Creating Multiple Page Packets

[dhealy72]

My company just purchased FusionPro Creator a couple of months back and we have a weekly job that we have been using Darwin VDP software to produce for the past few years. My question is this: Is it possible to create a multiple page VDP template in FusionPro, where a page will or will not be produced based on the data file? These packets have around 30 different pages that may or may not print, depending on the data file. I see that FusionPro has layer functionality, which is great, but that isn't really practical for this particular job.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[Dan Korn]

Yes, you can turn pages on or off in OnRecordStart with the FusionPro.Composition.SetBodyPageUsage function; something like this:

FusionPro.Composition.SetBodyPageUsage("Cover", false);

In FusionPro 8.0 and later, you can specify the page number instead of a page name, so you don't need to name all the pages.

 

For more information, please refer to the section "How to switch body pages during composition" in the FusionPro Rules Guide, or search this forum for "SetBodyPageUsage" for a multitude of examples.

[dhealy72]

Okay, thanks. It appears that the only way to do anything with this program beyond pretty basic tasks is by using Javascript, which I have no experience with. Would it be to my benefit to take the advanced webinar training for FusionPro Creator? We purchased this software hoping to use it as a replacement for the out of date Darwin software that we have been using for several years. We have several weekly and monthly jobs that we were planning to switch over to FusionPro.

[Dan Korn]

Okay, thanks. It appears that the only way to do anything with this program beyond pretty basic tasks is by using Javascript, which I have no experience with. Would it be to my benefit to take the advanced webinar training for FusionPro Creator? We purchased this software hoping to use it as a replacement for the out of date Darwin software that we have been using for several years. We have several weekly and monthly jobs that we were planning to switch over to FusionPro.

With FusionPro, you should be able to do just about anything you were doing with Darwin. But there is always a learning curve for a new program, so you may benefit from some training. In addition to the webinars, we offer on-site training. There is also a wealth of knowledge available here in the user community, and we have an excellent Support team as well.

 

As for having to use JavaScript to perform anything beyond "basic tasks," I suppose that depends on what you consider "basic." You can do an awful lot without JavaScript: You can set up variable frames, do complex imposition, create barcodes, set page media and JDF settings, create drop shadows, scale and crop graphics, copyfit text, set up text wrap and overflow, do presorting and cleansing of mailing lists, and even create basic logic rules with the Drag-and-Drop and Switch Wizards, without any JavaScript at all.

 

However, FusionPro has many more capabilities than those, and distilling down a myriad of complex VDP typesetting requirements into "one size fits all" dialogs isn't always possible. Regarding turning pages on and off specifically, there are lot of different criteria that someone might have for that. Maybe the visibility of a page depends on whether a data field is empty, or maybe it depends on whether it contains a certain value, or maybe it switches based on a combination of data field values, or the current date, or whether the page is odd or even, or about a thousand other things that I can't even think of, but someone probably needs. I don't know what a GUI to account for every possible scenario would look like, nor would everyone be in agreement about which criteria were "basic" or "common." So, we offer a JavaScript interface where users can do just about anything they need to do.

 

That said, we do endeavor to try to make simple tasks simple. So if you have any specific suggestions on how we can do a better job of that, we would be grateful to hear them.

 

How specifically does Darwin allow you to turn pages on and off?

[dhealy72]

Okay. I wasn't putting down the FusionPro software at all. I was just simply asking if the advanced webinar training would be a benefit. I'm sure it would be useful, I just have to justify spending the money on training to my boss. I am looking into getting some Java training as well.

Thanks!