Access Imposition

Is there a way to pull the stack, vertical and horizontal settings in my FPImposer imposition file into a rule?

Thanks in advance

Tom

Dan,

I have a rule that will put a custom color bar outside the bleed of only one position on a 4 up layout. The rule works but I have to put the layout info into the Rule.

I would like to make this rule work off of the info In the FPImposition so it does not have to be entered twice.

Also, is there a way for this rule to determine how many records there are in the input data?

Thanks

Tom

With a little foresight, you could just create a rule that applies the bar to every Nth record where that record appears in the upper, right position on the FPImposer layout.

As an example, if you were running 400 records on a 4-up layout, (stacked and stepped first horizontally, then vertically) you would create a rule to add a custom bleed mark on records 101-200 during composition.

Yes, I have that already. I would like to enhance the rule so I would not have to manipulate it every time I use it. It would pull all the info it needs from the FPImposer file and how many records are used from the data file.

Eric, you mention a custom bleed mark during composition, is there such a thing? Right now I use a graphic in a placed graphic box that hangs off the edge of the page.

Thanks

Tom

Sorry, that was misleading. I was thinking of what you are currently doing. I now see your dilemma with varying record sets being applied, and why pulling info from FPImposer would be useful.

Also, is there a way for this rule to determine how many records there are in the input data?

After giving this a little more thought, perhaps you could still use the method you're using, but have FP do the math in an OnJobStart rule to determine which records will run in the top, right corner of the 4-up layout from my example in the previous post.

Expanding on a snippet of code from DSweet in this thread, you might be able to add the following:

var myCurrData = new ExternalDataFileEx(FusionPro.Composition.inputFileName, ",");
//assuming a CSV input file
TotalRecords = myCurrData.recordCount;
EditRecords = TotalRecords/4;
BeginCustomMark = EditRecords +1;
EndCustomMark = EditRecords * 2;

Assuming the above variables are global, you would then set up an OnRecordStart rule that tests whether current record number is between Begin and End variables, and if so, add the custom mark.

I have a rule that will put a custom color bar outside the bleed of only one position on a 4 up layout. The rule works but I have to put the layout info into the Rule.

 

I would like to make this rule work off of the info In the FPImposition so it does not have to be entered twice.

Okay, I see. Well, the FPI (Imposition Definition) file is just a simple INI file, so you can use some logic like this to access its entries*:

function IniFile(FileName)
{
 var DataFile = new ExternalDataFileEx(FileName, "=");
 if (!DataFile.valid)
   return null;

 for (var i = 0; i <= DataFile.recordCount; i++)
   this[DataFile.GetFieldValue(i, 0)] = DataFile.GetFieldValue(i, 1);
}

function DumpImpositionInfo()
{
 var FPIFileName = FusionPro.Composition.JobOptions.ImpositionDefFileName;
 if (!FPIFileName)
   return "";

 var FPIFile = new IniFile(FPIFileName);
 if (!FPIFile)
   return "";

 var result = "Imposition File: " + FPIFileName + "\n";
 result += "Signature Type: " + FPIFile["SignatureType"] + "\n";

 var ImpositionDirections = [ "Primary", "Secondary", "Tertiary" ];
 for (var i in ImpositionDirections)
 {
   var dir = ImpositionDirections[i];
   var RepeatType = FPIFile[dir + "RepeatDirection"];
   result += "\n" + dir + " Repeat: " + RepeatType + "\n";
   dir += "Repeat";
   if (RepeatType != "None")
   {
     result += "\tCount: " + FPIFile[dir + "Count"] + "\n";
     result += "\tDuplicate: " + FPIFile[dir + "Duplicate"] + "\n";
     result += "\tInfinite: " + FPIFile[dir + "InfiniteStack"] + "\n";
     result += "\tSpacing: " + FPIFile[dir + "Spacing"] + " " + FPIFile["Units"] + "\n";
   }
 }

 return result;
}

You can try different settings in the FP Imposer application and see what the resulting entries are in the INI file. It should be fairly straightforward. The "Direction" for each repeat block ("PrimaryRepeatDirection" etc.) will be either "Hor", "Ver", "Stack", or "None", and the other settings may or may not apply, as indicated by the activation or deactivation of the corresponding controls in the FP Imposer app.

*CAVEAT: This is undocumented and unsupported. The internal format of the FPI file may change without warning in future versions of FusionPro.

Thanks everyone, that is a lot to take in. I will let you know how it turns out.

Tom