When merging a variable picture, article or other variable asset, DesignMerge follows a set of search rules to attempt to locate the asset. If the asset cannot be located, this results in a Missing Asset error condition. This article describes the search rules utilized by DesignMerge, and also covers the available options to customize the search locations. In addition, various options are described for how to address Missing Asset error conditions.

MISSING ASSET SEARCH RULES

DesignMerge software supports both Full Path and simple File Name references to external assets. Such references can be read from a data field, or constructed using variable links or rules. For more details about how to reference external assets in your data, please see the article How to reference external files and file paths in your data fields.

Full Path References

If your data references a file using a full path reference, the software verifies that the full path points to a valid file, and if so the file is imported. If the file cannot be located, no further searching is performed and the file is treated as a Missing Asset error (see below for more details).

File Name References

If your data references a file using a simple File Name reference, the software searches for the file as follows:

1. Document Folder
   The first search location is Document Folder. This is the folder where the InDesign document being processed is stored. All subfolders within this folder are also searched for the file.
2. Data File Folder
   If the file is not found in the Document Folder, the next location searched is the Data File Folder. This is the folder where the selected data file is located. All subfolders within this folder are also searched for the file.
3. DDF Search Path
   If the file is not found in the Data File Folder, the next folder searched will be the DDF Search Path (if one is specified). The DDF Search Path allows you to define a single folder path to search. This search path is associated with the DDF that is stored with the InDesign document, so potentially this allows you to store different search paths with each InDesign document.
4. Global Search Paths
   The final location to be scanned will be any folders defined in your Global Search Path preference. These folder locations will be searched one at a time, in the order listed, and all subfolders contained in the search paths will also be searched (if the Scan Subfolders checkbox option has been enabled in the Global Search Paths dialog).

If after all of these locations have been searched the file cannot be located, then this is treated as a Missing Asset error.

Note that the asset searching will terminate as soon as a matching file name is located. Please ensure that you are using unique filenames in order to be certain that the correct version of the file is located.

MISSING ASSET ERROR HANDLING

When a Missing Asset error occurs, the DesignMerge behavior depends upon how you have set up the Missing Asset settings for the Variable Link being processed. Each possible setting is described below.

Missing Asset: Error

Error is the default setting for Variable Links that reference external assets. When the Missing Asset setting for the Variable Link is set to Error, DesignMerge will interrupt the merge session and prompt you to decide what to do, as shown below:

Continue

Clicking Continue will flag the image as missing in the document by placing an error message into the frame similar to the example shown below:

Abort

Clicking the Abort button will cancel the current merge session.

No Prompt

Clicking the No Prompt button is the same as clicking the Continue button. The difference is that if future missing images are encountered you will no longer be prompted to locate them. Instead any missing assets will automatically be flagged as missing.

Choose File

Clicking the Choose File button will prompt you to locate the missing image (or to select a different image to merge). Once you have selected the file to use, the file will be imported and the merge session will continue. If the current merge session requires the same missing file again, DesignMerge will automatically use the file that you selected previously.

If you do not wish to be prompted for missing assets and instead wish to simply identify them as missing in the document, you may uncheck the Prompt for Missing or Damaged Assets checkbox in the DesignMerge preferences. With this change DesignMerge will never prompt you when an asset is missing, but instead will flag the missing asset with an error message in the document, and also list the asset as missing in the report at the end of the merge session.

Missing Asset: Ignore

Ignore will instruct DesignMerge to completely ignore the missing asset condition. In this case, the empty frame (or whatever asset had been previously placed into the frame) will be left in place. Processing will continue and the user will not be prompted.

Missing Asset: Delete

Delete will instruct DesignMerge to delete the frame or object that had been tagged with the Variable Link that caused the Missing Asset error to occur. The frame will be deleted and processing will continue without prompt.

Missing Asset: Substitute

Substitute allows you to select an image or other asset to swap whenever a Missing Asset error occurs. If the substitute asset can be located, then it is merged by the software. Note that if the substitute image cannot be located, this is also treated as a Missing Asset condition, and in such case the behavior will be identical to the Missing Asset: Error setting described above.

