Need to make sure layer names are unique

Forum|Forum|13 years ago
November 21, 2012
3 replies
1489 views

Is there any way to tell after effect to check if layer names are unique and if not update them? I know if you have two layers with the same names and try to pick whip to one, the layer names will update so they are unique, but is there any way to make this happen through scripting?

I'm exporting layer data and need to make sure all names are unique. I'm currently just working around this by adding the layer index to the end of the name, but I'd prefer a cleaner solution if available.

Thanks!

Scripting

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D

David Torno

Legend

This script will append the layer index number to the end of the layer name for all selected layers in the currently open comp.

var curComp = app.project.activeItem;
if(curComp instanceof CompItem){
          app.beginUndoGroup("Append index to name");
                    var myLayers = curComp.selectedLayers;
                    if(myLayers.length<1 || myLayers.length==null){
                              alert("Please select all the layers you want to process.");
                    }else{
                              for (var a=0; a<myLayers.length; a++) {
                                        var myLayer = myLayers;
                                        var selLayers = myLayer;
                                        var layerIndex = myLayers .index;
                                        var layerIndex = myLayer.index;
                                        myLayer.name = myLayer.name + " " + layerIndex.toString();
                              }
                              writeLn("All done");
                    }
          app.endUndoGroup();
}

bobd7221748

Inspiring

Your script is exactly what I've been looking for (renaming a layer to give it a unique name). However, when I try your script, I get the following error:

Error21: undefined is not an object.
Line: 1
-> var curComp = app.project.activeItem;

I understand this is an old post, so this is a long shot, however if you know how this can be fixed I would vastly appreciate it!

Dan Ebberts

Community Expert

Not sure why you're seeing that error, but make sure you have the layers you want to process selected, and try it this way:

var curComp = app.project.activeItem;
if(curComp != null && curComp instanceof CompItem){
	app.beginUndoGroup("Append index to name");
	var myLayers = curComp.selectedLayers;
	if(myLayers.length<1 || myLayers.length==null){
	      alert("Please select all the layers you want to process.");
	}else{
	      for (var a=0; a<myLayers.length; a++) {
			var myLayer = myLayers[a];
			myLayer.name = myLayer.name + " " + myLayer.index;
	      }
	}
	app.endUndoGroup();
}