Alfanumeric
Fields that are designated as Alphanumeric contain both letters and numbers, and will be transferred to the document exactly as they appear in the data source. This option should be utilized when the original source, like a database, already formats the field correctly. In this context, Alphanumeric ensures that no additional formatting or modification is applied during the data transfer, preserving the integrity of the original data.
Strip whitespace
Whitespace characters, including tabs, spaces, and other non-visible characters, will be removed from both the beginning and the end of the field's content. This process, known as "trimming," ensures that no extraneous spaces or tabs remain around the data, which can help prevent formatting issues and improve data consistency.
Formatted
If your source data includes formatted text, which means text with formatting tags such as <b> for bold or <i> for italics, make sure to enable the Formatted check box. This ensures that the formatting tags are recognized and preserved, maintaining the intended appearance of the text in the output document.
Normal HTML
When the field content is of the “rich text” type and, therefore, includes advanced HTML tags to define paragraphs (<p>), lists (<li>), headings (<h1>), etc., check this box. EasyCatalog will convert each of these tags into their approximate equivalent in InDesign. For example, the tags <p>...</p> will be converted into paragraph breaks, <ol><li>...</li></ol> into numbered lists, <ul><li>...</li></ul> into bulleted lists, etc.
Enhanced HTML
The enhanced HTML parser cleanses the field HTML prior to processing. Any unbalanced are corrected and the entire field is enclosed with an implied <body> node. As a general rule any tag which matches the name of character or paragraph style will apply that style.
The following tags and attributes are available:
span
style
Optional. See section below
font
face
Font name
color
Swatch name
p
shade
Paragraph shade
align
left,right,center,justify
style
Paragraph style name
a
href
URL
style
Character stylesheet to apply
img
src
Filename or full path to an image
url
Hyperlink to apply
shape
Image box frame shape variant: ELLIPSE TRIANGLE POLYGON
swatch
Swatch name
clippingpath
PHOTOSHOP
fitting
FRAMETOCONTENT CONTENTAWARE
width
Value in points or string with unit of measure
height
Value in points or string with unit of measure
style
Object style name
rotation
Rotation of the image
scriptlabel
Script Label to apply to image frame
barcodetype
Type of barcode to generate: EAN5 EAN8 EAN13 Code 128 UPCA I2OF5 Datamatrix Code 39 EAN14 GS1-128 QR Code
barcodevalue
The Barcodes value
barcodeparastyle
Paragraph style for the barcode text
barcodeswatch
Swatch of the barcode
table
style
Table style to apply
width
Overall table width
td/th
colspan
Column span
rowspan
Row span
style/cellstyle
Cell style
width
Cell width measurement in points or a string with unit of measure, or: FIXED VARIABLE FITTOTEXT
height
Cell height measurement in points or a string with unit of measure
vmerge
Vertical merge setting: CONTENTMATCH POPULATEDCONTENTMATCH
hmerge
Horizontal merge setting: CONTENTMATCH POPULATEDCONTENTMATCH
delete
Cell deletion option: NEVER IFEMPTY
valign
Vertical content alignment: TOP BOTTOM MIDDLE
rotation
Cell content rotation
Where the name of a tag matches the name of a Formatting Rule, then a singleton instance of this tag will insert the formatting rule into the text. so <fr> would insert a formatting rule called fr into the text.
Allow All White Space. By default HTML whitespace rules are obeyed. Enabling this option will prevent removal of any whitespace.
Updates Preserve Local Formatting
Once a formatted field has been inserted into the document with this option checked, any subsequent use of the Update Document menu option will not apply the formatting specified by the tags in the field content. Instead, EasyCatalog will attempt to preserve any local formatting that has been applied to the field wherever possible.
Embed Tags as Conditional Text
This option will preserve, where possible, formatting tags in the text.
Ignore Whitespace Changes
When you select this option, minor modifications can be made to the field content once its placed in the document without marking it as in error in the panel. This includes the insertion of whitespace characters such as additional carriage returns, tabs, and spaces.
Moreover, when this option is enabled, the Update Panel menu will only update the field in the panel if non-whitespace characters have been modified. This helps prevent unnecessary updates and keeps the focus on significant changes.
You can specify which characters to ignore by listing them in the text field located beneath the check box. This field supports InDesign metacharacters, which allows you to include special characters like carriage returns and tabs in your list of ignored characters.
^i
Indent to here
^y
Right indent tab
^t
Tab
^n
Forced line break
^p
End of paragraph
^S
Nonbreaking space
^-
Discretionary hyphen
^f
Flush space
^>
En space
^m
Em space
^3
Third space
^4
Quarter space
^%
Sixth space
^/
Figure space
^s
Nonbreaking white space (fixed widths)
^<
Thin space
^|
Hair space
Exclude from Panel Updates
The characters specified in the edit field will be excluded from the field content when using the Update Panel menu option. This feature is particularly useful if you need to prevent characters that are specific to InDesign, such as formatting or special control characters, from appearing in your data source content. By listing these characters, you ensure that they are ignored during updates, maintaining the integrity of your data without unwanted InDesign-specific characters.
Preserve Whitespace on Update
EasyCatalog will attempt to retain the characters listed in the edit field during an Update Document operation. This is useful in scenarios where you need to manually insert characters that influence the text formatting in the document, and you do not want these characters to be removed during field updates. However, be aware that preserving the exact position of these characters may not always be possible, especially if the data source undergoes significant changes or requires extensive updates.
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