Data merge allows fields to set URLs, File locations, Emails and Anchors

[Ash]

Apps: Publisher
Platforms: macOS and Windows

You can now include URLs, file locations, email addresses and anchors (anchors new in build 1931) in your data merge dataset and use those fields to create an active link in your merged result.

As an example you could have a data set like this:

And then set up a data merge layout like below, using those fields:

Once you have done that you can now select the <Twitter Handle> field and Insert Hyperlink. You will now see when you insert a hyperlink in a data merge document you will get an additional option to take the URL from a data merge field, which will activate a drop down to select which field you want the URL to come from. In this case I want to set the URL to be set to the "Twitter Handle Link" field:

You can also do the same with a link type of email and set that to = the <email address> field.

So then when you generate the merged result the hyperlinks will dynamically generated to be correct for the record in question. So for example clicking on the @Joe link will take you to https://twitter.com/joe.

 

Anchors

You can also choose a data merge field link to an anchor in your document. Additionally you can also now create anchors from your data. This gives powerful options enabling you to have links from one record to another. e.g. You could have a record set like this:

Then insert an Anchor = <Record Anchor> and also create a hyperlink which links to <link to Anchor>, so in this case you could have a link in record 1 which links to record 5, 2 to 6, etc. and then record 5 linking back to record 1, etc.

Insert Anchor dialog now has option to create from a data merge field

 

Hyperlinks to Anchors can also now be created from data merge fields

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Petar Petrenko]

This will be a real time saving feature.

[PaoloT]

Can paths to files be relative? For example, something like "..\images\mypic.tiff", meaning going up one level from the AfPub document, and opening the "images" folder?

Paolo

 

[Mooxo]

This is great. Is there any chance, perhaps in a future version, of being able to add anchors from a merge file too, so that it then becomes possible to include document links (bookmarks) from a merge file? i.e. to be able to generate relative links within the same document (like I've been trying to do in this thread)? 

[Ash]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:00 PM, PaoloT said:

Can paths to files be relative? For example, something like "..\images\mypic.tiff", meaning going up one level from the AfPub document, and opening the "images" folder?

They probably could actually, might not be for 2.2 but we'll give it some thought.

[Ash]

5 hours ago, Mooxo said:

This is great. Is there any chance, perhaps in a future version, of being able to add anchors from a merge file too, so that it then becomes possible to include document links (bookmarks) from a merge file? i.e. to be able to generate relative links within the same document (like I've been trying to do in this thread)?

Interesting. Just so I understand, is what you want the ability to create Anchors based on a data merge field, and also an Anchor hyperlink based on a field?

So you could have a record set like this:

Then insert an Anchor = <Record Anchor> and also create a hyperlink which links to <link to Anchor>, so in this case you could have a link in record 1 which links to record 5, 2 to 6, etc. and then record 5 linking back to record 1, etc?

Feels doable and a sensible suggestion (probably a future update >2.2) - obviously stands the possibility of people merging links to loads of invalid anchors, but assuming your input table is correct then all will be fine (and that is what preflight is for!)

[Mooxo]

Yes, exactly that. As a concrete example: if you were generating an exercise book with questions and answers (or a quiz book, or similar), you could have all the answers in one data file merge file, including anchors, and all the questions in another data file, including links to the answer anchors. That way when you generate the final file, each question could link to the relevant answer later in the document. 

[Ash]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:00 PM, PaoloT said:

Can paths to files be relative? For example, something like "..\images\mypic.tiff", meaning going up one level from the AfPub document, and opening the "images" folder?

So actually I've been told this should already be working. 

When doing the merge for picture frame content we try the field value as 
 * An absolute path
 * A path relative to the data source file
 * A path relative to the document file
 * A URL
In that order and take the first one that finds a file. `..` should also work as long as Publisher has sandbox permission for the folders involved. You will need the correct slash direction for the platform you're working on.

Edit: this is in the case of using a data merge field as the image for a picture frame. Hyperlinks to files currently do not support this relative path, but we are looking at it.

[Ash]

On 7/5/2023 at 7:41 AM, Mooxo said:

Yes, exactly that. As a concrete example: if you were generating an exercise book with questions and answers (or a quiz book, or similar), you could have all the answers in one data file merge file, including anchors, and all the questions in another data file, including links to the answer anchors. That way when you generate the final file, each question could link to the relevant answer later in the document. 

