Link text fields in Designer 10 with cells in Excel or Word (table)?

Good Day Everyone,

I have been using Xara graphics since I got a copy of CorelXara back in '95. Have been doing a lot of personal things like binder covers, family announcements, etc. with it over the years and really enjoy the process.

This is a new area for me so please excuse me if I am not quite phrasing it correctly. My new boss recently asked if using my Xara Photo & Designer 10, if it was possible to build a background layer showing something like a parking lot layout. Then developing an overlay that would pull text data from an Excel file or Word document table to populate text data over the background?

An example I came up with was a parking lot showing the parking spaces with rows 1 through 10. Rows 1 - 4 have 25 spaces, 5 - 8 have 33 spaces and 9 & 10 have 30 spaces. So I draw the background spaces as Layer 1. In Layer 2 I would want to link each parking space to a cell in an external document. The need for the external document is that the text for each space may change from week to week but we would like t print out the most recent configuration. If these can be linked it would save a lot of time trying to do this manually in just the various layers.

Thank you for any help in this matter.


Mark M.

I don't think this is at all possible.

yeah, i don't think it's directly possible either but i have done something similar for intercom system directories. it did take a little while (more than i'd like to admit) to get the spacing for the excel text fields to line up with the xara image i made. after updating names in excel i export it as a pdf. then i import it into my image in xara. sometimes it groups a couple of the fields oddly but it always fits in the name and dial code slots perfectly. never cared why it groups some cells because it still works as needed. if there would be a need to adjust the text within the image after importing it, it's easy enough to cut the grouping apart into individual text.

may not be the best way but after getting it set up it works quickly. although...i'd like to hear if there's a cleaner way of doing this too for future reference :)

Is this the type of thing you're after:

nice Egg :D

and 5 minutes of formatting (cell height 20, width 6) an excel table was easily made for the names that is then exported as a pdf (using "selected fields only" option) and then imported into xara

Ingenious, but not at all what the OP originally wanted.

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Originally Posted by pauland

Ingenious, but not at all what the OP originally wanted.

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never said it was :p (i did agree with you a few posts up)
this is just a two step workaround that allows you to get the same results showing that at least it is possible. i'd rather have some way of doing something than no way at all

I'd rather have some way of doing something than no way at all

Absolutely. Just as well the parking lot is rectangular!

I'd question the value of an updateable parking space diagram. Who would use it?

I'd be more inclined to find on a list that my space was No. 84, rather than search a diagram to try and find where my name was. Finding space 84 is easier than finding a name.

So, perhaps a diagram with the numeric spaces and a table with the allocation?

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Ingenious, but not at all what the OP originally wanted.

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An example I came up with was a parking lot showing the parking spaces with rows 1 through 10. Rows 1 - 4 have 25 spaces, 5 - 8 have 33 spaces and 9 & 10 have 30 spaces. So I draw the background spaces as Layer 1. In Layer 2 I would want to link each parking space to a cell in an external document. The need for the external document is that the text for each space may change from week to week but we would like t print out the most recent configuration. If these can be linked it would save a lot of time trying to do this manually in just the various layers.

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It does exactly as it says on the tin Paul :)

The data is kept on a Google Drive spread sheet, up-datable every five minutes and printable.

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Originally Posted by pauland

I'd question the value of an updateable parking space diagram. Who would use it?

I'd be more inclined to find on a list that my space was No. 84, rather than search a diagram to try and find where my name was. Finding space 84 is easier than finding a name.

So, perhaps a diagram with the numeric spaces and a table with the allocation?

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just thinking of my experience with boat marinas and the multitude of docks and slips. the check in office would print up layouts every day due to the amount of transient slips. this way a visitor would also have a "map" to help locating the different slips he needed to find. you know old people need visuals :D :D

I understand the need for visuals (not sure that the ageist comment need apply), it was whether names had to go on spaces.

I always took it that the OP meant the same as mikey stated, it was for use by the car park owner, not the car park user.

I've had to update the page as Google Sheets have a bug. Previews fine in IE.

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Originally Posted by pauland

I understand the need for visuals (not sure that the ageist comment need apply), it was whether names had to go on spaces.

