Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

MaxClass

Members
  • Posts

    155
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by MaxClass

  1. Using Find and Replace in Publisher v1 (I also have v2) — Studio Mac M1 Max Totally by accident, on many occasions, when I thought I had a word to paste into the Find Field after I had done a select all and copied a large amount of text that I had pasted into a new document and not realizing it didn’t copy so all the pervious text was on the clipboard I clicked in the “Find” Field and did a “Paste”. Turns out it was trying to Paste the entire text of the document I had just copied, into the “Find” Field and it just sits there for maybe a minute with the beachball spinning until it is all selected, whereupon I realized what I had done but was locked out until it came back to life. To avoid this happening you might consider truncating Find text by setting a limit to the length of text allowed to be Pasted in the “Find” Field to avoid this. Probably not a bad idea to limit the length of text in the “Replace” Field also. if ( LengthOfTextStr > 20 ) then LengthOfTextStr = leftStr( LengthOfTexStrt, 20 ) // something akin to this to avoid the problem This is also something to consider in V2 I imagine the idea of Find and Replace was never mean to try and find an entire paragraph in a document so the number of characters to find should probably have some limit for uniqueness. Thank you for listening. I couldn’t work with my Affinity Applications. MaxClass
  2. I’ve been using Affinity products for five years now. My main daily application is Publisher of which I make extensive use of the Data Merge feature to do specialized documents for people. My first request is to be able to open two (2) separate TSV/CSV files and allow the data from a merged combination of both sets of Fields and Data. I a Mac programmer I would imagine adding the second data files fields to those of the first dictionary or array, however they are used internally. This should be an easy, but very powerful, addition to Publisher. As for the “Fields Studio” General Information> Date and Time would you please consider adding the options to add and individual way to insert the current individual Day, Month, or Year as individual selections. Also, the ability to add, using the existing Date and Time option, the ability to make a Date field in a document as auto-updating so that field in a document will automatically display the current Date. This would allow be extremely helpful. I love the speed of the Find/Replace Studio and the only suggestion I have regarding it is that is show the number of ‘matches’ by showing a visible number, possibly in a non-editable text field to the right of the ‘Replace All’ button. So many times I’m looking for how many matches are found to the Find criteria and not necessarily to change them and currently I have to physically count the number of entries found. Internally a simple incremented counter would do the trick. Lastly, in Find/Replace it would be nice to have the small ‘x’ inside the circle dosplayed on the right side of the fields to click on and instantly clear the field. This is standard on almost every Mac application that uses “Find”, such as in Safari. I have recommended the Affinity applications to everyone I know and could not do what I do without them. Thank you all so much in advance for what you have given us. It’s appreciated far more than you might realize and easily worth a lot more than you ask for this amazing applications.
  3. Version 1 always had unique icons that showed up when selecting any of the built in “Special Characters” in the Find Studio Version 2.1.0.1709 no longer displays an icon for the following selections not letting you visually see something to “Find”. Without something showing you have no idea visually if there is actually anything in the “Find” text field. Odd and Even Page Breaks show identical icons. should probably be unique. Non-Breaking Space Soft Hyphen Zero Width Space En-space Em-space
  4. I love Data Merge and use it everyday for personalized documents and it never fails. But, on so many occasions I not only need the Data from a Client TSV file but also specialized data from another TSV file which Publisher does not allow me to do. I know I can have multiple TSV files open at the same time but can only do a Merge from one at a time. Since Publisher knows and has the data fields from both file if they are both open in the Data Merge Manager why is it not possibly for Publisher to access and insert the data from both file is they are both open. Publisher will not allow for the selection of both TSV file simultaneously which is what I really need. Also, if you have data fields from both files in the document a “Generate” will automatically wipe out the fields that it doesn’t find in the other, non-selectable TSV file, even though it is also open in the Data Merge Manager window. It would be perfect if there was a way to allow Publisher to “Add” a second, or third, or why restrict it to that, TSV file and let Publisher use all the data fields and data form multiple TSV files at the same time. Just add the next set of Fields, and Data to the array used to do the Merge. As a programmer I don’t see this as outside the realm of possibility nor that difficult a task to add/append one array of data to another used for a merge. Data Merge in Publisher is 98% perfect. Thank you in advance for any consideration.
