1.8

1.
To open the Generate Counter Wizard, select File > Add data > Generate counters.
2. Adjust the settings:
l
Starting value: The starting number for the counter. Defaults to 1.
l
Increment value: The value by which to increment the counter for each record. For
example, an increment value of 3 and starting value of 1 would give the counter
values of 1, 4, 7, 10, [...]
l
Number of records: The total number of counter records to generate. This is not
the end value but rather the total number of actual records to generate.
l
Padding character: Which character to add if the counter's value is smaller than
the width.
l
Width: The number of digits the counter will have (prefix and suffix not included). If
the width is larger than the current counter value, the padding character will be used
on the left of the counter value, until the width is equal to the set value. For example
for a counter value of "15", a width of "4" and padding character of "0", the value will
become "0015".
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Prefix: String to add before the counter, for example, adding # to get #00001. The
prefix length is not counted in the width.
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Suffix: String to add after the counter. The suffix length is not counted in the width.
3.
Click Finish to generate the Counter record set.
Tip
While the Generate Counter script is really useful for things like raffle tickets, it's unusable in
combination with a data file or database, as it cannot complement that data automatically. This can
only be done with a script. A script that adds a counter to data, using the current record index to
calculate the current counter value, can be found in this how-to: Manual counter in designer.
Variable Data
Variable data are data from a database or data file that are used to personalize documents for
each customer. Variable data fields can be inserted in the text directly. For example, if a
person's last name can be found in your data, the field that holds the last name can be used in
the text of a web page, letter or email. Scripts in PlanetPress Connect Designer are the basis of
Variable Data Printing.
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