PC Access Flyer Reference Guide

for PC Access Flyer 1.02.022

Link to Data Button

When designing flyer templates, you may dynamically link to MLS data fields by clicking the Link to Data button in the Template Designer window. The Template Designer then displays the Drag & Drop Data Items window, where you may choose fields from your Listings Info or your Agent Info to place on the flyer template.

The Link to Data button is the heart of the Drag & Drop Template Designer. It is very important for you to understand the difference between static data and dynamic data. Static data is text that you type into a text object. No matter which listing you print, the text you typed will print exactly the same on each Flyer.

Dynamic data, on the other hand, changes as the underlying listing data changes. When you use Drag & Drop fields to create a Flyer template, the Template Designer puts the field onto the template as a placeholder for the actual data. For instance, if you Drag & Drop the field called MLS # onto the template, when you print Flyers the text that will print will be the actual MLS number of the current listing.

The Template Designer is actually an active preview layout editor. As you add fields to the template, it displays the corresponding data from the current listing. This allows you to see what the final output will really look like instead of just seeing the field names sitting on the template form. You may use the VCR style buttons at the top of the window to change which listing is the current one, thereby allowing you to see your template filled in with any of the listings that you have in your downloaded listings database.

Keep in mind that while you are seeing the data from the underlying listings, you cannot directly edit the data itself on the Template Designer window. The Template Designer allows you to modify the placement and display characteristics of the data, but the data itself can only be modified from the Listings Editor window or from the Printing Wizard Step 3 of 3 preview window.

Once you understand how the Template Designer works you will find that it is a very powerful tool for creating sophisticated flyers with the data you download from the MLS. The Template Designer is really a desktop publishing layout window that is specially designed to understand MLS data formats.

Last modification date: Friday, January 17, 2003 00:58:17