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ajabon grinsmith
Community Expert
ajabon grinsmithCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 10, 2024
Question

UI display of resident extensions is not stable in InDesign

  • January 10, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 376 views

Hi,

I am developing a CEP extension that will work immediately after the application is launched.

  • Works in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign.
  • The extension will run resident and output a work log regardless of whether the UI panel appears or not.
  • User controls the extension's work log output with a check box on the UI panel.
  • The UI panel can be opened and closed at the user's discretion as needed.
  • The reference is the Invisible HTML Extensions example from CEP_9.x.

CEP 9.0 HTML Extension Cookbook.md

 

 

 

<Lifecycle>
	<AutoVisible>false</AutoVisible>
	<StartOn>
		<!-- PS dispatches this event on startup -->
		<Event>applicationActivate</Event>
			<!-- PPro dispatches this event on startup -->
			<!-- <Event>com.adobe.csxs.events.ApplicationActivate</Event> -->
	</StartOn>
</Lifecycle>
<UI>
	<Type>Panel</Type>
	<Menu>foo</Menu>
	<Geometry>
		<Size>
			<Height>80</Height>
			<Width>180</Width>
		</Size>
   ---omission---

 

 

I proceeded with the above specification and it worked well on the Mac.

However, it broke down in InDesign on Windows. If I quit the app with the UI appearing, the next time I launch the app, an empty UI panel appears.

 

The type of UI is a panel, but it can be any of them.

Is there a good solution?

Thank you in advance.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    ErinF
    Community Manager
    ErinFCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    January 10, 2024

    Hi there!

     

    CEP is up to version 11 now, so please check out this compatibility chart: https://github.com/Adobe-CEP/CEP-Resources/blob/master/CEP_11.x/Documentation/CEP%2011.1%20HTML%20Extension%20Cookbook.md#applications-integrated-with-cep 

     

    I'm confused that you're using the invisible panel sample... but your panel has UI? 🤔 🤔

     

    Either way, can you pinpoint the exact version of InDesign that's causing this, and the exact version of Windows?

     

    It didn't stop working, right? This is a new thing you're developing?

     

    Also, since Photoshop and InDesign are in the process of moving to UXP and away from CEP, have you researched getting this to work in UXP as well? Or is the lack of Illustrator support currently a dealbreaker?

     

    CEP isn't supported on Mac M1 (and up) processors on Photoshop...

      ajabon grinsmith
      Community Expert
      ajabon grinsmithCommunity ExpertAuthor
      Community Expert
      January 12, 2024

      Hi ErinF, 

       

      Thanks for the reply.

      I will use this CEP extension in version 2022 or later. It certainly seems to be ok with CEP11, so I will reflect this.

       

      Yes, I have diverted the invisible panel sample. I did not set the window size to 1,1 as in the example.
      So when I run the extension from the window menu, I get the UI. Is this rather incorrect behavior?

       

      This is newly developed.

       

      As you said, I did not consider developing it in UXP because of Illustrator.
      One reason is that I have not yet mastered UXP.

       

      Photoshop on Apple Silicon Mac was going to run on Rosetta. I expected it to work just fine.

       

      Assuming the current system I have developed does not work well,
      Any suggestions for improvement?

      • The extension will run resident and output a work log regardless of whether the UI panel appears or not.
      • User controls the extension's work log output with a check box on the UI panel.
      • The UI panel can be opened and closed at the user's discretion as needed.

      Importantly, the CEP extension works with the UI hidden even when the application is launched by double-clicking a file.

       

      I am posting from Japanese using a translation tool.
      I hope there are no glitches or rudeness in my expression anywhere.

      Regards.

      ajabon grinsmith
      Community Expert
      ajabon grinsmithCommunity ExpertAuthor
      Community Expert
      January 18, 2024

      I have since added a new Extension element in the ExtensionList tag and am trying to run one without UI and one for displaying the extension's preferences UI.

      I will post later if I get good results.

      thanks.

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