  5. Without going too deep, “Old Bruce” said it in a nutshell. If the last entry in a document is a Merge Field without a “return” following it that last Merge Field will fail to fill in on a “Preview with record”. You must have a “return” character following it in order for the Merge Data to appear in that field as “Old Bruce” mentioned above. The only time this happens is if the last Merge Field followed only by the section character “§”. This should be very easy to duplicate. It doesn’t so much cause a problem if you add the “return” character so it’s only a partial bug in that sense but should be fixed for the next release. Great work guys. The Affinity application are amazing. Max Taylor
  6. I have a Data Merge Field as the last entry in a file. There are no characters after the last field except the § indicator. When the Field tag is the last character of a block of text the data will not show when “Preview with record” is checked, but, all other data fields will show the correct data. As odd as it might seem simply adding a ‘return’ character after the last field to move to the next blank line solves the problem and the merged data appears. Remove the return so only § character follows the last field and all the other merge data will show but not the last field. I have been able to repeat this time after time. This only happens if a field is the very last entry in a Text Frame so I consider it a bug that should be easy to fix. MaxClass
  7. Here’s the URL I was referring to. https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/ It clearly shows “1.10.3” as the latest versions. That’s the only thing I was referring to. As for the pages being “Mac-centric” we all know the Affinity group created all these wonderful application on Mac Platforms as their base requirement.
  8. I have all three Affinity Applcations and have had them since their first release. Love them. I have my “Home Page” in Safari set to the Affinity page so I’m always aware of any new Affinity news. What I didn’t understand is that all may Mac versions are at “1.10.4”, yet the Affinity page always only shows the most current versions as “1.10.3” which is obviously not correct. I don’t know is this is just an oversight or intentional. Am I missing something here?
  9. Carl123, Thanks for that trick and it does work, but for an overall solution it’s cumbersome. Say you have a twenty page documents that your working through and would like to lock all text frame and still be able to edit them. This would mean that you have to go to every page and select any or all text frames on the page and lock them in the Layers Panel or would like to unlock all of them at the same time. As you know you can’t do that to my knowledge. Thus having a Text Frame Lock icon in the context tool bar as a Toggle On/Off option that would allow you to lock all text frames with a single click on the icon would be very handy to have. As you know, not all pages might have identical text frame(s) and positions so being able to lock all throughout an entire document with a single click can be very useful. We’ve all accidentally moved text frame when we didn’t want to. Also, this should not affect a text frame locked in the Layers Panel as it would be an internal editing flag only. Thanks again for your option which works but only locally. I stand by my original request and the reasons why I think it’s a viable option for Publisher. MaxClass
  10. Walt, Thanks for your response but many times I have multiple text frames on different pages that would make putting them on individual Master Pages unreasonable to work with. Not all my document formats use a strict Master Page regiment, although your point is well taken. I do make judicious use of Master Pages where I feel they are needed. Just that many times a single text frame may need to be created that would interfere with the Master Page currently in use so a text frame is added onto the document page and that can not be lock into place without loosing editing capability. Publisher is all about allowing the user flexibility to do whatever they want whenever they want anywhere they want so I still stand with my original post with the idea of being able to temporarily lock a text frame into place and still be able to fully edit it. The locking feature (icon) would be a toggle On/Off option. —MaxClass
  11. I know I’m not the only one who works with Publisher on a daily basis and accidentally moves a text frame that was not intended. I would like to see a way to allow the user the ability to lock a text frame into place and still be able to edit the text with it. I know it can be locked in the ‘Layers” panel and I do use that when needed but for every day documents but for projects like books where the basic layout is well established being able to lock the page text frames while making editing adjustments would be a boon. My suggestion would be to possibly add a lock (toggle) icon in the contextual bar above the view area like just to the right of the “Frame text ruler” icon that would allow one to simply click on it when needed to lock text frames from moving during editing and unlock it if needed to move or adjust the text frame as required. This seems to me that it would be a unique, but very handy, addition to publisher for all those who love a text frame unintentionally when they didn’t want too. Thank you for listening. MaxClass
  12. I agree completely with the ability to password protect our document if needed. Businesses need to protect their work, especially for copyrights, and documents one would not want their competitors to get hold of to take away any advantage they might have. This is essential. I also realize that the Affinity application themselves are in a proprietary format that other applications can’t read but anyone with Affinity’s applications has full access to the documents if they get their hands on them. Just as Serif does not want their source code to get out, Affinity users need to have access to the same sort of protections, especially for documents that go “out of house” or that might be copied and passes to those who have no right to them. Thank you in advance for considering this possibility. MaxClass