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neither i nor egg questioned the op as to why. i wouldn't even question it if he wanted the names written backwards. (maybe his wife spends a lot of time in front of a mirror and this way she can read it correctly :D :D :D ) he just asked if it was possible. and he got two ways that it could be accomplished (and as per the norm, egg's is technically better :D )

i digress, neither here nor there. hopefully he thinks one will meet his needs.

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

I always took it that the OP meant the same as mikey stated, it was for use by the car park owner, not the car park user.

I've had to update the page as Google Sheets have a bug. Previews fine in IE.

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nice egg. i gotta try to remember to do things that way more often ;)

There's a small misunderstanding - I originally was thinking about a website page.

When someone mentions "Link", in my world it usually means that a change in one place means that the change is automatically reflected in the other, so my mindset was that an update to the excel document would automatically update a web page.

Anyway, as has been said, a solution is there.

On this business of not asking questions, but just doing what is asked.

In my life, I've been asked questions when I've asked how to do something, and I've often been very grateful that those questions were asked because often they stopped me doing something stupid, or led to a better solution than I had in mind.

I don't understand why anyone would find questions intrusive or offensive - it's not as if we are in the army here.

Anyway, this particular drum has been beaten enough times.

Mark, is the solution good to go?

ahhh, ok. i see where you were coming from Paul. cool. i read into it he just wanted to link a name to a spot and print it out. nothing to do with a webpage. you're thinking modern tech and my mindset is still the slow ways of northern michigan (which also slightly explains my jibe towards the elderly - which i am practically part of. it was, and still is, a big tech and culture shock moving to here from chicago)

that's why i've started following this forum more. not just for graphics but for the real world tech knowledge and ideas you and others throw out there. y'all are a well-rounded group of members here =D>
hopefully we (or should i say "I") haven't befuddled Mark :D

Sorry Guys, I did not get to this until now.

Mike, the posting on 29 July 2015, 09:02 PM, is almost exactly what the request is. But if Understand you correctly you made a PDF of this and then imported only the specified fields into the Xara file as a separate layer, is that correct? I have not imported anything like that into Xara before, I would need to find some documentation to try it.

Attachment 109237 - Last week
Attachment 109238 - This week

The spaces are not really named they are numbered but the numbers change week to week and sometimes on rare occasions, change over night. Have tried to attach an example of one week to the next so you can see what I have tried to do manually in Xara along but this would just be way to time consuming to do it like this. Hope this helps.


Mark

Hi Mark, I'm intrigued, are all the bays the same size or do they also change size week on week?

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Originally Posted by Mark56

Mike, the posting on 29 July 2015, 09:02 PM, is almost exactly what the request is. But if Understand you correctly you made a PDF of this and then imported only the specified fields into the Xara file as a separate layer, is that correct? I have not imported anything like that into Xara before, I would need to find some documentation to try it.

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hey Mark -
i fall short in the video department (and sorry, the video quality and size had to be reduced to fit the <5MB forum restriction...c'mon egg, let me have it :D ) but this is all i've really done - quick and easy and absolutely nothing fancy but it's all a couple of my intercom customers require. they want images changed seasonally when they give me an updated list of names to program into the units which is why i've used xara coupled with the excel file they give me.

the trick is getting the cells the right size to use as your template (or changing your image a little to fit the data). save the selected area as a pdf. then drag it into your xara workspace. i didn't do it but it's probably a good idea to group the imported pdf before clicking off it since it imports sometimes as oddly grouped cells.

Egg,

I was kind of intrigued when the boss approached me with this as well. He has been trying to do something in Excel but has not been able to get anything he likes.
Yes the spots are all consistent for now and do not see any changes in the actual number of spaces for the foreseeable future.

Mike,

I think you did an excellent job with the video example. I think I can try and see where this might work. I have the spaces all put in the base layers of the current drawing example. Will make a copy and try putting the Excel file together to see what I can come up with.

When you say 'getting the cells the right size' are you referring to the Excel cells or the ones drawn in Xara? The point values on the hard coded Xara file is about a Arial 5 pt.

