🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello everyone,

I've been reading through the InDe documentation and through the archives here. I believe most of what I want to do is possible with InDe, VB and XML, however before I blow too many more hours chasing up the wrong path, I figured a quick question would be best.

I have a series of db-driven catalog-like applications which lend themselves very nicely to structured data in XML. There are variable numbers of attributes per product and the formatting is remarkably strict though record sizes are quite variable. Some only have a few attributes, others have lots.

Unfortunately, my testing so far has yeilded poor results. The first problem I've had is during manual import, my template did not flow properly. Only the base template populated, then the balance of the tags simply loaded but didn't display on the page(s). I don't think I've spec'd the text frames properly, will investigate further in the morning.

Anyway, here is some of the functionality I think is need for my project:
  Multiple layouts, each based upon a product-type tag
  Variable-depth text frames based upon content (copy fitting)
  Subsequent records cannot overlap previous (multi-column output too)
  Invisible record tags (to allow automated indexing etc.)
  Inline character/word formatting

From what I presently understand, XML & InDe will allow me to select paragraph and possibly character formatting of the data but I will likely have to manage the text/picture frame placement, hidden lables and sizing/fitting via VB.

Is this a correct asesment or am I missing some magic somewhere?

Thanks in advance for any ideas, opinions and other valuable information

Scott