<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
      xmlns:e="http://projectmallard.org/experimental/"
      type="guide"
      id="mergeskipfields">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="index#merging"/>
    <revision pkgversion="3.0" version="0.1" date="2010-05-04" status="incomplete"/>
    <desc>
	How to skip blank address lines when doing a document merge.
    </desc>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Jim Evins</name>
      <email>evins@snaught.com</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Mario Blättermann</name>
      <email>mario.blaettermann@gmail.com</email>
    </credit>
    <license>
      <p>Creative Commons Share Alike 3.0</p>
    </license>    
  </info>

  <title>Skipping blank address lines</title>

  <p>This feature can be best described by a simple example.  In the
  following CSV file, column 5 (ADDR2) contains the second address line
  for each record.  This field is empty in records 1 and 2, but not in
  record 3. (For this feature to work, the field must be completely
  empty -- any text, including spaces will defeat this feature.)</p>

  <code>
  LAST,FIRST,MI,ADDR1,ADDR2,CITY,STATE,ZIP
  Summers,Joyce,,"1630 Revello Dr",,Sunnydale,CA,95037
  McGarret,Steve,O,"404 Piikoi Street",,Honolulu,HI,96813
  Kramer,Cosmo,,"Apt 5B","129 W. 81 St.","New York",NY,10024-7207
  </code>

  <p>In the following screenshot, a single multiline text object has been
  created to format these addresses.  Notice that ${ADDR2} representing
  the second address line is on a line by itself.  (Any additional text
  on this line, including spaces would defeat this feature.)</p>

  <media type="image" src="figures/skip-fields-screenshot.png" mime="image/png" style="right">
  <p>Multi-line address</p>
  </media>

  <p>Printing this label results in the following output.  Notice that the
  line containing the ${ADDR2} field is completely skipped for the first
  two records, without printing a blank line.</p>

  <media type="image" src="figures/skip-fields-output.png" mime="image/png" style="right">
  <p>Output</p>
  </media>

</page>
