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Help needed if there is a way to have variable check boxes


HPIvt

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So I have this client who works with multiple organizations when they do these appeal mailings. In this case, twice now he has a reply card in which from his data file in Fusion Pro I bring in these dollar amounts as a variable.

 

What he further wants is if there is a dollar amount brought in, he wants a check symbol to be inserted into a check box that comes before the dally amount variable.

 

They way I achieved this was after doing my work in Fusion Pro, I would compose the document, then import that final composed document into InDesign and manually put in check boxes where they needed to be.

 

I don't know if it would be a variable image of check box, or just simply a Dingbat font check.

 

Looking for any guidance or assistance in achieving something that can be done all at once within Fusion Pro.

 

I was hoping to attach a visual of what I am referring to, but can't seem to upload an image, when I click insert image it asks for a link to the image, I just want to upload directly.

 

Thanks!

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I don't know if it would be a variable image of check box, or just simply a Dingbat font check.

Either should work. If it's an image, you probably want an inline graphic (refer to the User Guide).

I was hoping to attach a visual of what I am referring to, but can't seem to upload an image, when I click insert image it asks for a link to the image, I just want to upload directly.

If you click the "Go Advanced" button under the area where you type in your message, there will be a "Manage Attachments" button. You can attach the graphic to the post that way. (If you want to get extra fancy, after uploading the attachment, you can hover over the name to get a link to show it in the post.)

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I think you want two different graphics, one that's the empty box with rounded corners, and another that's the box with the check. I would just make some graphic frames, and use rules to assign one of the two pictures to each.

 

You could also make an empty frame with a rounded border, and then (probably in a separate frame) either put the check mark graphic, or just nothing.

 

As for the layout, I don't know how much variability there is. Are there always going to be the same four boxes (2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019), or can there be a variable number of them? If it's always the same number, then you could just make four graphic frames, with a rule for each one. If the number is going to be variable, you could make a repeatable component with a graphic frame and a text frame, and put down as many of those as you need. Or you could make a table...

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Hello Dan, thanks for the feedback, there would always be the four boxes, yet throughout the data file like in this example, the person did not give an amount in 2020, therefore no checkbox.

 

I really have no knowledge of writing scripts, not sure if anyone has something or an existing rule maybe that would make it so if there was data pulled in for a year dollar amount then the image of a checked box would appear.

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Hello Dan, thanks for the feedback, there would always be the four boxes, yet throughout the data file like in this example, the person did not give an amount in 2020, therefore no checkbox.

Thanks. Okay, so that makes it simpler.

I really have no knowledge of writing scripts, not sure if anyone has something or an existing rule maybe that would make it so if there was data pulled in for a year dollar amount then the image of a checked box would appear.

Well, without seeing your job and the data file, it's hard to suggest a specific rule to write.

 

But you don't need any JavaScript at all to accomplish this.

 

You can make a series of Drag-and-Drop Wizard rules to pull in one of two graphics, depending on whether the value in the data for each field is zero or not, something like this:

 

http://forums.pti.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2174&stc=1&d=1654194040

 

Or you could make a Switch Wizard rule, similarly doing a numeric comparison and returning one graphic for the case of a zero value and another by default.

 

Also, you're not really still on FusionPro version 7.2 like your profile says, are you? You might want to update that.

DnDRule.jpg.5347b11d53c234d68e7a90a7785c5530.jpg

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Hi Dan, yes my info was severely outdated!

 

Thanks for this info, I would share my data file and the actual Indesign file if you wanted, but perhaps if I just try to follow what you showed I can figure this out.

 

Did you post 2 image example or just the DnDRule.jpg? I ask because right after where you say

 

.....each field is zero or not, something like this:

 

I see a question mark image icon.

 

If I was to share files, is that possible here somewhere as an attachment?

 

Thanks!

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Did you post 2 image example or just the DnDRule.jpg? I ask because right after where you say

 

.....each field is zero or not, something like this:

 

I see a question mark image icon.

Hmm, not sure why you're not seeing the embedded image, but you should be able to see the link to the attachment, right at the end of my post. Here's the link again:

http://forums.pti.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2174&d=1654194040

If I was to share files, is that possible here somewhere as an attachment?

Sure, exactly the same way you attached the picture in your previous post.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Dan, just getting back to this now, thanks for the graphic rule info and visual. I had another thought which would it be possible to use glyphs somehow? I know in the glyph sets in Indesign there are checkbox ones depending on the font.

 

Any idea if these would carryover to Fusion Pro, and is so, would a similar rule be kind of the same thing just not an image rule, but a text rule?

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Hi Dan, just getting back to this now, thanks for the graphic rule info and visual. I had another thought which would it be possible to use glyphs somehow? I know in the glyph sets in Indesign there are checkbox ones depending on the font.

 

Any idea if these would carryover to Fusion Pro, and is so, would a similar rule be kind of the same thing just not an image rule, but a text rule?

Sure. Those glyphs aren't unique to InDesign, they're just glyphs for characters in fonts, like any other characters. So like you asked in May, if you find a glyph in a symbol font, like Dingbats, you can definitely use it in FP.

