You are here:
- Home
- Computing/Technology
- Desktop Publishing
- Adobe InDesign
- Using Palette Data
Adobe InDesign/Using Palette Data
Advertisement
Question
How do I (automatically) compare the list of links in my InDesign links pallet to a MicroSoft Excel document or to data in a MicroSoft Excel document?
Hi,
I don't think there is any way to do this automatically. I can think of two things you can do:
1. Export the document text to an InDesign Tagged Text file (File->Export->Format: Adobe InDesign Tagged Text. This will give you a plain text file which contains a tagged entry for each hyperlink, something like this:
<Hyperlink:=<HyperlinkName:Command Reference 46><HyperlinkDestFile:\/Users\/patbensky\/Clients\/enode\/Manual V9\/03 Command reference.indd><HyperlinkDestKey:24><CharStyleRef:hyperlink><HyperlinkLength:17><HyperlinkStartOffset:0><Hidden:0><BrdrVisible:0><BrdrWidth:Thin><BrdrHilight:None><BrdrStyle:Solid><BrdrColor:0\,0\,0>>
You'd then need to parse through the text file and pick out the hyperlink references. If it was my project I would:
- Import the text file into a database, running a script to pick out each hyperlink reference and save it in a record
- Import the spreadsheet into the database
- Run a script to compare the two and highlight any missing or mismatched entries
2. Write a script to pull out the references from your InDesign document. I'm not an InDesign scripting expert but I'm sure this could be done. You might look on this forum for InDesign scripting experts and ask them.
Hope that helps!
Pat
- Add to this Answer
- Ask a Question
| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 9 | Clarity of Response = 9 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | Thank you for your prompt response. Perhaps it would be easier to couple a Twenty Mule Team to the Concord SST in hope of arriving in France faster! LOL! Wow. You solution is much to cantankerous and complex for the task that needs to be done. I'm sure an Indesign script will suffice. FYI: I'm checking our salespeople's display ads they sold against the actual live, Indesign document in which the ads are placed (as PDFs) to check for duplications and omissions. Thanks again! Now, back to the Borax mine... | ||
Related Articles
Answers by Expert:
Pat Bensky
Expertise
My specialty is database publishing: using InDesign to produce publications such as catalogues, directories, price lists, classified ads etc. - anything that's based on data from a database or spreadsheet.
Experience
I have been working with page layout programs since the very first first of QuarkXPress back in .... 1987? I've worked with InDesign since it first came out and have helped many clients to create their publications using database publishing methods, and have written an application to streamline the process (CatBase).
Publications
As I used to be a journalist working for an international news agency (in a previous lifetime) I have been published in many publications around the world. As for technology writing: I was Editor-in-Chief of a Mscintosh magazine (MacGuide) and have written for various other publications on a freelance basis, such as The LA Weekly and InfoWorld.
Education/Credentials
College: Certificate in computer programming and information Processing
University: Post-graduate diploma in IT (Liverpool University)
Past/Present Clients
Barclays Bank, Stanley Tools, Europa Components, The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham), and many others. My software (CatBase) has also been used by design firms to produce publications for such clients as Kellogg's, The English Tourist Board. and numerous others.
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.