AutoPrice/DesignMerge FAQs

Q. Is there a glossary of terms for your software products?

A. A partial glossary of general terms relating to our software is available below. There is also a partial listing of terms and operations available here.

Term	Product	Definition
A Bit of Each	CopyFit	This method applies one increment of each of the attributes to the text and then continues to cycle through the attributes until the text fits or until all attributes fall outside of their allotted ranges. For each pass it increments each attribute and checks the copy fit before moving on to the next attribute.
ASCII	General	(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) Pronounced "ask-ee." A binary code for text as well as communications and printer control. It is used for most communications and is the built-in character code in all personal computers. ASCII is a 7-bit code providing 128 character combinations, the first 32 of which are control characters. Since the common storage unit is an 8-bit byte (256 combinations) and ASCII uses only 7 bits, the extra bit is used differently depending on the computer.
Bad Tag!	General	An error condition which happens if a document contains placeholders that had been established using an Extraction Record or Variable Link that was subsequently deleted or renamed within the DDF being referenced by the document.
Batch Processing	AutoPrice	Allows the user to update publications that consist of multiple Quark XPress documents. Any number of files, folders, subfolders, and volumes can be updated at the same time, and consequently, updated or exported as a batch of documents, rather than one-at-a-time.
Copyfitting	CopyFit	Forcing text to fit into a space by editing or adjusting the kerning, leading, tracking or character attributes of the text until it fits within a frame without producing a overset.
Cumulative	CopyFit	This method is similar to the One at a Time method, except that the effects of prior attributes are not reverted to what they were originally. Each attribute will be applied in turn until the text fits in the box or until all attributes fall outside of their allotted ranges.
Database Definition (DDF)	General	Describes the layout of the delimited file being used to update, export or merge the Quark documents. Specifies the Search Key Field, Field Names, Extraction Records, Search Criteria configuration for that DDF, as well as the properties, such as File Origin and Delimiter, for the delimited file being used by the program. Both AutoPrice and DesignMerge use DDF’s to configure the properties of the delimited files being used. A DDF will always reference a single delimited file, and in turn will be referenced by many Quark documents.
DFE	General	Digital Front End. A RIP installation that drives a printer.
Delimiter	General	A character or combination of characters used to separate one item or set of data from another. For example, in comma delimited records, a comma is used to separate each field of data.
Empty Link	DesignMerge	The delimited file does not contain data in the specified field.
Excel	General	See Microsoft Excel.
Extraction Record	AutoPrice	The setting of a placeholder which tells the XTension which field to read from the database and insert into the placeholder in the layout document. (In AutoPrice for InDesign an Extraction Record is now referred to as a Variable Link).
Field Delimiter	General	Allows the user to specify the delimiter character that occurs between the fields within a delimited text-file.
Field Names	General	this is where the user establishes reference names for the individual fields. Each field name must correspond to the correct field number in the database file.
File Origin	General	File origin indicates the format of the delimited text-file being read by AutoPrice or DesignMerge. The three flavors of text-files that concern the users of our programs are Macintosh, Unix and PC/MS-DOS. Each of these types of files could be written on any of these three systems. I.e., a Macintosh text-file could be written on a Windows machine, or vice-versa. It is the settings of the application that is generating the text-file that need to be set to produce a file of the appropriate type. Then it is a matter of choosing the correct File Origin setting within the DDF Setup dialogs for the program.
Fixed Element	DesignMerge	a box that does not contain any DesignMerge variable links, and therefore remains the same for each variable print.
Flag	General	A user-definable text-string that is inserted into a link when an error is encountered updating from the delimited file. Text flags can be changed by going to the Preferences dialog for the appropriate program.
Group Picture	DesignMerge	an XTension that allows you to save and later re-import native QuarkXpress items (text and graphic frames) in the same fashion as you might import an .eps, .tif or other image files. Such as using the Get Picture command. Saves a Quark document that behaves like a graphic and contains keyword information.
Hot Keys	General	Assignable keyboard equivalents used to quickly access menu item commands within Meadows’ XTensions.
Key Field	AutoPrice	Column in the database that contains a unique identifier (such as a product number or SKU) to be used when searching through the records of the database. The items in this column are referred to as Search Key Values, and are then used to tag placeholders on the Quark document.
Longest Line Test	DesignMerge	A merge test to determine the longest line for each field of a database and then populates the layout with those values. Useful for determining if the contents of a field in the database are going to cause an overset condition when the document is merged.
Looping	CopyFit	This method applies the first priority attribute to the text in a box. If it does not fit within the allotted parameters for that priority, it increments the second priority attribute by its step amount and then starts with the first priority attribute all over again. It then filters down through all currently selected attributes.
Microsoft Excel	General	A spreadsheet application for Windows and Macintosh computers from Microsoft. It can link many spreadsheets for consolidation and provides a wide variety of business graphics and charts for creating presentation materials.
Microsoft Word	General	A word processing program for Windows and Macintosh computers.
Missing Picture	General	The XTension is unable to locate a picture file specified in a linked field of the database, this error message will be inserted into the picture box.
No Data!	General	an error condition which occurs when AutoPrice is able to locate the key value associated with the placeholder, but the field specified in the Extraction Record for the tag did not contain any text.
No Match!	AutoPrice	Error produced when a Search Key Value referenced by a placeholder does not appear within a record in the delimited file.
Notes Field	AutoPrice	A general purpose field within the placeholder which allows the user to add notes or other text to a link.
ODBC	General	Open Database Connectivity. A standard implemented by Microsoft that allows for connectivity between many different database applications. The MPS ODBC Module allows AutoPrice to communicate with live external databases using SQL Fragments.