Hi @Mooxo / All - pleased to say we have managed to add data merge anchors to 2.2 in the build released today. Updated description with additional section around Anchors on original post of this thread. Hope this helps.

[Mooxo]

4 hours ago, Ash said:

Hi @Mooxo / All - pleased to say we have managed to add data merge anchors to 2.2 in the build released today. Updated description with additional section around Anchors on original post of this thread. Hope this helps.

This is phenomenal - thank you! I've just tried it and it works a treat. Very intuitive, and super flexible. You guys never cease to impress with the work you do on this wonderful suite of tools. Thank you again.

[joe_l]

On 6/28/2023 at 10:01 AM, Ash said:

<Twitter Handle>

@Ash You mean <X Handle>?

😄

No, honestly. Very nice feature, well done.

[Hangman]

Inserting a hyperlink from a Data Merge source crashes Publisher as soon as Insert Hyperlinks is checked in the PDF export options...Likewise, if Insert Hyperlinks is already checked from a previous export session then File > Export will instantly crash Publisher prior to the Export Window appearing.

 

Sample Document

Data Merge Crash.zip

 

Crash Report

Affinity Publisher 2 Beta-2023-08-04-115545.ips

 

[Hangman]

When working with a Data Merge file, once an anchor is added which includes the From Data Merge option, this option is then checked for Anchors that didn't initially include the option when the anchor was set.

When viewing the Anchor properties, unchecking the unwanted From Data Merge option from the anchor selects the anchor text and adds a second unwanted duplicate anchor at the end of the selection.

• I'm assuming it should be possible to differentiate between anchors that do and don't include the From Data Merge option and
• I'm assuming that unchecking the From Data Merge checkbox shouldn't add a duplicate anchor

Would those assumptions be correct?

 

I think this may be related to another report regarding duplicate anchors when creating TOCs...

 

[Affinity Info Bot]

An issue raised in this thread ("Inserting a Hyperlink from a Data Merge Source Crashes Publisher as Soon as Hyperlink is Checked in the PDF Export Options") has now been reported to the developers by the testing team (Ref: AFB-8170). Thank you very much for reporting this issue to us.

[RebeccaK]

Hi, 

Really enjoying this new feature, thank you! I've created a document using data merge to add anchors and hyperlinks to these anchors, as well as URL links. However, when going to export the document to PDF it crashes as soon as I select PDF from the drop-down list of file types. 

Not sure if this is the same bug as reported above, but happy to provide crash log or any other info if needed. Thanks! 

 

[Hangman]

Hi @RebeccaK and welcome to the forums,

It is indeed the same bug reported above. You will likely find that if Include Hyperlinks is already selected from a prior pdf export then as soon as you select pdf as the export format, Publisher will crash.

If Insert Hyperlinks isn't already selected, then Publsiher will crash as soon as you tick the checkbox for Include Hyplerlinks.

[Affinity Info Bot]

An issue raised in this thread ("Adding an Anchor That Includes the From Data Mege Option Checks the Option For Anchors That Were Set With the Option Unchecked") has now been reported to the developers by the testing team (Ref: AFB-8178). Thank you very much for reporting this issue to us.

[RebeccaK]

Thanks @Hangman. Beta newbie here - curious if there's any idea when this might be resolved or when the next beta update is due for release? Eager to export my document and test out the new data merged links!

[Hangman]

Hi @RebeccaK,

I'm afraid I don't know when the next Beta will be released but in general they seem to be released roughly every two to three weeks though that isn't a guarantee that a new Beta release will fix a specific issue but considering this is quite a major bug in as much as it prevents a new feature from working my hope would be that it will be fixed in the next release...

There is also an accompanying list of bug fixes updated with each new Beta release which you may have seen located here...

[Patrick Connor]

An internal build last week is under test. We will fix some more issues and will likely be pushing a customer beta on Tuesday or Wednesday 

[RebeccaK]

Thanks so much @Patrick Connor and @Hangman! Will keep an eye out. 

[Sonny Sonny]

Such a time saver! Thanks!

[Kevin Baker]

God, they look simple but they are not easy when we put them into practice