New workaround? Palette ScriptUI communicating with AI without BridgeTalk.

Not sure if this is new or not but, (sorry if its old!)

After looking around at why i cant get my script to pull width/height data from a document after using a palette UI window, I found that its only possible with BridgeTalk.

However, i have a script i am currently using that I think tricks it into working by calling up illustrator to run an action.

Not sure what is causing it to function correctly but it works without BridgeTalk.

Figured some more talented people could deconstruct this monster of a mess i've thrown together and figure out how or why it works so it can help others out.

Setup:

Create a desktop folder called "test"

Create a random PNG file and save in "test"

Download this tab-delimited TXT file and save to desktop.

Change var folder to your desktop test folder location.

Create an action folder in illustrator called "test"

Create an action in that test folder called "test" that does just a select all.

Run:

Drag and drop the JSX file into illustrator

Click Run

Open the downloaded TXT file when prompted.

It should add in "Hello World" to the bottom left of your artboard and alert you of the png width size.

#target illustrator  
#targetengine main  
var originalInteractionLevel = userInteractionLevel;
function theRip(){ // enclosing function wraps the body of the script  
var w = new Window("palette");
var stkrow = w.add("group");
var stktit = stkrow.add("statictext",undefined,"Stk");
var stkrow2 = w.add("group");
var stk3x4 = stkrow2.add("button", undefined, "Run");
w.show();
stk3x4.onClick=function(){ 
app.userInteractionLevel = UserInteractionLevel.DONTDISPLAYALERTS;
//silly-v txt to variable
  var f = File.openDialog("Choose a CSV file.", "*.txt"); // choose a file with a .txt extension in Windows  
  if(!f){  
    return; // exit script if the Cancel button was pressed  
  }  
  var gridStr;  
  f.open('r');  
  gridStr = f.read(); // read the contents of the .txt file into a string variable  
  f.close();  
  
  var grid = gridStr.split(/[\n\r]/); // turn the text into groups of rows by splitting the text by nextlines or carriage returns  
  for(var i=0; i<grid.length; i++){ // go through each of the row groups and turn them into groups of cells by splitting with tab characters  
   grid = grid.split(/\t/g);  
  };  
  
  
  // set the active document to a variable  
  var ptArr = [], thisRow, x, y; // process the spreadsheet array to eliminate blank or incomplete rows  
  for(var i=1; i<grid.length; i++){  
    if(typeof(grid[1]) == "undefined" || typeof(grid[2]) == "undefined" || grid[1] == "" || grid[2] == ""){  
      continue; // if there are blank or missing cells where the x or y points should be, ignore this row  
    }  
    thisRow = grid;  
    x = thisRow [1].toString().replace(/"/g, '').replace(",", ".") * 1; // convert any nordic cells to numbers by removing any excel-generated quotes and replacing commas with periods, then cast to number by multiplying times one  
    y = thisRow [2].toString().replace(/"/g, '').replace(",", ".") * 1;  
    ptArr.push([x, y]); // add the processed coordinate point to array  
  };  
for(var i=0; i<grid.length; i++){
var order = grid[0];
var wo = grid[1];
var design = grid[2];
var qty = grid[3];
if(order>1){
var folder = "/C/Users/Jake/Desktop/test/" // select folder  
    var files = find_files (folder, ['.png']);  
          var fileCount = files.length; // count them
          if (fileCount>0) {  
                    for (p=0; p<fileCount; p++) {  
var idoc = app.open(files[0]);
                    }   
          }  
          else {  
                    alert("There are no PNG files in this folder.");  
          }    
// recurse subfolders - Peter Kharel  
function find_files (dir, mask_array){  
    var arr = [];  
    for (var i = 0; i < mask_array.length; i++){  
        arr = arr.concat (find_files_sub (dir, [], mask_array.toUpperCase()));  
    }  
    return arr;  
}  
  
function find_files_sub (dir, array, mask){  
    var f = Folder (dir).getFiles ( '*.*' );  
    for (var i = 0; i < f.length; i++){  
        if (f instanceof Folder){  
            find_files_sub (f, array, mask);  
        } else if (f.name.substr (-mask.length).toUpperCase() == mask){  
            array.push (f);  
        }  
    }  
    return array;  
}
}//end if workorder > 1
if(order>1){ //run ai action
app.doScript('test','test');
var imgw = app.activeDocument.selection[0].width;
alert(imgw);
//reset ruler origin
app.activeDocument.rulerOrigin = [0,0];
//add text for barcode 
var pointTextRef = app.activeDocument.textFrames.add();
pointTextRef.contents = "HELLO WORLD";
pointTextRef.textRange.characterAttributes.textFont = app.textFonts.getByName("Arial");
pointTextRef.textRange.characterAttributes.size = 20;
pointTextRef.position = [15, 19];
pointTextRef.selected = true;
redraw();
}
}//for loop
}//stk on click
app.userInteractionLevel = originalInteractionLevel;
};  
theRip();