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Obtaining the Print Quantity from a Database

When a document is connected to a database, you can specify that BarTender reads a value from a database field to determine the number of copies and/or serial numbers to print for each record. The number of identical printed items will vary for each record according to the value stored in that database field for each record.

ClosedTo obtain the number of items for each record from a database

  1. Select Print from the File menu to open the Print dialog. Alternatively, select the icon from the main toolbar.

  2. Select the Print tab.

  3. Select the Quantity mini-tab.

  4. Next to Copies or Copies per Serial Number, select the icon to open the Print Quantity Options dialog.

  5. Choose Get quantity from database field.

  6. For Database Field, select the field in your database that contains the number of copies for each record.

  7. Click OK to close the Print Quantity Options dialog.

ClosedExample (using a text file)

The example below assumes you have a basic knowledge of delimited text files. For more information, see Supported Delimitation Types.

Assume that the data file for this example contains three records shown below. Also assume that one of the objects on the template obtains its data from the second field in each of these records and that this object is set to serialize data.

"Product","Product No.","# to Print"

"Apples","121","4"

"Oranges","675","2"

"Bananas","501","3"

Using the procedure listed above, set Serial Numbers to read from database field "# to Print" in the Print Quantity Options dialog. BarTender will print a total of nine items for this print job:

Four apple labels (containing the data 121, 122, 123, 124)

Two orange labels (containing the data 675 and 676)

Three banana labels (containing the data 501, 502, and 503)

You can also read both Copies per Serial Number and Serial Numbers from the same file at the same time. Assume one or more fields has been added to the previous example so that it reads as follows:

"Product","Product No.","Serialize","# to Print"

"Apples","121","4","2"

"Oranges","675","2","0"

"Bananas","501","3","5"

In the Print Quantity Options dialog, set Copies per Serial Number to read from database field "# to Print" and Serial Numbers to read from database field "Serialize". BarTender will output a total of 23 items:

Eight apple labels (two copies of each of the labels containing the data 121 through 124)

Zero orange labels

Fifteen banana labels (5 copies of each of the labels containing the data 501 through 503)

Some printer drivers have difficulty in changing the number of copies per page during a single print job. For example, if your print job was supposed to print 2 copies of the first item, 5 copies of the second item, and 4 copies of the third item, you may receive 2 copies of each item instead when you print. To resolve this issue, select the Driver does not support data-sourced copies option on the Printer Setup page of Administration Console.