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

[HPIvt]

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!

[Dan Korn]

Originally Posted by HPIvt

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).

Originally Posted by HPIvt

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.)

[HPIvt]

Here is the visual I was trying to show....

[Dan Korn]

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...

[HPIvt]

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.

[Dan Korn]

Originally Posted by HPIvt

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.

Originally Posted by HPIvt

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:



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.

[HPIvt]

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!

[Dan Korn]

Originally Posted by HPIvt

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...4&d=1654194040

Originally Posted by HPIvt

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.

[HPIvt]

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?

[Dan Korn]

Originally Posted by HPIvt

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.