Counter fields are used for automatic card numeration while printing. To add counter to a card, choose Text mode and choose Counter option from drop down list when entering text.
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It can be useful to read the data from a text file when bulk printing (e.g., to create badges for a conference). To do this you need to store person's data in text delimited file format, with each column representing particular field (e.g., Name, Address, etc.). It may also be necessary to assign each card/person a unique number.
These tasks are solved with the help of Counters and File Data.
Counter fields are used for automatic card numeration while printing. To add counter to a card, choose Text mode and choose Counter option from drop down list when entering text.
Counter settings can be altered in Properties window. It is possible to set Starting Number from which counting starts and Increment value (e.g., if you would like to obtain numbers' raw 010, 020, 030, 040 and so on - you would have to enter 10).
For obtaining figures with the same number of digits (e.g., consisting of 4 digits), leading zeros are added to them. This can be set by Make N digits (use leading zeros) option. In this case number 3 will look like 0003, and 346 will look like 0346.
Note that numbers aren't displayed in editing mode, but appear in Print Preview and while printing.
File Data fields are used for automatic data insertion from a text file. To add such fields to a card, choose Text mode and use File Data from drop down menu when entering text.
File Data settings can be altered in Properties window. Text file, which is the data source, is chosen there (Browse button). You can also specify the type of storing data in the file.
If you choose Read each line option - data will be read for each line, starting from the first line.
If you choose Read as delimited option - data will be read according to delimiters.
Lets examine a file that includes the following lines:
001,Russell Simmons,Manager,347-12-567
002,Shirley Kaiser,Accountant,653-54-444
For this file, you should choose comma as a delimiter (from drop down menu). To display the field, e.g. Occupation - number 3 should be entered in Column field of Properties window (because the first in each line is the index number, the second is name, and the third is occupation).
Note that text data from the file aren't displayed when editing the card, but appear only in Print Preview and while printing.