Datamatrix Imposition Sheet Count

[AWhite2504]

Dan,

Piggybacking from my 2D DataMatrix barcode thread, I have attached a sample file.

We are hoping to have the last two digits of the barcode reflect the sheet numbers and not the page numbers.

Sample Data.zip

[Dan Korn]

Thanks for making a new thread, and for posting the job.

 

First, let me reiterate that the issue doesn't really have anything to do with the Data Matrix barcode. It's simply an issue with getting the proper sheet number into a rule. In fact, in investigating your job, the very first thing I did was change the rule to simply return the number, and typeset that directly instead of making a barcode.

 

That investigation showed that there is a legitimate bug here. The root of it is that the feature to report the sheet number was developed for the very common case of a postcard-type job, where each record is output on the same sheet, or at least on different sides (front and back) of the same duplexed sheet. Basically, the sheet number reported is the sheet where the first page of the record is set.

 

I would submit that a job like yours, where a record of output spans multiple sheets, is a far less common case, and the code that reports the sheet number simply doesn't account for it. (The reality of imposition is that the number of possible combinations of repeating and stacking and collating records is basically infinite, so everything has to be programmed with certain assumptions.)

 

Anyway, I have entered a case for this.

 

Fortunately, there's a simple workaround for this job:

var sheetNumber = FusionPro.Composition.currentPageNumber + FusionPro.Composition.impositionSheetNumber - 1;

That should always get you the correct actual sheet number for the page on which the frame resides.

 

Finally, I would still encourage you to use a custom imposition background sheet to report the sheet number on, instead of putting it on an actual imposed page.