Thank you all for trying to help me in this new endeavor. Not sure if I'll get a chance to work on this over the weekend but will try and get something done. Will report back when I get some progress.


Mark

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Yes the spots are all consistent for now and do not see any changes in the actual number of spaces for the foreseeable future.

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Hi Mark, I asked as some bays appear larger & smaller on your supplied images.

some bays appear larger & smaller

It made me wonder if some bays are for disabled people and some for motorbikes.

Could be Paul, but I'm not even sure it's a parking lot, I think this was an example. However if Mark is going to link up a map to a spreadsheet obviously he'll need to bend the map to suit. Rather like the London Underground map is a schematic of the truth not the actual geographical map.

Here's a radical solution.

Just use excel. Colour the cell backgrounds appropriately. You can arrange the cells to logically reflect the allocation, if not the precise layout.

You can either not use Xara at all, or just load the excel as has been discussed.

A car park allocation diagram doesn't have to precisely mimic the physical layout, as Egg has mentioned.

That's exactly how I've been doing it Paul, but using a Google Drive spreadsheet which loads into a placeholder. You can then use the "re-generate bitmap image" to show how the table looks and draw your map above the placeholder. The great thing about Google Sheets is you can "publish to the web" then each and every amendment is updated within a few minutes and reflected in the .xar file or Xara created site without any need for changes in Xara whatsoever.

download & preview the xar file in post #13 :)

That's clever Egg. Maybe the OP wants a print document though - the OP doesn't say. You can always print the web page!

Here's one more in line with Marks requirements. Preview to see.

Yes, the print from a browser works fine Paul. Unfortunately it's not so great for use on a website as both FF & Chrome alter the alignment, but it's fine in IE. Mark only wanted to be able to print, so as long as he previews it in IE and prints from there that should suffice.

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Originally Posted by Mark56

Mike,

When you say 'getting the cells the right size' are you referring to the Excel cells or the ones drawn in Xara? The point values on the hard coded Xara file is about a Arial 5 pt.

Thank you all for trying to help me in this new endeavor...

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yeah Mark, the actual cell sizes in excel. borrowing Egg's example the cells ended up being 20hx6w. something you just gotta paly with to get it aligned right. and like Paul stated if you only need the coloring straight-up excel is the way to go obviously but if you need the image then it's pretty simple and basic importing the fields into Xara

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

That's exactly how I've been doing it Paul, but using a Google Drive spreadsheet which loads into a placeholder. You can then use the "re-generate bitmap image" to show how the table looks and draw your map above the placeholder. The great thing about Google Sheets is you can "publish to the web" then each and every amendment is updated within a few minutes and reflected in the .xar file or Xara created site without any need for changes in Xara whatsoever.

download & preview the xar file in post #13 :)

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embarrassed to admit it Egg and Paul but i'm really slacking in this area. With no reliable internet until a year+ ago and now having fast but spotty internet, i try to avoid anything on-line completely :o
i'm gonna have to spend a little time in my office and try this way out Egg. I might have other applications where this is useful. If either you or Paul have any other pointers I'm sure Mark and I would appreciate it :D
thx guys

Egg, Yes they were not all the same size, my fault for trying to get the numbers in the whole row not actually counting the correct number of spaces in each row. I have corrected that now that I'm using Mikey's method of importing the PDF fields.
I have not used any of the Google tools like the Spreadsheet, so that would be another learning curve as well. We do need to print these end documents out, a couple a hundred a week.
So you are linking the Google spreadsheet to the .xar file in some way???

Pauland, the spaces should be the same size except for one or two rows that are for larger vehicles like big RV's or box trucks.
I tried to use Excel but I am not that familiar with drawing in Excel. Drawing the drive lanes and buildings I have to put in became a little difficult. That may be an option that we want to explore. It it just I am much more comfortable drawing in Xara and started there first.
I have loaded the PDF into a layer in Xara and it seems to be working rather well. But I have not gotten all of the drawing refitted into my 8.5" X 14" page size just yet.

Mikey, the current maps do not have the sections colored sections. I just think it is easier to identify the sections by putting the boundaries in different colors. Not even sure if we want to commit to printing that much in color right now?

