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Fred.L
Fred.L
Inspiring
March 11, 2021
Answered

Select a table after creation through a script

  • March 11, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 566 views

Hi,

Still learning scripting for Id, I'm facing a probably very basic problem for you guys.

 

I've done a ConvertToText within a script, but I would like to get this new table selected after its creation, for me to keep working on it, using grep expressions for instance.

 

app.selection[0].convertToTable("\t","\t",1);

 The table is fine, with all the datas in it, but the newly created table becomes unselected.

I feel I have to name it and get it selected through its name, but … well, didn't find how to do it. 😞

 

Thanks for your help

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer brian_p_dts

    If you look at the DOM API, you will see that convertToTable returns a Table object. That is what is indicated by Table before function name in the API description here: https://www.indesignjs.de/extendscriptAPI/indesign-latest/#Text.html#d1e458928__d1e465561

     

    As such, you can assign it a variable, or you can even select it.

     

    var myTable = app.selection[0].convertToTable("\t","\t",1);
var myFirstRow = myTable.rows[0];
myTable.select();
//etc.

     

    You'll find after you script long enough that selecting becomes less of a need (though .select() still has its use cases); as long as you have a valid object reference, you can do whatever you want. 

    1 reply

    brian_p_dts
    Community Expert
    brian_p_dtsCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    March 11, 2021

    If you look at the DOM API, you will see that convertToTable returns a Table object. That is what is indicated by Table before function name in the API description here: https://www.indesignjs.de/extendscriptAPI/indesign-latest/#Text.html#d1e458928__d1e465561

     

    As such, you can assign it a variable, or you can even select it.

     

    var myTable = app.selection[0].convertToTable("\t","\t",1);
var myFirstRow = myTable.rows[0];
myTable.select();
//etc.

     

    You'll find after you script long enough that selecting becomes less of a need (though .select() still has its use cases); as long as you have a valid object reference, you can do whatever you want. 

      Fred.L
      Fred.LAuthor
      Inspiring
      March 12, 2021

      Terrific, thank you

       

      Going forward, am I right to assume that, since the "columnSeparator" and "rowSeparator" are "string" I could use something different than "\t" for identifying the rows ?

      Tabulations are pretty common and could interfere in the process of the table creation. Since I'm dealing with texts from MSWord documents, automatically generated by Smartcat (online translation interface) a tabulation may be sneaking somethere, from time to time.

      Anyways, I'll give it a try 😉

      Thanks again !

       

       

      brian_p_dts
      Community Expert
      brian_p_dtsCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      March 12, 2021

      Correct, you can use any string you want. 

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