i'm having trouble Output X copies of each record

I have a data file with a "Copies" field. This specifies how many of each record will be needed. The values range from 2 to 6, and I want to avoid opening my data file and duplicating records.

 

I have been looking around the forums and it seems the easiest way to do this is a OnRecordStart rule with the following:

 

FusionPro.Composition.repeatRecordCount = Field("Copies");

However, when I compose my document I still only get one copy of each record.

 

Any suggestions?

In the Composition Setting dialog under the Input tab, do you by chance have the "Ignore Record Repeat during Composition" box checked?

I actually don't have that option on the input tab.

I actually don't have that option on the input tab.

What version of FusionPro are you using? The record repeat functionality was added in FusionPro 6.0.

Version 5.8... That explains everything.

 

Any alternative ways to do this in 5.8?

Any alternative ways to do this in 5.8?

This is the old way of doing it:

http://forums.printable.com/showthread.php?t=36

But there are a lot of caveats and pitfalls with that solution, especially on Mac. I highly recommend upgrading to FusionPro 6 or newer if you need reliable repeat record functionality.

what kind of file path is needed for Windows? Will this only work on a MAC?

 

I changed the field name and file paths where it said EDIT HERE and it has an error when validating "File Operation Open Failed" at line 28

if (of.open("create") == false)

 

My rule is below

 

// OnJobStart rule to repeat records

var RepeatFieldName = "Copies";  // EDIT THIS
var FieldDelimiter = "\t";  // EDIT THIS ("\t" for tab-delimited "," for comma)

var orginputfilename = FusionPro.Composition.inputFileName;

// For composition, the original name is set,
// and the new name must be specified as an HFS path on Mac.
// EDIT THIS
var newfilename = "P/D26762_AAN/VD/tempout.txt";

if (FusionPro.inValidation)
{
  // For composition, both names must be specified as POSIX paths on Mac.
  // EDIT THIS
  orginputfilename = "P/D26762_AAN/VD/AwardCertificates.csv";
  // EDIT THIS
  newfilename = "P/D26762_AAN/VD/tempout.txt";
}

// DO NOT EDIT BELOW THIS LINE
var sf = new ExternalDataFileEx(orginputfilename, FieldDelimiter);
if (!sf.valid)
  throw("Unable to open ExternalDataFile: " + orginputfilename);
var of = new File(newfilename);
//of.remove();
if (of.open("create") == false)
  throw("Could not create output file.");
of.close();
if (of.open("write") == false)
  throw("Could not write output file.");
for (var i=0;i<sf.fieldCount;i++)
{
  if (i)
    of.write(FieldDelimiter);
  of.write(sf.GetFieldValue(0, i));
}
of.write("\r\n");
var NewInputTotalRecords = 0;
for (var i = 0 ; i <= sf.recordCount; i++)
{
 var startval = 1;
 var repeatcount = Int(sf.GetFieldValue(i, RepeatFieldName));
 for(var j = 0; j < repeatcount; j++)
 {
   NewInputTotalRecords++;
   for(var k = 0; k < sf.fieldCount; k++)
   {
       if (k)
         of.write(FieldDelimiter);
       switch(sf.GetFieldValue(0, k))
       {
         case RepeatFieldName:
            of.write(startval+j);
            break;
         default:
            of.write(sf.GetFieldValue(i, k));
       }
   }
   of.write("\r\n");
 }
}
of.close();
FusionPro.Composition.inputFileName = newfilename;
var message = orginputfilename + "\n" + sf.recordCount + " records\n\n";
message += FusionPro.Composition.inputFileName + "\n" +  
NewInputTotalRecords + " records";
Print(message);
return message;

what kind of file path is needed for Windows? Will this only work on a MAC?

It will work on Windows, but you need a valid Windows path, that is, something that you can type into the Windows Start -> Run box and open.

 

I think the problem is that your path needs to start with a drive letter and a colon. So instead of this:

var newfilename = "P/D26762_AAN/VD/tempout.txt";

You probably want this:

var newfilename = "P[color=Green][b]:[/b][/color]/D26762_AAN/VD/tempout.txt";

Assuming you have mapped the "P" drive.

 

But like I said, this is a hard rule to get working, which is why we came up with the much easier way of doing this in FusionPro 6.0.

That worked! Thanks for your help Dan.