Thank you all for the suggestions. I feel that I have a better way of doing it for now and will talk with the boss when I can, but will look at the other methods suggested as well. We want this to be as easy and update-able as possible each week.

Mark

P.S. here is what I have so far...

Attachment 109291

Hi again Mark,

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So you are linking the Google spreadsheet to the .xar file in some way???

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Very definitely.

Google Drive, including Google Sheets is great. You can create a spreadsheet directly in Google Drive or you can upload an Excel sheet to Google Drive.

Once created you can File / Export to Web.

Google gives you a link to the sheet which you can then use on your site.

Here's a link to the Google sheet showing the North section of your parking lot:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...=0&single=true

Now open Xara and on layer MouseOff create a rectangle with the iframe link. Don't tick the regenerate bitmap copy at present, click Apply.

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<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mvfL3m72wQmTj5xaTBGsnsLMhGi-0o0rLPlSBRV6xq0/pubhtml" height=1300 width=860 scrolling=0>
<p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p>
</iframe>

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NOTE I've removed the "?gid=0&single=true" end section of the url.

The Height & Width values need to be altered until they fit the content, but only once they no longer need amending.

Once you've previewed the content and are happy the required fields are being displayed, on the preview, reselect the placeholder, select "regenerate bitmap copy" and you'll get a true copy of the parking lot.

Now create a new layer for the overlay map. Create an overlay map with holes to show the under-laid iframe.

Preview & Print.

To test it, download the attached xar and preview.

If you want to edit the underlying spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Amend the details in N3 section and wait a few moments and re publish the xar file. It will reflect your changes. The other cells have code to avoid me having to type in multiple values in this example.

Video:

Egg,

I have tried the procedure you have outlined in a clean sheet of my Photo/Designer Pro 10. I create the rectangle but I cannot seem to get an iframe to be connected to it. If I right click the rectangle, there is no Web Properties to select. But there is a Web Properties under the Utilities menu. Just cannot see how to connect the iframe to that rectangle?

I was able to open up your xar file and see how it is suppose to work and it looks really cool.

Will be looking up some help online when I get a chance today.

Mark

Select the rectangle.
Right Click
Select Web Properties
Select Placeholder tab
Select Replace with HTML Code
BODY button
Paste in:

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<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mvfL3m72wQmTj5xaTBGsnsLMhGi-0o0rLPlSBRV6xq0/pubhtml" height=920 width=860 scrolling=0>
<p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p>
</iframe>

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:)

EDIT: If you can't see "web properties" in Photo Designer 10, with the rectangle selected , go to Web Properties under the Utilities menu and continue as above.

If you email me at

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eggtg@mybtinternet.com

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I'll send you a link to the Google Sheet and you can edit it yourself.

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

Video:

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Egg comes thru again. thx for making it so effortless to learn this stuff :)

Cheers Mikey. As I say, it only has a limited use as it's messed up by other browsers but I think it meets the OP's requirements.

Egg,

I tried several ways and it just seems that I cannot get the rectangle to get the web properties. When I try and preview it after using the Utilities > Web Properties menu I get the following error:

Sorry, this version of the program can't publish print documents on the web.

So I am not sure what I may have not switched on in my Xara version. Checked on the Xara web site and I have the 'Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 10.' It does not state a PRO version, so now I am wondering if I can even do this due to the error message I keep getting.


Mark

I'll have to get back to you re this tomorrow Mark ;)

Mark, your software has no web publishing capabilities, so it's hardly surprising you can't access web properties.

I think along the way, we forgot what version of the software you are using.

I think you can still use the majority of Eggs workflow, but not use web pages.

All I can say is that it's just as well Egg isn't being paid!

Eggs solution is neat. It provides a form of automation by using web pages, but that is not open to you.

Some manual editing will be required to import the spreadsheet cells and put them in place and you can then overlay any other graphics over the top.

Egg has shown the principle and in truth, by using an export from excel, the regeneration of the diagram by importing that image isn't that great, but it won't be automated.

You may wish to consider changing what version of the software that you are using if you want to fit with Eggs existing workflow, or put up with manual updates.

It might be an idea to use the trail software to get a feel for the workflow.