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J
J.C.C.1
Known Participant
November 28, 2022
Answered

Recommendations for modifying multiple path's in a Photoshop ATN file?

  • November 28, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 1927 views

Looking for reccomendations on a way to modify multiple paths in an action set. I have a fairly large action set that uses a lot of scripts in local storage and also a lot of specific save paths. The action set is commonly shared between editors on a team, but everytime it is shared all the script paths and save paths have to be changed to their local storage. I know I can fix all the save paths using a save script with a Wildcard charcter for the Username in the path, but in terms of automatically replacing the script paths in the ATN file I haven't found anything on the forum yet. If anyone has any expeirence with this please share!

Example Script Path 
C:\Users\"USERNAME_1"\Desktop\SCRIPTS

Change all paths to 
C:\Users\"USERNAME_2"\Desktop\SCRIPTS

 

I had two ideas so far, but haven't gone to deep with them.

 

  1. Convert the ATN File to XML and use a Find and Replace of the USERNAME


  2. Run a script in Photoshop to examine the action contents of the specificed action set, use an if then statement to see if the action has paths, if it has paths, save the path step index, record a step at that index with the fixed path, move on till the whole action set has been checked. The only problem with this is making a file that would sucssefully run through all the scripts, and also I don't know if Actions in Action sets are write-only or if the contents can even be examined. 


    Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Stephen Marsh

    Apart from re-recording the steps on the new computer, which you may have to do anyway so that paths aren't messed up...

     

    The only method I know is what you mention, using xtools to convert to XML, edit, then convert back to ATN (probably on the recipient computer so that paths aren't messed up).

     

    Creating or converting the entire action as a script is likely going to be easier to maintain... So that the paths aren't messed up.

     

    Did I mention that paths are easily messed up? :]

    3 replies

    Chuck Uebele
    Community Expert
    Chuck UebeleCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 28, 2022

    I agree with @Stephen Marsh, changing the action to a script would best best, especially in the long run. While automating the workflow at my work, I avoided using actions, for this very reason. I don't know if this will work in your situation, but using:

    '~\desktop'

    Eliminates the need to get the user's name, when defining a path. It also is cross platform.

      J
      J.C.C.1Author
      Known Participant
      November 28, 2022

      Okay cool, that is kind of what I figured. The only other issue with the scripts is that when creating an action with a script, it is still to a specific path in local storage, so this would still require re-recording of all the actions. The only other option that I could think of would be to set up a singular script file with all the actions in it, attempt to retroactivley examine what action was triggered of the set, and then use that as an indicator for which part of the singular script file to run; but that sounds like more work that its worth. Thanks for the insight though! @Chuck Uebele @Bojan Živković11378569 @Stephen Marsh 

       

        J
        J.C.C.1Author
        Known Participant
        November 28, 2022

        Also, I am just using the action in this situation to bind a script to a key. For this case, it is merely to have a togglebale layer. 

        Bojan Živković11378569
        Community Expert
        Bojan Živković11378569Community Expert
        Community Expert
        November 28, 2022

        @Stephen Marsh @r-bin @c.pfaffenbichler @Chuck Uebele maybe can help you.

          Stephen Marsh
          Community Expert
          Stephen MarshCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
          Community Expert
          November 28, 2022

          Apart from re-recording the steps on the new computer, which you may have to do anyway so that paths aren't messed up...

           

          The only method I know is what you mention, using xtools to convert to XML, edit, then convert back to ATN (probably on the recipient computer so that paths aren't messed up).

           

          Creating or converting the entire action as a script is likely going to be easier to maintain... So that the paths aren't messed up.

           

          Did I mention that paths are easily messed up? :]

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