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Template on overflow page causes error


WMajor

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Hoping someone has seen this type of problem and can provide a solution or suggest an alternative.

 

The issue: when I use a template on overflow pages I get a composition error. I am trying to control which pages the template appears on. See test job uploaded.

 

The job requirements: we need to output financial statements. The statements show a list of invoices and payments and the data can run anywhere from 1 to 20+ pages. On the last page we need to put a footer which shows the total amounts of invoices and payments (grand totals). It can only appear on the last page.

 

The test job simply has a chunk of text so as to cause overflow pages. The template is page 3. I think it is about as simple as it gets and only has 1 rule.

 

The error I get is:

http://content.screencast.com/users/WMajor/folders/Jing/media/2c8d3b6a-4554-4e20-98aa-9a3f0cbea974/2014-12-03_1249.png

 

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. I have also contacted support, but as I think this would be a fairly standard job requirement I would like to know if anyone else has experience with this.

 

Thanks

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If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. I have also contacted support, but as I think this would be a fairly standard job requirement I would like to know if anyone else has experience with this.

Using a repeatable component (template) in this way is anything but a "standard job requirement." I've never seen one used like this. I would be surprised if you got any other responses from anyone else who has run into this particular scenario.

 

I would just put whatever it is that you're trying to use in the Template page directly onto the Overflow page.

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Thanks for the feedback Dan.

 

The reason I feel the job would be fairly normal is that it is like a phone bill.

First page starts with a list of the time, date, cost of your calls and the list continues for several pages. On the last page is a footer which shows the total calls, total time and total cost and a grand total of all charges.

Same could apply for say a credit card statement too.

 

This is why I thought that a ready solution would be at hand.

 

Because of the time frame I have had to go with a workaround of showing or hiding each text and graphic box depending on whether the page is last. While this works, it may not be the most efficient.

 

Warren

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The reason I feel the job would be fairly normal is that it is like a phone bill.

First page starts with a list of the time, date, cost of your calls and the list continues for several pages. On the last page is a footer which shows the total calls, total time and total cost and a grand total of all charges.

Same could apply for say a credit card statement too.

 

This is why I thought that a ready solution would be at hand.

Yes, there are lots of statement-type jobs like this composed with FusionPro. And many include a summary or "footer" at the end of a list. What's unusual is your requirement that the "footer" has to be in a specific position on the last page, rather than simply inline after the last item in the list.

 

You could have a footer frame show a summary of the information at the bottom of every page. But I don't know of a way to show it in a specific position only on the last Overflow page.

Because of the time frame I have had to go with a workaround of showing or hiding each text and graphic box depending on whether the page is last. While this works, it may not be the most efficient.

That will work, although you have to have a set limit/maximum number of pages.

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Okay, so after talking about this to some folks here and playing around a bit, it turns out there is something that you can do. If you check the "Re-evalutate this rule for every text flow" box in the Rule Editor, then you can use some logic like this to ensure that the box is populated only on the last page of the output record:

if (FusionPro.Composition.currentPageNumber != FusionPro.Composition.totalPages)
   return "";
//else
return "last page!";

However, this still doesn't work if you try to return an FPRepeatableComponent (template page). But, you should be able to create multiple rules similar to the above, with the "Re-evalutate this rule for every text flow" box checked and logic to return something only on the last page, and use them directly on the Overflow page instead of on a Template page.

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Thanks Dan for looking into this.

 

Yes, the rule described is exactly how I managed to get it to work.

It meant that for each element in the footer I had to use a rule, but it does work. As this is a high frequency and high volume job, it was good that I was able to work within FusionPro to accomplish a good result.

 

Although I use the rule to show resources and text, it's a shame that I can't use the same type of rule to show templates too. I'm just thinking that in future the client may want to add extra elements such as an "Overdue" section or a personalized cross promotion and the flexibility of templates would be ideal.

 

Thanks again,

Warren

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