The development of digital publishing will make rapid progress

In memory, word processing terminals (WordProcessor) appeared in the 1960s and 1970s. The reader may not necessarily know this product. Before using a personal computer, a “smart” typewriter could be imagined as a When working as a word-processing computer, you already have a feature called MailMerge. When users need to print a large number of copies of the same content, only a small amount of data change the letter, such as the recipient's name, organization and personal information needs each At the same time, the user can replace the data with special symbols, such as ###NAME to represent the recipient's name, and then list a large number of recipients in another file, and then use the MailMerge function. The processor will replace the special symbol with the name in the list, generate a complete letter and print it, and it will print a large number of letters quickly.

This may be regarded as the earliest data publication (Database Publishing). At that time, it may still rely on text files. It does not use complicated database systems. However, it is a very effective data publishing application in terms of practical applications. However, after two or three decades, although computer, document and image processing, databases, and information technology have all leapt forward, the publication of inverted data seems to be stagnant, lack of innovation and breakthrough applications. None of today has developed into a universal product.

Of course, this is not to say that there has not been much development in data publishing. On the contrary, many data publishing systems have become very mature and are even moving toward intelligence. Clearly, however, data publishing has become almost synonymous with large-scale, proprietary publishing systems, and is only used by application systems that are very complex and process large amounts of data. From the early classified advertisement systems, to the production of product catalogs, telephone books and newsletters (especially the Economic and Business Edition), etc., have begun to use databases to store the information to be printed, and then call data from the database according to individual needs. Organize and automatically generate layouts via specific programs.

The principle of data publishing is very simple. First, the content that needs to be published is entered into a computer, and the database is used to store the content for classification. Then the desired content is selected according to the publishing conditions, and then the layout is made according to a pre-designed style. Data publishing has a wide range of applications. In summary, as long as the following three conditions can be met, it can effectively exert its advantages;

(1) The degree of computerization of the relevant industries is high. Information to be printed and published has been stored on computers and even classified appropriately. It is more convenient to use databases for processing and publishing. For example, product distribution often requires the printing of a large number of product catalogs. Since many promotional data are already stored in the database, it is only necessary to connect the two to improve the operational efficiency.

(2) The amount of information that needs to be processed is very large. It is necessary to rely on highly automated methods to improve work efficiency, and it is even mainly based on data or screening of published content by data.

(c) In addition, if it is necessary to update the data from time to time and change the method of classification and layout, then repeated printing of the same or similar content is more appropriate for data publication.

The production of classified advertisements and yellow pages in newspapers and magazines has already begun to use data publishing. Although the degree of computerization in the industry is different, due to the extremely high number of classified advertisements and the need for repetitive printing, the ranking and classification methods are highly valued. Databases to store classified advertisements and record relevant publishing conditions, such as publication date, classification, size of advertisements, and other publication conditions, and use artificial intelligence for publishing according to publishing conditions. This will not only reduce the time required for manual imposition, but more importantly, Input data and production, and even financial calculations are all based on the same database. Direct use of data publishing can ensure that the data is correct, thus reducing auditing between many departments and further improving work efficiency.

In a broader sense, data publishing will become more and more important in systematic and automated trends. For example, it is very popular in Europe and the United States, and is good at handling periodical (Journal) and manual (Manual) typesetting software frameMaker, and its operating principle is built. Based on data publishing, using SGML to systematically store published content and accurately process and control content information in different versions, constantly updated, and in different languages ​​will not only increase efficiency but, more importantly, avoid mistakes made by people and people. If you want to make a manual arrangement of an important instrument, you may have very serious consequences.

In addition, the use of simple database software, such as FileMaker or Access, to automate the layout program with a simple programming language can directly print financial reports, product catalogs, and direct mail. If the use of more flexible layout software, such as InDesign, can even be applied to the production of business cards and promotional leaflets. With the continuous improvement of the degree of computerization in various industries and the popularization of the Internet, the application level of data publishing will become more and more extensive, and the speed of development will also increase by leaps and bounds.