One At A Time	CopyFit	This method tries each of the attributes in succession, always resetting to the original values if it fails to fit the box using one of the attributes. For instance, this method would first apply tracking to the text in the box. If it could not fit the text using only tracking, the original tracking value for the text would be re-established, and the XTension would then try Horizontal Scaling or whatever the second priority is). Failing that it resets the original value and moves on to the next attribute.
RIP	General	Raster Image Processor. A software installation that takes Postscript, PPML, VIPP or other input, and processes the data to send to a printer to produce output.
Search Criteria	AutoPrice	A setting used to allow AutoPrice to search through the records of the delimited file using more than the Search Key Value assigned to a given placeholder. Useful in instances where multiple records that use the same Search Key Value appear in the database. I.e., multiple records all having the same unique identifiers. Allows for AutoPrice to verify the Search Key Value first, and then to verify the contents of one or more other fields within the delimited file.
Search Key Field	AutoPrice	allows the user to specify which field in the delimited file contains the unique identifier for all the records.
Step and Repeat	General	The Step and Repeat command allows for the automatic duplication of an element or group of elements on the document. For instances where an element needs to be copied and moved a certain number of times and a certain amount of space, the Step and Repeat command can be used to achieve this in a uniform and controlled manner.
SQL Fragments	AutoPrice	An SQL fragment is used by AutoPrice to extract data from a database being connected to using the MPS ODBC Module. An SQL fragment is a simple text string of data that contains references to a database, table, and search key and is associated to an Extraction Record within the Database Definition.
Table Tagger	AutoPrice	Included with the AutoPrice XTension, the Table-Tagger allows the operator to tag an entire table of links without copying and pasting the Search Key Value for each link individually. The Table-Tagger is accessed by clicking the small, graphic ‘T’ that appears on the upper-left corner of the AutoPrice Placeholder Palette. The column and key settings are then set to match the text that is selected within the document. The success of using the Table-Tagger depends on how the text within the QuarkXPress document is formatted. Tables built with vertical text-boxes cannot be tagged using the Table-Tagger. Please note that the column settings shown on the controls for the Table-Tagger describe the text selected within the Quark document, and have nothing to do with the column layout of the delimited file.
Terminators	General	4-point high vertical rule segments at either side of the AutoPrice magenta placeholder, or DesignMerge green variable link. The terminators indicate where to edit the placeholder or link directly, without deleting it. If the contents of the placeholder or link are selected, without selecting the terminators, the contents of the placeholder or link can be typed over directly without destroying the link.
Text Qualifier	AutoPrice / DesignMerge	An apostrophe or inch mark that appears on either side of a field in a text delimited file. For example, Microsoft Excel will bracket a field with inch mark Text Qualifiers on a field containing a price in the thousands (with default column formatting). If these marks are appearing in your Variable Links or Extraction Records when you Update or Merge your document, then you should edit the Database Definition and set Text Qualifier to be the appropriate symbol.
Thumbnail	General	A small graphical representation of the QuarkXPress document as it appears. Written automatically when saving a GroupPicture document.
Unassigned Database Keys	AutoPrice	Values that appear within the Search Key Column of the delimited file, but are not used as active Search Key Values within any placeholders on the tagged document. Using the Report Unassigned Keys feature on the Report dialog, a report can be generated that contains all of the unassigned keys within a particular delimited file. This can be handy when new products or records are being added to the delimited file.
Unicode	General	Like ASCII, a standardized set of characters and glyphs (symbols). Unicode contains representations of each character or glyphs that occur in most known languages, as well as common symbols. At this time Meadows software products do not access Unicode input, so files should be saved as ASCII or ANSI text.
Variable Element	DesignMerge	A frame on the Quark document that contains one or more Variable Links.
Variable Link	DesignMerge / AutoPrice	Assigned directly to text and graphic-frames on the document, Variable Links indicate where information from the delimited file will appear when the document is merged. Text links appear as green underscores below text in the document. Graphic links appear as small, green overset symbols at the upper-right corner of linked graphic frames.
Variable Picture Links	DesignMerge	Assigned directly to graphic frames on the document, they indicate which frames will populate with the graphic-files referenced in the fields of the delimited file will appear when the document is merged.
Variable Text Links	DesignMerge	Assigned directly to text on the document, they indicate where the contents of the fields of the delimited file will appear when the document is merged.
Variable Article Links	DesignMerge	Assigned directly to a text box on the document (using the Frame tool), they indicate where the contents of an external textfile that is referenced by name in a field of the delimited file will appear when the document is merged.
Versioning	AutoPrice	A process of producing a single master copy of a publication, and then using the master copy to produce individual, customized versions of the same publication, by updating the document with different columns of information from the delimited file.
VIPP	DesignMerge	Variable Information Postscript Printware. Formerly known as XGF or Xerox Generic Format. VIPP are a set of Postscript macros which are installed and run as a part of the Postscript Interpreter (RIP/DFE) that is attached to your VIPP-capable printer. The VIPP driver for DesignMerge is a separate driver not bundled with the standard release of the XTension, and must be specifically included with your copy of DesignMerge.
XPress Tags	General	Allows a user to specify in ASCII-text how text will style when it is updated or merged into the Quark document. XPress Tags are added into the fields of the delimited file as text. Please reference the addendum at the back of the QuarkXPress manual for a complete listing of XPress Tags.
XPress Tags Filter	General	XTension existing in the QuarkXPress XTensions directory that interprets XPress Tags within ASCII data being imported into QuarkXPress, styling that text accordingly when it is brought onto the document page. Different versions of this filter can interpret the tags in different manners, or produce errors with the import. Please ensure that you are running the correct and latest version of the XPress Tags Filter.
Xtension	General	A third-party enhancement to the QuarkXPress desktop publishing program that extends the capabilities of the program.