Teacup today released an upgrade of DataLinker for InDesign CS3. DataLinker, a database publishing solution, now allows users to link and update data from data sources directly into their InDesign CS3 documents. New features in the CS3 version include the ability to format data using GREP find/change expressions, and support for scripting data using InDesign’s XML Rules technology. As with the CS2 version, DataLinker for CS3 supports text-based data sources, and it also will link to ODBC-compliant data sources with an additional plug-in.
More Robust Formatting Ability
People often have raw data in their database that they want to format by adding or changing characters when it flows into a document. Currencies are a classic example — a database might have the number 34 stored in the database, but when it’s placed into the document it should read $34.00. With the addition of GREP find/changes, DataLinker has added very robust support for virtually any kind of formatting scenarios. Utilizing the same engine as InDesign’s native GREP Find/Change feature, DataLinker now offers the full robustness of regular expressions for formatting database data.
Scripting with XML Rules
DataLinker takes advantage of InDesign’s XML Rule functionality to allow users to write simple scripts to modify their layout depending on what data comes from the database. Now, DataLinker users can take advantage of all of the robustness of InDesign’s scripting API to write scripts against their data. XML Rules scripts are short and simple, making it easy for users with a beginning knowledge of scripting to get up and running with scripts for DataLinker-created documents.
Pricing and Availability
DataLinker and the DataLinker ODBC Add-on can be downloaded from Teacup’s website at www.teacupsoftware.com. Existing CS2 users can upgrade for 40% of the retail cost at https://www.teacupsoftware.com/products/upgrade.php.
DataLinker retails for $399 USD, while the DataLinker ODBC Add-on retails for $299.
This article was last modified on January 18, 2023
This article was first published on May 9, 2008
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