  13. First off, much of the work I do using the Data Merge Manager (DMM) requires the merging of the same Data File information into many different individual documents. These documents may not all be done at the same time or within one output source. Some are individually merged at different time but not all together. Here’s the problem. Every time I finish the Merge of data into a document, and I need to select another document to Merge in some of the same data the DMM closes and I have to manually reopen it and reselect the same TSV Data File in order to do the merge on a second, third, or fourth document going through the same process with each one. It’s tedious. The simple solution would be to simply allow the DMM to remain open with the preselected Data file still selected, even if I had to click the “Update” button in the DMM each time. That would be minor. My solution would be to simply leave the DMM window and selected file in tact when a document that was just merged is closed so the only thing required to merge the next document with the same Data would be to open it, possibly click on the “Update” button, if that would be required, and your all set to do as many other mergeable individual documents as one might require using the same data source. Answer: Simply leave the DMM window open between documents and let the user close it as they would any other “Studio” type window if not needed. On another point. It seems the when you Merge a document and go to close it it always asks if you want to save it even thought nothing changed. I think this is due to the it knowing the Data file it just interacted with. It’s bothersome to be constantly asked that if the Data source is not linked in some with with the merge document. For each client I work with I create an individual TSV file instead of having all clients in one data base and having to pick out one of hundreds of clients data to merge. I only have to open the data source of the client I’m dealing with. Keeps it simple and straight forward and makes updating their personal data short and simple. Maybe a checkbox control in the DMM like “Link with data file?” If not checked, that data file is not linked in any way with the merge file as the next time that file is open to be merged it will be with another clients data. Hopefully this explains what I’d like to see and the reasoning behind the request. I’ve been an Affinity user of all apps since the beta of Designer, almost day one and recommend these application to alsmot everyone I deal with. MaxClass
  14. Thanks to all for the input and suggestions. MaxClass
  15. Thank you to “fde101” and “garrettm30” for your suggestions. That worked perfectly. I wasn’t sure exactly where to save the modifications so I saved them in “Application Support>Affinity Publisher” then quit Publisher and relaunched it and it’s all there. I use shortcuts so much I hate having to go to the mouse if I don’t have to. MaxClass
  16. Walt, You are absolutely correct, except on a Mac system the ‘home” and ‘end’ keys do not work if the focus is in the Pages studio here (1.10.1). But, the ‘page up’ and ‘page down’ keys do allow for movement through a document in the main window but only with the ‘command’ key held down. Thus, if the command key, along with the ‘page up’ and ‘page down’ keys works, then why not implement the command key with the ‘home” and ‘end’ keys also if staying with that theme. As a 36 year Mac programmer I fully understand how events and their vectoring works and it’s not that difficult to detect those key combinations, trust me on that. I’m also fully aware that you can click in the bottom left field of the window, type in “1” and return to go directly to the top of any other page in a document. That’s a nice shortcut or just click on the arrows to do the same. To me, as a 36 year Mac user the less times you have to reach for the mouse the more efficiently my tasks are completed. I’m only listed as an “Advanced Member”, but trust me, in reality I am a “Dedicated User” in every respect and Publisher teaches me something every time I use it. I bought it the instant it came out and use it every single day, including weekends. I also push it to everyone I know as an “Affinity Ambassador”. I started with Affinity Designer with the earliest beta versions so I’m not the new kid on the block with these applications and teach a lot of other people on them as well. It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? MaxClass
  17. Since ‘command-page up’ and command-page down‘ keys are implemented in Publisher I would ask that ‘command-home’ and “command-end’ also be implemented on Mac versions to automatically take one to the first and last pages of a document. Mac users are used to having that available in Pages as a Mac standard. The ‘alt’ key combination of the same key sequences might be implemented on the Windows versions too. MaxClass
  18. Obviously, I’ve made a mistake but I have noticed that all three applications which used to have the file name auto-selected not longer do on using a “Save as…” or “Export” option. I can only assume that the same “Save” dialog code is used in all three application for the sake of code integrity. If this thread needs to be moved that is fine with me. I’m only presenting the problem. I do a lot of documents with embedded file names in them and being able to select the file name prior to doing a “Save as…”, like after doing a Data Merge, and being able to simply paste in the copied file name, rather than having to select out the default name and paste in the Copied name is not optimal and so easily fixed. Thank to Serif for these amazing applications. It makes my life so much easier.