 

Actually, there are Unicode characters for check box ☑ and empty check box ☐, so you can just use those. They're in the Apple Symbols font, as well as Arial Unicode MS and others. So you could just paste the ☑ character directly into the Text Editor.

 

For variability, you could make a rule like so:

return '<span font="Apple Symbols">☑</span>';

 

There may be an even easier way to accomplish this, but I haven't seen your job.

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Thanks Dan, Id be glad to share the job files if you'd want to take a stab at it, It would be an InDesign file or pdf and an excel sheet with the data.

I think I've suggested pretty strongly, in this thread and others, that it's almost always better to post the job files, as that makes it much easier for me, or anyone else who's trying to help, rather than just looking at the job through a keyhole.

 

The collected PDF template is usually the best way to share the job. You can just do a Collect from the FusionPro menu in Acrobat and collect to a Zip file. This will bring in the data file. (You don't need to collect the fonts, unless the issue is specific to the fonts in the job, and they're really used only in Server and Producer compositions anyway. In this case, I already have the fonts I suggested, so I don't need yours.)

 

Though as my signature notes, I make no promises about looking at any files. Others can feel free to look at them, though, and answer any questions. (In this case, it's pretty likely that I'll at least take a peek.)

 

Of course, please do not post any personal or proprietary data. You can always mock up some dummy data, just enough to be able to compose or preview the job to reproduce whatever the issue is that you want looked at.

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  • 3 months later...

I have been trying and still no luck, I didn't even see that your last reply had gone to a page 2 of the thread, I'd be glad to post the files if you or anyone else wants to take a stab at it.

 

Just to recap, this is a reply card, the data file has three years of $ giving, some people have none, so the goal is to have an unchecked box of there is no $ value, if there is a dollar value of any amount, the box should be checked.

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

EDIT by Dan Korn: Attachment deleted as it contained personal data.

Edited by Dan Korn
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I have been trying and still no luck, I didn't even see that your last reply had gone to a page 2 of the thread, I'd be glad to post the files if you or anyone else wants to take a stab at it.

Thanks, having the files makes it a lot easier to help. Although, you should post some dummied-up data instead of actual people's personal information. (I had to delete your attachment for security reasons.)

Just to recap, this is a reply card, the data file has three years of $ giving, some people have none, so the goal is to have an unchecked box of there is no $ value, if there is a dollar value of any amount, the box should be checked.

Sure. You can do what I mentioned in my previous post, and create a set of Drag-and-Drop rules, without any JavaScript. See the attached template where I've done that.

Of course, this can be done with just a few lines of code instead, if you prefer.

REPLY test 1.pdf

Edited by Dan Korn
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Dan, posting a new zip file. Same idea just another client who has 6 levels to create check boxes for.

 

I used the rules you had set up for the previous one. All works now yet I can't get the dollar signs to produce when linked to the XLS file. This is perfect except for that. If I switched to a csv file instead, it will make dollar signs, but the boxes seemed to stay all the unchecked version.

 

Would love to use this as is if I could make the dollar signs visible.

 

Last time when I did check boxes manually I had used the number to currency rule to do this, but since we have a rule to return the graphic based on the amount column itself, ice t possible to apply 2 rules to the same field? Sorry if this is getting too complex, just that automation is the key here. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

test2.zip

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Last time when I did check boxes manually I had used the number to currency rule to do this, but since we have a rule to return the graphic based on the amount column itself, ice t possible to apply 2 rules to the same field? Sorry if this is getting too complex, just that automation is the key here. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

Sure, you can apply as many rules as you want. You're on the right track. You've created the rule "Number to Currency Rule: _2017GIFTS". You just need to actually call out that rule in the text frame instead of just the field. Then you can create a similar rule for each of the other fields and apply them in their frames.

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Feel silly asking this but what do you mean by call out that rule in the text frame instead of just the field. Not like this right?

Well, it's very hard to see that low-resolution picture, but Yes, I mean, in the Variable Text Editor dialog, instead of selecting the name of the field in the Variable drop-down, select the name of the rule and insert that into the text.

When I did this it made a dollar sign in ones that need to be empty.

Right, that rule doesn't do exactly what you want in this circumstance, so you'll need a custom rule, like so:

var val = StringToNumber(Field("_2017GIFTS"));
if (!val)
   return "";

return FormatNumber("$#,###.##", val);

Make a version of that for each of the years, and insert those rules into the appropriate text boxes.

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Thanks Dan, just getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. I will take a stab at this, thanks again for your insight and help. Lao the low resolution image was because there seems to be a file size limitation which is quite low for images, I had to keep making it smaller and smaller for it to take the attachment.

 

 

- Ben

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have to give you a huge Thank You Dan! I really appreciate the help and guidance though this task. It finally works as I was hoping it would. This was a great learning experience using more complex rules and javascript than I had to before, again many Thanks!

 

- Ben

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I have to give you a huge Thank You Dan! I really appreciate the help and guidance though this task. It finally works as I was hoping it would. This was a great learning experience using more complex rules and javascript than I had to before, again many Thanks!

You're welcome! And thanks for following up and letting me know it worked.

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