I can't get my script to create a new document

Thanks for the help, all. The script now works as expected.

@Peter Kahrel, changing 'dialog' to 'palette' didn't work for me, but as you said, I should gather the variables, close the dialogue, then create the new document. I've rewritten my code to do just that (I'd rather do it right than bodge it).

@rob day, I did notice that and thought it was odd, but I just took ChatGPT's word for it. That's all sorted now.

Hi @kylep77360271 , Try this:

//the global dialog variables
var width, height, scale, selectedBeading, adjustedHeight, adjustedWidth;

// Function to add aligned static text labels and input fields
function addAlignedInputRow(labelText, defaultInputValue, units, parent) {
    var group = parent.add("group");
    group.alignChildren = "left";
    var label = group.add("statictext", undefined, labelText);
    label.characters = 10;
    var input = group.add("edittext", undefined, defaultInputValue, {multiline: false, number: true});
    input.characters = 4;
    //var unitsLabel = group.add("statictext", undefined, units);
    return input;
}

stretchFactor = 0.995;

// Simple SEG calculator
var dialog = new Window("dialog", "New tension fabric");
dialog.orientation = "column";
dialog.alignChildren = "left";

var widthInput = addAlignedInputRow("Width:", "", "mm", dialog);
var heightInput = addAlignedInputRow("Height:", "", "mm", dialog);
var scaleInput = addAlignedInputRow("Scale", "100", "%", dialog);

// Dropdown control for Beading
var beadingGroup = dialog.add("group");
beadingGroup.alignChildren = "left"; // Align children to the left within the group
var beadingLabel = beadingGroup.add("statictext", undefined, "Beading:");
beadingLabel.characters = 10; // Adjust the width of the label as needed
var beading = beadingGroup.add("dropdownlist");
beading.add("item", "14");
beading.add("item", "12");
beading.add("item", "10");
beading.add("item", "9");
beading.selection = 0;
var mmLabel = beadingGroup.add("statictext", undefined, "mm");

// Create a horizontal group for buttons
var buttonGroup = dialog.add("group");
buttonGroup.alignment = "center"; // Center align the buttons
var cancelButton = buttonGroup.add("button", undefined, "Cancel");
var okButton = buttonGroup.add("button", undefined, "OK");

// Event listener for the "Cancel" button
cancelButton.onClick = function() {
    dialog.close();
};

// Event listener for the "OK" button
okButton.onClick = function() {
    //set the returned dialog values
    width = parseFloat(widthInput.text);
    height = parseFloat(heightInput.text);
    scale = parseFloat(scaleInput.text) / 100;
    selectedBeading = parseInt(beading.selection.text);

    adjustedHeight = Math.round((height * stretchFactor) * scale);
    adjustedWidth = Math.round((width * stretchFactor) * scale);
    dialog.close();
};

dialog.show();

main()
function main(){
    alert("Returned Dialog Values: \r" + adjustedWidth + "\r" + adjustedHeight +"\r"+scale + "\r"+selectedBeading)

    app.scriptPreferences.measurementUnit = MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS;
    //the bleed is larger than the slug???
    var bleedAmount = (selectedBeading * scale) + (10 * scale); // Bleed is 10 mm plus selectedBeading
    var slugAmount = selectedBeading * scale;
    var currdate = new Date
    var ct =  "Temp-" + currdate.getTime();
    var dp = makeDocPreset(ct);
    dp.properties = {facingPages:false, 
                    pageHeight:adjustedHeight, 
                    pageWidth:adjustedWidth, 
                    top:0, 
                    bottom:0, 
                    left:0, 
                    right:0, 
                    documentBleedUniformSize:true, 
                    documentBleedTopOffset:bleedAmount, 
                    documentSlugUniformSize:true, 
                    documentSlugTopOffset:slugAmount}

    //make the new doc
    var doc = app.documents.add(true, dp);
    doc.viewPreferences.properties = {horizontalMeasurementUnits:MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS, verticalMeasurementUnits:MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS}
    dp.remove();
    app.scriptPreferences.measurementUnit = AutoEnum.AUTO_VALUE;
}


/**
* Makes a new document preset 
* @ param preset name name 
* @ return the new preset 
*/
function makeDocPreset(n){
    if (app.documentPresets.itemByName(n).isValid) {
        return app.documentPresets.itemByName(n);
    } else {
        return app.documentPresets.add({name:n});
    }
}

While your dialog is displayed InDesign can't do anything. Change the dialog to a palette-type window (like an InDesign panel) and the script can continue to create a document. In this line:

var dialog = new Window("dialog", "New tension fabric");

Change 'dialog' to 'palette'.

That's the easy solution. It would have been more appropriate to collect all the values you need, close the dialog, then create the new document. As it is now, creating the document is part of the interface, which will cause all kinds of logistical problems. (Still amazing what ChatGPT comes up with.)