Adobe 65014293 Scripting Guide - Page 25

CHAPTER 3: Scripting Photoshop Setting the Active Object 25 If you look up in the Document object in the Adobe Photoshop CS4 Visual Basic Scripting Reference or in the Visual Basic Object Browser, you will see that there is no Add() method for the object. However, the Add() method is available for the Documents object. Similarly, the ArtLayer object does not have an Add() method; the ArtLayers object does. NOTE: The Layers object is an exception because, although it is a collection object, it does not include an Add() method. The Layers collection includes both ArtLayer and LayerSet objects, which are created with the Add method on either the ArtLayers or LayerSets collections. For more information, look up the Layers object in the Adobe Photoshop CS4 Visual Basic Scripting Reference. JS In JavaScript, you can use the add() method only with the collection name. The add() method is not valid with objects other than collection objects. Similar to VBScript, the JavaScript statement to create a document is: documents.add() and not: document.add() NOTE: You can include an Application object reference if you wish. The following statement is equivalent to the previous sample: app.documents.add() To add an ArtLayer object, you must reference the Document object that contains the layer, and use the add() method for the ArtLayers collection, using the artLayers property of Document. documents[0].artLayers.add() As with VBScript, the add() method is associated with the JavaScript Documents object but not with the Document object. Similarly, the ArtLayer object does not have an add() method; the ArtLayers object does. NOTE: The Layers collection object does not include an add() method. For more information, look up the Layers object in the Adobe Photoshop CS4 JavaScript Scripting Reference. Setting the Active Object To work on a an object in the Photoshop application, you must make the object the front-most, or active object. For example, to work in a layer, you must first bring the layer to the front. In scripting, the same rule applies. If your script creates two or more documents, the commands and methods in your script are executed on the active document. Therefore, to ensure that your commands are acting on the correct document, it is good programming practice to designate the active document before executing any commands or methods in the script. To set an active object, do the following: ➤ In AppleScript, you use the current property of the parent object. ➤ In VBScript, you use the ActiveObject property of the parent object (such as ActiveDocument or ActiveLayer). ➤ In JavaScript, you use the activeObject property of the parent object (such as activeDocument or activeLayer).