesign document for flexible data management. One palette controls all of the plug-in’s capabilities and with just a few clicks, data is connected. Users often have raw data in their database that they want to format by adding or changing characters when it flows into a document. Currencies are a classic example. A database might have the number 34 stored in the database, but when it's placed into the document it should read £34.00. With the addition of GREP find/changes, DataLinker has added very robust support for virtually any kind of formatting scenarios. Utilizing the same engine as InDesign's native GREP Find/Change feature, DataLinker now offers the full robustness of regular expressions for formatting database data. DataLinker takes advantage of InDesign's XML Rule functionality to allow users to write simple scripts to modify their layout depending on what data comes from the database. Now, DataLinker users can take advantage of all of the robustness of InDesign's scripting API to write scripts against their data. XML Rules scripts are short and simple, making it easy for users with a beginning knowledge of scripting to get up and running with scripts for DataLinker-created documents. Click the Resources tab above for related articles and other information on this topic. Manufacturer: Teacup Software |
