Adobe 65010248 Scripting Guide - Page 44

C

HAPTER

5: Scripting with JavaScript

Working with text frames

44

Working with selections

When the user makes a selection in a document, the selected objects are stored in the document’s

selection

property. To access all selected objects in the active document:

var selectedObjects = app.activeDocument.selection;

The

selection

property value can be an array of any type of art objects, depending on what types of

objects are selected. To get or manipulate the properties of the selected art items, you must retrieve the

individual items in the array. To find out an object’s type, use the

typename

property.

The following sample gets the first object in the array, then displays the object’s type:

var topObject = app.activeDocument.selection[0];

alert(topObject.typename)

The first object in a selection array is the selected object that was last

added

to the page, not the last object

selected.

Selecting artwork objects

To select an art object, use the object’s

selected

property.

Working with text frames

To create a text frame of a specific type in JavaScript, use the

textFrames

method whose name

corresponds to the text frame’s type; for example:

var rectRef = docRef.pathItems.rectangle(700, 50, 100, 100);

//use the areaText method to create the text frame

var areaTextRef = docRef.textFrames.areaText(rectRef);

Threaded frames

As in the Illustrator application, you can thread area text frames or path text frames.

To thread existing text frames, use the

nextFrame

or

previousFrame

property of the

text

frame

object.

When copying the following script to the ESTK, place the value of the

contents

property on one line.

var myDoc = documents.add();

var myPathItem1 = myDoc.pathItems.rectangle(244, 64, 82, 76);

var myTextFrame1 = myDoc.textFrames.areaText(myPathItem1);

var myPathItem2 = myDoc.pathItems.rectangle(144, 144, 42, 116);

var myTextFrame2 = myDoc.textFrames.areaText(myPathItem2);

// use the nextFrame property to thread the text frames

myTextFrame1.nextFrame = myTextFrame2;

var sText = "This is two text frames linked together as one story, with text

flowing from the first to the last. This is two text frames linked together as one

story, with text flowing from the first to the last. This is two text frames linked

together as one story. ";

myTextFrame1.contents = sText;

redraw();

Section	Page
Introduction	6
What is scripting?	6
Why use scripting?	6
What about actions?	6
Script support in Adobe Illustrator CS4	7
ExtendScript features	7
ExtendScript tools	7
Script file extensions	7
Viewing sample scripts	8
Viewing the object model	8
Viewing the JavaScript object model	8
Viewing the AppleScript object model	8
Viewing the VBScript object model	9
Executing scripts	9
Installing scripts in the Scripts menu	10
Executing scripts from the Other Scripts menu item	10
Startup scripts (.jsx scripts only)	10
Application-specific startup scripts folder	10
General startup scripts folder	11
Changes since CS3	11
Known issues	16
The Illustrator Scripting Object Model	17
Object-naming conventions	18
Top-level (containing) objects	18
Application	18
Document	19
Layer	19
The artwork tree	19
Art styles	20
Color objects	21
Text objects	21
Text frames	21
Text geometry	22
Objects that represent text content	22
Text ranges	23
Text styles	23
Dynamic objects	24
Symbols	24
Transformations	24
Scripting Illustrator	25
Launching and quitting Illustrator from a script	25
Launching and activating Illustrator	25
AppleScript	25
JavaScript	25
VBScript	25
Quitting Illustrator	26
AppleScript	26
JavaScript	26
VBScript	26
Working with objects	26
Getting the frontmost document or layer	26
Creating new objects	26
Collection objects	27
AppleScript	27
JavaScript	27
VBScript	28
Selected objects	28
Selecting text	28
Selecting art items	28
Referring to selected art items	28
Notes on renaming objects stored in the application’s panels	28
Measurement units	29
Em space units	29
Page-item positioning and dimensions	29
Art item bounds	30
Paths and shapes	31
User-interaction levels	31
AppleScript	31
JavaScript	32
VBScript	32
Printing Illustrator documents	32
Scripting with AppleScript	33
For more information	33
Your first Illustrator script	33
Adding features to “Hello World”	34
Object references	34
Obtaining objects from documents and layers	35
Creating new objects	35
Working with selections	35
Selecting artwork objects	36
Working with text frames	36
Threaded frames	36
Threaded frames make one story object	37
Creating paths and shapes	37
Paths	37
Specifying a series of x-y coordinates	37
Using path point objects	37
Combining path point types	38
Shapes	38
Write-once access	39
Creating a rectangle	39
Creating a polygon	39
Scripting with JavaScript	40
For more information	40
Your first Illustrator script	40
Adding features to “Hello World”	41
Working with methods in JavaScript	41
Accessing and referencing objects	42
Referencing the application object	42
Accessing objects in collections	42
Creating new objects	43
Working with selections	44
Selecting artwork objects	44
Working with text frames	44
Threaded frames	44
Threaded frames make a single story object	45
Creating paths and shapes	45
Paths	45
Specifying a series of x-y coordinates	45
Using pathPoint objects	45
Combining path point types	46
Shapes	46
Creating a rectangle	47
Creating a polygon	47
Scripting with VBScript	48
For more information	48
Your first Illustrator script	48
Adding features to “Hello World”	49
Accessing and referencing objects	49
Obtaining objects from collections	49
Creating new objects	50
Working with selections	50
Selecting artwork objects	50
Working with text frames	51
Threaded frames	51
Threaded frames make a single story object	51
Creating paths and shapes	51
Paths	51
Specifying a series of x-y coordinates	52
Using path point objects	52
Combining path-point types	53
Shapes	53
Creating a rectangle	53
Creating a polygon	54
Working with enumeration values	54

Adobe 65010248 Scripting Guide - Page 44

Working with selections, Selecting artwork objects, Working with text frames, Threaded frames

Page 44 highlights