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A
Anonymous
July 24, 2009
Question

Scripting Status?

  • July 24, 2009
  • 2 replies
  • 3222 views

I'm a pretty good javascript programmer and thought I'd give scripting a try on Bridge, but I found

that the developer tool crashes frequently (mac pro, cs4), and bridge itself tends to crash the more

I use scripts.  Some of the well-documented features of the toolkit just don't seem to work at all,

and I also find the documentation to be sparse and unhelpful in getting to details, such as the DOM,

function parameters, etc. Even among the stuff that is available, it's clear that scripting isn't seen as

very important--many must-have items aren't there, and the number of areas you can add UI elements

is severely limited.  (I'm leaving out details because this should be self-evident to anyone that's also

trying to do things.)

I know no one that does scripting, and it took me forever to even find this forum. Once here,

I noticed that few people come here. There are very few posts,most of them being old.

Even the text-edit area I'm using to type this seems quite broken (select/delete doesn't work well,

and I can't backspace around carriage returns).

Am I wasting my time trying to go down the path of scripting bridge?

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Kasyan Servetsky
Kasyan Servetsky
Legend
July 24, 2009

CS4's ESTK doesn't work for me well too, so I avoid working in it and use CS3 instead.

First of all, make sure to download Bridge's SDK -- it contains loads of working scripts illustrating all aspects of scripting in Bridge with detailed descriptions.

It's much easier to run a script and then start reading manuals and finding out how it works.

All information about Bridge's Object Model you can find in ESTK > Help > object Model Viewer

Kasyan

A
Anonymous
July 24, 2009

> CS4's ESTK doesn't work for me well too, so I avoid working in it and use CS3 instead.

David--do you have a comment about this? Is there a reason to use CS4, despite its issues?

If I'm to use the CS3 version of ESTK, where do you get it? Just plug and play with it on cs4 bridge?

> make sure to download Bridge's SDK

Isn't this a given? that is, you can't use any of this without the sdk, right?

> it contains loads of working scripts illustrating all aspects of scripting in Bridge with detailed descriptions

Well, that's debatable. :-)  I've found the descriptions to be somewhat generic in nature--you have to really experiment with things to discover factors not documented. (For example, objects' callback function lists, params passed to them, etc.) There are also some features that aren't documented that you have to sort of "derive" from looking at the sample scripts.  And, as noted, many of those don't work out of the box--you have to futz with them a bit.

I'm not complaining so much as making initial-impression observations. I've worked with a number of toolkits (javascript and otherwise), which is why I wonder about the status of extend-script.  That said, I now realize people consider it "alive."  Getting it "well" is another story. I'd like to be an active participant in helping improve it.

dan

Kasyan Servetsky
Kasyan Servetsky
Legend
July 24, 2009

If I'm to use the CS3 version of ESTK, where do you get it?

  1. Deinstall CS4
  2. Install CS3
  3. Reinstall CS4

can't use any of this without the sdk, right?

You can live without SDK of course, but with it -- I know it from my own experience -- it will be much easier. The samples in Bridge JavaScript Reference contain a lot of typos -- at least for CS2 and 3 -- I haven't read CS4 version yet. It's much easier to start from the samples in SDK because they all work.

Well, that's debatable.....

Ok, I agree with you:

... illustrating many, but not all aspects of scripting in Bridge... :-)

Kasyan

dfranzen_camera_raw
Adobe Employee
dfranzen_camera_raw
Adobe Employee
July 24, 2009

Am I wasting my time trying to go down the path of scripting bridge?

The answer probably depends on what you are trying to accomplish with scripting. The scriptable features in Bridge probably lend themselves to some kinds of automation, but not necessarily to others others. What is it you're trying to do?

The audience here on the Bridge Scripting U2U forum is small, but my impression is that when someone has a specific question, folks generally help each other out and provide samples of how to do things.

-David

A
Anonymous
July 24, 2009

David -- I'm encouraged by your prompt reply. It gives me confidence--dare I say "motivation" to trudge forward.

That said, there seem to be fundamental stability concerns with the system.

Many sample code snippets simply don’t work, and for no good reason: for example, using single quotes (’) for strings *should* work as defined by javascript -- and the sample code uses them in the doc -- but when Bridge runs it, the strings come up as "undefined." Changing to double-quotes makes the strings recognizable and the code works.

ExtendScript Toolkit dies frequently. So much so, that I've taken to doing a "save" before I ever try to re-run a script in development. If I don't and ExtendScript dies, the changes to my file are lost.  (ExtendScript should at least write all changes to a temporary file that it can reload in the event it dies and the user hasn't saved his latest changes.)

And then I have some sample code that I wrote using your code as a template -- it works up to the point where I change things to use other documented features in the toolkit. Almost immediately, the code no longer does.  I can get into those details later, but they are so fundamental and basic, that I consider all the points noted here, and it just seems there's something wrong at the core.

Is there a group separate from the point products (and bridge) that's responsible for ExtendScript? Is *this* the discussion forum for that? Is there a prerelease or development program that I can participate in to get these baseline/critical issues addressed?

I'm happy to carry on here if it's the place to have such discussions.

dan

dfranzen_camera_raw
Adobe Employee
dfranzen_camera_raw
Adobe Employee
July 27, 2009

Is there a group separate from the point products (and bridge) that's responsible for ExtendScript? Is *this* the discussion forum for that? Is there a prerelease or development program that I can participate in to get these baseline/critical issues addressed?

Yes, general scripting components are developed by their own team and not directly by the point product teams (Bridge, Photohop, etc.). The product teams add scripting support for their products. In other words, the Bridge team did not make the ExtendScript Toolkit, the Bridge team did create the Thumbnail class and the rest of Bridge's scriptable DOM.

> CS4's ESTK doesn't work for me well too, so I avoid working in it and use CS3 instead.

David--do you have a comment about this? Is there a reason to use CS4, despite its issues?

No comment in general. I use the CS4 ExtendScript Toolkit, to develop scripts for CS4.

> make sure to download Bridge's SDK

Isn't this a given? that is, you can't use any of this without the sdk, right?

Well, the ExtendScript Toolkit is installed with the suite, so  you certainly can use it without the SDK. In my opinion the SDK's docs and samples are pretty useful, so I always recommend folks start there.

I understand Dan and Kasyan's frustration using the toolkit or the SDK snippets. If you have some specific questions about the Bridge scripting APIs, I'll try to answer them here--as I have some free time to do so. For some general questions, you could try the InDesign and Photoshop scripting U2U forums. If I find out more info about ways to send feedback directly the the team that builds the ExtendScript toolkit, I will post it here.

-David

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