Data Merge - Hide Empty Table

[Garden-User]

Hello,

Since our Product Catalogue is making huge steps Forward I have a little Problem:

Is there any way to create a Table in Publisher and fill it with the Data Merge Funktion, but when the Source Field is Empty, the Table should not be displayed? 

Hope you can help me to solve this little Problem. Otherwise the Data Merge Function works very good. (Better than we expected).

[Mithferion]

Don't you have a way to filter the source file before loading it into Publisher? 

Best regards! 

[Garden-User]

17 hours ago, Mithferion said:

Don't you have a way to filter the source file before loading it into Publisher?

Hello,

sorry for the Question, but what do you mean with Filter? 

Currently the Excel Sheed / Table will be filled dynamic with the data fields. The Problem that now shows up ist as follows:
I have a Product Page and on the lower half the Page has an Area for an Spare Part. This Part will be filled when there is Data, otherwise, blank. Perfect. Sadly there is also a Table for Prices, Packaging and so parts. This Table must be formatted for the Data Merge Function. The Content in the Table will be empty, when the Merge Field is also empty but the formatted Table will still be there.
I "simply" need an Check that hides the Table if one Merge field is empty. Maybe I have overlooked something, because this is all I need.

Thank you for your help.

Best regards.

[Mithferion]

Sorry, I can't picture in my mind the whole result of what you are trying to achieve; by filtering I meant that clean the source file of any empty cells / rows that you wouldn't want to show up, but I think this is more complex than that..

Best regards!

[carl123]

2 hours ago, Garden-User said:

This Table must be formatted for the Data Merge Function

Do you mean like coloured rows or columns - that type of formatting?

[Joachim_L]

I think Garden-User means that the parent table / element / text frame etc. is visible although no data is passed there. I cannot imagine how to do this in a merge function, except doing it the hard way ... means making a special layer for the layout element that could possibly be empty and make it manually invisible in the Layers panel if it is really empty.

[Garden-User]

1 hour ago, Mithferion said:

Sorry, I can't picture in my mind the whole result of what you are trying to achieve; by filtering I meant that clean the source file of any empty cells / rows that you wouldn't want to show up, but I think this is more complex than that..

Yes the Table (Data Source) will be modular, so that empty cells are empty.

 

1 hour ago, carl123 said:

Do you mean like coloured rows or columns - that type of formatting?

 Yes exactly. I have also attached an Image. 

 

1 hour ago, Joachim_L said:

I think Garden-User means that the parent table / element / text frame etc. is visible although no data is passed there.

Yes this my exact Problem.

 

So Attached is an Image of the "Problem"
 

You can the the "Table Data top" is the Data that will always be present. This works great. 
The Lower Part with "Some Product with Spare Part", "Information" and "Picture" are also not a Problem. If they are empty they are blank.
The Problem is the "Spare Part Table". This Table is formatted with a border and background color. But when there is no Data Present, it will still show up but only empty. 
The Solution would be some simple IF-Formula -> IF Data-Merge-Field = "" then Hide Layer else Show Layer

But I´m Brainstorming what I can do to fix this Problem and since I work with Publisher for less than 1 Week now, well I´m not an expert in this Program.

[Joachim_L]

3 minutes ago, Garden-User said:

But I´m Brainstorming what I can do to fix this Problem

Unless merge has no scripting / or logic capabilities, there is not much you can do afaik. In the meantime you have to manually hide the "Spare Part Table" layer.

[Joachim_L]

I am sorry, but "Nur die Harten kommen in den Garten" << German saying meaning only the strong will survive. I have to apologize for the bad pun (Garten = garden in German), but I could not resist.

 

[Garden-User]

26 minutes ago, Joachim_L said:

I am sorry, but "Nur die Harten kommen in den Garten" << German saying meaning only the strong will survive. I have to apologize for the bad pun (Garten = garden in German), but I could not resist.

 

Yeah this made me laugh and yes we are a German User. But hey maybe this logic will find it´s Way into Publisher, because this is some Feature that will be exclusive for them I assume. It will give us even more tools to play with. 👍

[Tomasz.Bossi]

Hi, even without the advanced features of Data Marge, something can be done about it.
Data Merge allows you to import not only images but also pages saved as .afpub with raster and vector graphics, tables, etc. Perhaps it is worth considering preparing the supplementary product sheets as separate pages in the Publisher first and linking them back to Excel as a source of new data in the final publication. If there is no link to the product card in the Excel database, the field will be blank and nothing will appear on the page. The fact that you can connect raster and vector graphics in a graphic frame is a big plus. To sum up, treat the Spare Part Table as a graphic similar to the product photo.
Have a nice day.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Tomasz.Bossi

[Garden-User]

10 hours ago, Tomasz.Bossi said:

To sum up, treat the Spare Part Table as a graphic similar to the product photo.

The easiest Idea. Place the Table as a Affinity Photo File and link it in the Source document with a Picture Frame. 

Thank you very much. This is a very nice Workaround.

Thankfully I can make an exact copy of the Table but with no Styles so the "picute Table" lays below the Table with the Text and the Publisher Table is "Transparent" (no Border, Background Color)

Very nice.

[Tomasz.Bossi]

Exactly, though instead of using Affinity Photo you can use Affinity Publisher or Designer files as link. This makes it easier to prepare tables and maintain styles. The fact that Data Merge also imports these files is great.
Have a nice day.