  19. Publisher 1.10.1. The File Save Dialog used to have the name section highlighted what a Save, Save as…, Export, etc. option was selected allowing for the immediate pasting in of a preselected file name. This option was possibly accidentally removed beginning with Publisher 1.10. I would like to see it re-established if at all possible. As a long time Mac programmer I know this is not difficult to resurrect. MaxClass
  20. The three vertical dots at the right end of the Studio>Fields>Date & Time entry used to display several options for the display of Date and Time but no longer do so. This bug first appeared in version 1.10 and persisted in version 1.10.1. Where did they go. This required fixing. MaxClass
  21. Desktop 27 inch iMac and long time user of Affinity Publisher, Photo, and Designer. I find that “Data Merge” is one of my most used features as I do very specialized document sets for people all across America. By accident, I found out by having a Master Page set up for some document where I needed to have certain information appear on every page of the documents depending upon the the physical location of the client based upon the Merge Data file for that client. I was amazed to find out that Data Merge does not work when fields are entered into a Master Page. I can only imagine this is an oversight as no one had probably thought that would ever be needed, but, as it turns out it is and is something I need. Why exclude the Master Pages from merged data. I’m sure you can make the replacement of data into Merge Fields available to Master Pages also. Thank you in advance and looking forward to seeing this implemented.
  22. iMac 27 inch Desktop User, a Mac user since 1985, and a Mac Programmer. I use Publisher on a daily basis and it replaces any word processors of the past and I’ve have been an Affinity user since the early Betas of Designer. One feature of Publisher that I find missing is the ability to Password protect Publisher files. Providing such a feature would be greatly appreciated. Sort of a “For Your Eyes Only” feature, especially for working on books for publication during the development stage when collaborating with others and you don’t want the work disclosed ahead of time. I produce documents meant for the recipient only and no one else and would like to Password protect them at the Publisher level. This same feature could also be implemented in Designer and Photo as I imagine the file save routines are very much the same. Thank you in advance and keep up the good work. P.S. Looking forward to your implementation of “Footnotes” in Publisher.
  23. I throughly agree with the idea of allowing a selection of guide colors. Most probably in Preferences. In addition I would love to see the same color selection capability for all screen text instead of just white in Apples “Dark Mode” as the wide does not stand out sufficiently IMHO. I would love to be able to use a nice green or even orange like we used to see in older monitors. For many people a “one size fits all” is not the answer, especially for those in the upper age groups or people who may have some form of color blindness. This would be another option for “Preferences”. Publisher is my main daily document application on my iMac. —MaxClass
  24. I really love 1-9 also but also ran into the page rotation problem. It’s a rather cool feature but it needs the ability to “Lock Rotation”. Maybe all it needs is to under the “View>Rotation” menu add “Lock Rotation” which simply allows you the option to use, or not use, rotation. Also, many times when I have pages zoomed to the width or so of my 27 inch iMac I would love to have a way to lock the horizontal scrolling such that only vertical scrolling is enabled while working. This would prevent the pages from sliding partially off the view when you accidentally glide you finger side to side on the mouse. —MaxClass
  25. I have version 1.8.3 on an iMac 27 inch Retina Display with 16 gig of ram running OS 10.14.6. Running my Mac at the highest resolution the “Special Characters”, like the spaces, line feeds, tabs, returns, etc., show up so tiny and light they’re barely visible. I use “Pages” a lot and the “Invisibles” there are very visible when turned on and I have the option to set the color for them so I typically use a photo blue for them as it shows up but doesn’t interfere with the black text. I love using Affinity Publisher but it does not give me any options to increase the size or color of “Special Characters”. I aways work with them turned on whenever it makes sense. So, it is possible to increase the size of “Special Characters” or set a color for them so they’re more visible without having to go to a really high level of zoom? I’m probably not the only one who uses this feature and notices this. That you for listening. Max Taylor
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.