TO RESOLVE A MISSING ASSET ERROR

To determine why DesignMerge is not able to locate a file for a variable picture or other variable asset, first confirm the file that is specified by the data does actually exist. In other words, confirm the filename or full path that is being provided as data for the variable link exactly matches the filename or full path of the actual file.

For example, consider whether the filename includes the correct filename extension. If the data is providing a full path, confirm you can access this path from your system and then confirm the full path has been specified according to the DesignMerge External File Path Specifications.

If the files are located on another computer or server volume, confirm that your computer has a current connection to the file location.

SEARCH PATH OPTIONS

Once you have confirmed that your data is accurate, next you should confirm or adjust your Search Path settings. As mentioned previously, you can specify either a single DDF Search Path (searching is specific to the document), or you can specify one or more Global Search Paths (these paths will be searched for all documents).

Note: Generally speaking, Global Search Paths are the recommended approach as these will apply to all documents processed by DesignMerge software.

Global Search Paths

Global Search Paths are specified in your DesignMerge preferences. Your installation of DesignMerge will search within your Global Search Paths when merging any document.

To set up your Global Search Paths, do the following:

1. Open the DesignMerge menu and choose Preferences to open the DesignMerge Preferences dialog.
2. Click the Search... button on the Preferences dialog to open the Global Search Paths dialog.
3. Click the Add button and select the folder that you wish to search. You can add multiple folders to this list, and each will be searched in the order specified in the list. Be sure to check the Search Subfolders checkbox if you would like DesignMerge to search these as well. Note that this checkbox applies to all global search paths.
4. When ready, click the OK button to return to the Preferences dialog.
5. Then, click the OK button to close the Preferences dialog.
6. DesignMerge will now search the Global Search Paths you have specified when a missing asset is detected.

DDF Search Path

A DDF Search Path is a component of a DDF. If a DDF specifies a DDF Search Path, then DesignMerge will search this location when merging a document that uses this DDF. In the case of DesignMerge Pro (which uses the Document DDF by default), this option effectively provides a way to specify a unique search path that will be saved with the InDesign document. In this fashion each document can have a different search path, if desired.

To set up a DDF Search Path, do the following:

1. Open the DesignMerge menu and choose Setup > Data Source Definitions.
2. Confirm the appropriate DDF is selected in the Current DDF pop-up menu, and then click the Edit... button.
3. Select the Enable DDF Search Path check box to enable this feature and then click the Change Path button.
   
4. On the DDF Search Path dialog, you will see the Current Path that has been specified (if any).
5. To change the path, click the Change Path button and choose the folder that you wish DesignMerge to search.
   
6. Select the Search subfolders check box if you would like DesignMerge to search any subfolders inside the Current Path.
7. Click the OK button to return to the Edit Data Source Definition dialog.
8. Confirm the Enable DDF Search Path check box is checked. (If this option is unchecked, DesignMerge will ignore the DDF Search Path.)
9. Click OK on the Edit Data Source Definition dialog, and then click OK to close the Data Source Definitions (DDF) dialog.

TIPS 

Below are some additional tips to assist you in resolving a Missing Asset error condition:

Check Asset and Variable Link Name in Missing Asset Warning
When DesignMerge prompts you with a Missing Asset warning, the message will show you the file name/path that DesignMerge is attempting to locate. The message will also indicate the name of the Variable Link that caused the Missing Asset error to occur. This can be helpful if you have multiple variable asset links defined in the document, and you are trying to determine which one is causing the error.

Run a Preflight Report
Before using DesignMerge to produce the variable data output for a document, you can run a Preflight Report merge session to determine the status of all required, external assets. When you run a Preflight Report, DesignMerge analyzes which external assets will be needed and searches for these files to make sure that they are available. Then, DesignMerge will display a report that lists all of the required external files, the full path to each of these files, and their current status. If all assets come back with a status of OK, then you know you are good to go.

Use Data Preview to Check File Name/Path
A Data Preview merge session can also assist you in seeing the data that is being provided for a Variable Link. This will allow you to verify the exact name/path of the asset in question.

Watch for Duplicate Filenames
When the data for a Variable Link does not provide the full path, DesignMerge will search for the files. In such case the first file located that matches the name of the asset will be selected for the merge. In these cases please be careful that you do not set up search paths that would allow DesignMerge to locate multiple files that share the same file name. Ideally all of your variable assets should have unique file names.