Xdata is the best-selling XTension that brings the full typographic and picture publishing power of QuarkXPress to bear on all your data-driven repetitive publishing tasks: catalogues, directories, form letters, financial summaries, tables, labels, lists of all sorts, and more. Completely integrated with XPress, Xdata automatically formats data exported from your Macintosh or Windows database and spreadsheet applications, or downloaded from your corporate information systems, freeing you from endless manual formatting. Xdata can also import related pictures (of any type supported by XPress) into boxes anchored in the incoming text.
The latest version boasts full QuarkXPress 8.x support, and some major new features, including:
• Tables, including auto-fitting
• Anchored text boxes, including auto-fitting in various ways
• Background blends in anchored boxes (text and picture)
• New format() function that provides powerful Excel-like number
formatting
• Per-import preference settings
• and more.
Xdata is easy to use. In your database or spreadsheet application, you select and sort the data to be published, exporting it in standard ascii "data snapshot" format (comma- or tab-delimited). In XPress, you create a "template" for your prototypical record, including placeholders for each field--e.g., <>--formatted in any fashion. You then select "Import from file..." from the Xdata menu in XPress, choose the data file, and press Start in the Xdata control panel. Xdata does the rest, completely "hands off."
Xdata gives you complete control. Xdata has a powerful English-like scripting language that lets you include or exclude fields, pictures and static text, based on the value of one or more fields in the current or previous record. Thus, you can create sophisticated record templates that apply different formats to a field, based on its or another field's value, e.g., causing a page break or formatting a major heading in reverse type, given a change of value indicating a new section or subsection. You can even apply master pages as needed!
For industrial-strength publishing, Xdata places no limits on your data: records and fields can be as many and as long as you need, within the overall limits of XPress documents. Xdata can create multiple, independent "dictionary-style" headers and footers on each page or spread, with sophisticated controls over the header/footer contents.
Xdata for MacOS is fully scriptable with AppleScript for automation of large, complex jobs involving multiple imports in multiple documents.
QuarkXPress guru David Blatner's MacWorld (October, 2001) article Print Publishing Secrets says "Anyone who regularly publishes information from a database or spreadsheet should have Em Software's ... Xdata. There are more expensive XTensions that offer greater database connectivity, but Xdata is brilliantly simple and powerful enough for most database-publishing tasks."
Xdata has been field-proven world-wide at thousands of installations since late 1990, ranging from one-man freelancers to Fortune 25 sites, and remains a top selling XTension. Xdata has been successfully used in hundreds of different types of applications, including:
TV guides
Directories of all sorts
Yellow pages and residential phone books
Product price lists and catalogues
Financial publishing
College course listings
Legislative and legal publishing
Medical and drug reference books
Real estate guides
Classified advertising
Trader and swap papers
Music catalogues
Health care and insurance books
Xdata Features and Benefits:
Automatic publishing using a "template" for your records
Inside your XPress document, use bracketed names to identify each incoming field (e.g., <
>), and style each field with appropriate text and paragraph attributes. Interleave static and dynamic text and pictures, include, exclude, and move fields around as desired.
Ease with power
Xdata is easy enough to use for simple jobs, and powerful enough for the toughest projects.
Accepts pre-sorted tab- or comma- delimited data files
Create exports from your Mac OS or Windows database, spreadsheet applications (Excel), or downloaded from your corporate information systems.
No limits on your data
Use as many fields and records, with each being as long as needed, within the overall limits of XPress documents.
Sophisticated picture importing and sizing
Import related graphic images (of any type supported by XPress) into picture boxes anchored in the incoming text (flowing with the text). You can size the image to the picture box or the box to the image using one of several sizing options.
Variables
Calculate and store information for later use in the prototype, or for use in later records.
Conditional statements
Create more sophisticated record templates that apply different formats to a field, based on its or another field's value. With this feature, for example, you can print heads and subheads only when they change, or generate a page break, given a change of value indicating a new section or subsection.
Repeat loops
Loop over data elements (character or words or lines), looking for particular information, or even repeat whole portions of the prototype.
Automated headers and footers
Create multiple, independent "dictionary-style" headers and footers on each page or spread, with sophisticated controls over the header/footer contents.
Multiple master pages
Based on incoming data, use different page layouts by applying master pages.
Scriptable
Script Xdata under Mac OS for automation of repetitive single jobs, as well as large, complex jobs involving multiple imports in multiple documents.
Supports Xcatalog
You can build your templates with Xcatalog variable links embedded. Later, using Xcatalog, you can update fields in place from updated data, or extract any document updates to your data.
