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vnh68
vnh68
Inspiring
June 5, 2021
Answered

ID Scripting: unique id of something. Can I find out what it belongs to?

  • June 5, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 1192 views

Hello everyone

When processing a list of text variables that are based on the text styles of different classes (ParagraphStyle, CharacterStyle), I want to get a combined array of such different class styles, for example, by their unique ids, so that later I can get a reference to the style object by its id.

But there is no superclass for all text styles, and, accordingly, there is no collection that brings together different style classes. And there is no way to use the itemByID method...


Is there any method (outside of collections) that would return a reference to an object by its unique id?
(Maybe the solution has something to do with the use of Specifiers)

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Laubender

Hi vnh68,

are you looking for textVariableInstances ?

 

There is a unique id on every text variable instance:

http://jongware.mit.edu/idcs6js/pc_TextVariableInstance.html#id

 

And you can reach that textVariableInstance with:

app.documents[0].pageItems.itemByID( idNumber );

 

But to return textVariableInstances with that method you have to resolve them like that:

app.documents[0].pageItems.itemByID( idNumber ).getElements()[0];

 

Here comes the issue: Such a textVariableInstance is not directly part of the pageItem collection:

http://jongware.mit.edu/idcs6js/pc_PageItem.html

 

Nevertheless you can loop through that collection using ID numbers to filter them.

Something like that:

var tempRectangle = app.documents[0].rectangles.add();
var maxIDNumber = tempRectangle.id;
tempRectangle.remove();

var allTextVarInstances = [];

for( var n=0; n<maxIDNumber; n++ )
{
	try
	{
		var theObjectResolved = app.documents[0].pageItems.itemByID( n ).getElements()[0];
		if( theObjectResolved.constructor.name == "TextVariableInstance" )
		{
			allTextVarInstances[ allTextVarInstances.length++ ] = theObjectResolved ;
		};
	}catch(e){};
	
};

 

As you can see from the first three lines in the code I used a little trick to determine where the loop should end.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

3 replies

L
Community Expert
LaubenderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 7, 2021

Hi vnh68,

that walk through all available ids of a document should get you some interesting insides what kind of objects are addressable by their id. Table cells are not included, even if there is an id for table cells.

This method is not very handy if it comes to variableTextInstances, your code does a better job, but the method will find deeply nested MSOs for example in states that are currently not active where even the allPageItems array of a document will not list them.

 

app.documents[0].pageItems.itemByID( idNumber )

is a powerful method to address deeply nested objects directly.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

L
Community Expert
LaubenderCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
June 7, 2021

Hi vnh68,

are you looking for textVariableInstances ?

 

There is a unique id on every text variable instance:

http://jongware.mit.edu/idcs6js/pc_TextVariableInstance.html#id

 

And you can reach that textVariableInstance with:

app.documents[0].pageItems.itemByID( idNumber );

 

But to return textVariableInstances with that method you have to resolve them like that:

app.documents[0].pageItems.itemByID( idNumber ).getElements()[0];

 

Here comes the issue: Such a textVariableInstance is not directly part of the pageItem collection:

http://jongware.mit.edu/idcs6js/pc_PageItem.html

 

Nevertheless you can loop through that collection using ID numbers to filter them.

Something like that:

var tempRectangle = app.documents[0].rectangles.add();
var maxIDNumber = tempRectangle.id;
tempRectangle.remove();

var allTextVarInstances = [];

for( var n=0; n<maxIDNumber; n++ )
{
	try
	{
		var theObjectResolved = app.documents[0].pageItems.itemByID( n ).getElements()[0];
		if( theObjectResolved.constructor.name == "TextVariableInstance" )
		{
			allTextVarInstances[ allTextVarInstances.length++ ] = theObjectResolved ;
		};
	}catch(e){};
	
};

 

As you can see from the first three lines in the code I used a little trick to determine where the loop should end.

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

    vnh68
    vnh68Author
    Inspiring
    June 7, 2021

    Hi Uwe,

    Thanks for the tip! I once read about getting the maximum value of an id, but then I didn't need it. In addition, there were doubts that even TextVariableInstance could be found in the PageItems collection.

    As for the TextVariableInstances, I group them like this:

    app.activeDocument.stories.everyItem().textVariableInstances.everyItem().getElements();

    But I'm really interested in getting a reference to an instance of a persistent class by its id. This hint looks like it should work as it should!

     

    brian_p_dts
    Community Expert
    brian_p_dtsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 6, 2021

    Not sure exactly what you're going for, but could you not just stash them in a nested array or object as you are processing the list, ie. 

     

    var txtVarFinds = {

           charStyleFinds: [],

           parStyleFinds: [],

    }

    for each text variable:

    if style instanceof Character Style: 

    txtVarFinds.charStyleFinds.push(aFind);

     

    Then operate on each object property after?

    vnh68
    vnh68Author
    Inspiring
    June 6, 2021

    brianp311, thank you for your answer.

    I have a very similar code now. 
    I want to process everything monotonous without unnecessary sorting, like

     

    var textVariablesStyles = { 
    appliedParagraphStyle: [], 
    appliedCharacterStyle: [] 
};
app.activeDocument.textVariables.everyItem().getElements()
.filter(function(tv){ 
    return (tv.variableType == VariableTypes.MATCH_PARAGRAPH_STYLE_TYPE) ||
           (tv.variableType == VariableTypes.MATCH_CHARACTER_STYLE_TYPE);
})
.forEach(function(tv){
   switch (tv.variableType) {
      case VariableTypes.MATCH_PARAGRAPH_STYLE_TYPE:
          textVariablesStyles.appliedParagraphStyle
          .push(tv.variableOptions.appliedParagraphStyle);
          break; 
      case VariableTypes.MATCH_CHARACTER_STYLE_TYPE:
          .push(tv.variableOptions.appliedCharacterStyle);
          break;
   }
});

     

    If there was a way in scripting to find an instance of a class by id, then one would not have to use loops too often to filter the desired objects.

    I may be wrong, but it seems to me that InDesign gives unique ids to persistent objects (also styles) from the same source, and they never repeat. I had such an idea, I just decided to check.

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