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How to fix Empty Field!, Bad Tag!, No Match!, EOF!, SP, and other merge errors
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How to fix Empty Field!, Bad Tag!, No Match!, EOF!, SP, and other merge errors

This article describes the various merge errors that may occur when using DesignMerge Pro or DesignMerge Catalog software, and provides suggestions for how to remedy those error conditions. A training video is provided for more detail. Be sure to use the Chapters feature of the training video to jump to the specific error condition you are interested in.

WHAT ARE MERGE ERRORS

A merge error occurs when DesignMerge software encounters a specific condition when attempting to import text data from the selected data file into the document. For these error conditions, instead of the actual data being placed into the document, a representative Error String is placed instead. These error strings call attention to a potential problem with the data that is being merged.

TRAINING VIDEO

The following video provides full detail on all of the possible merge error conditions. Please use the Chapters feature of the video to jump to the section that you are interested in. A summary of all merge errors is presented in the next section.

SUMMARY OF MERGE ERRORS

Following is a list of all current Merge Errors that you may see in a document, along with some suggestions about how to address them. Further details for each error condition are provided later in this document. A training video is also provided for more detail.

Merge Error Product
Empty Field! DesignMerge Pro and DesignMerge Catalog

Suggestions

The Empty Field! error occurs when the data being imported is empty.

  • Best Practice: Change the Variable Link settings to something other than Error. See video for details.
  • Modify the No Data error string in the DesignMerge > Preferences window.
  • Create a Link Rule or a Frame Rule to modify the data when empty data is encountered:
    If <<Link Data>> is empty
then Set Data to: "Some other data"​
SP DesignMerge Pro

Suggestions for SP Errors

The Stack Pad (SP) condition (not really an error) occurs when the software does not have enough data records available to fill out the entire multi-up sheet. This error only occurs on Cut & Stack or Label Sort multi-up jobs that utilize the DesignMerge Sequencing feature.

  • Best Practice: Modify the Stack Pad error string in the DesignMerge > Preferences window (in newer software this string can be set to empty so this condition is treated like a No Data/Empty Field error).
  • Simply discard the Stack Pad items after printing and trimming.
  • Create a Link Rule or a Frame Rule to modify the data when SP is encountered:
    If <<Link Data>> contains "SP"
then Set Data to Empty​
EOF! DesignMerge Pro

Suggestions for EOF! Errors

The End of File (EOF!) error occurs when the software attempts to read a data record that is greater than the total number of records in the data file. This can only occur if you have >1 sequence number in your document and the job does not have enough data records available to fill out the entire multi-up sheet. This error only occurs on Standard Sequential multi-up jobs. If you are not running a multi-up job, then this condition is an error and it  is likely you have an invalid sequence number assigned to one or more links in your document. 

  • Best Practice (1-up Jobs): Run a Variable Link Report to locate any placeholders that do not have a sequence number of '1' assigned to them. Repair those links in the document.
  • Best Practice (multi-up Jobs): Modify the End of File error string in the DesignMerge > Preferences window (in newer software this string can be set to empty so this condition is treated like a No Data/Empty Field error).
  • Simply discard the EOF items after printing and trimming.
  • Create a Link Rule or a Frame Rule to modify the data when EOF! is encountered:
    If <<Link Data>> contains "EOF!"
then Set Data to Empty​
Bad Tag!
 DesignMerge Pro and DesignMerge Catalog

Suggestions for Bad Tag! Errors

The Bad Tag! error occurs when the Variable Link name (or other element, such as a Rule Name, Price Style Name, or Search Criteria Name) that is assigned to a placeholder in the document is missing (or has been accidentally deleted) from your DDF settings. See video for details.

  • Best Practice: Create a new element for the one that is missing. For example, if a Variable Link is missing, create a new Variable Link, giving it the same name as the one that is missing.
  • Replace the Variable Link currently assigned to the placeholder with a valid one.
  • Use the Search/Replace placeholders feature to search for and replace the bad links.
  • Re-run the Data Source Setup for the document, which sometimes may repair the condition (although, re-running the Data Source Setup is often the culprit that caused the Bad Tag condition to begin with - see video for details).
No Match!
 DesignMerge Catalog

Suggestions for No Match! Errors

The No Match! error occurs when the Search Key assigned to the placeholder cannot be located in the selected data file.

  • Best Practice: First, verify that the Search Key does not have any extra characters in it.
  • Best Practice: Next, edit your data file with a text editor and verify that the Search Key is actually there. If not, add the Search Key to the data file.
  • Check your DDF settings to be sure that your Search Key field is set to the correct field of your data file.
  • Modify the No Match error string in the DesignMerge > Preferences window. This can be useful if you want to change the error string for missing part numbers to something more representative such as "Call" or "Enquire".

If you are still encountering an error after applying the information provided here, open a support ticket on the Meadows Help Desk.

Article Details

Article ID:
252
Category:
Errors and Warnings
Date added:
25-Jun-2018 12:48pm
Views:
1,243

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