Use attribute value for setting paragraph formating parameter

[Eric5F88]

Hello,

This seems like a basic question but I couldn't find the answer yet:

I would like to use the integer value of a parameter to set the value of a paragraph formating parameter (here: number of allowed orphan lines)

Here is what my element looks like in the EDD:

Element (Container): Para
	General rule:	<TEXT> | etc...
	Attribute list
		Name: orphan_lines 	Integer 	Optional 
		Range: from 1    to 999
		Default:	1
	Text format rules
		In all contexts.
			Pagination properties
				Widow/orphan lines: orphan_lines

Nevertheless this doesn't work: the parameter "Window Orphan Lines" from Parafraph Designer doesn't get set to the value value of "orphan_lines"

Is the syntax I'm using correct ?

Thanx in advance

Best regards

Eric

[Russ Ward · Accepted solution]

Hi Eric,

You can't reference an attribute value that way. It seems logical, but it's unfortunately not that flexible. You would need to reference the value in context rules in a more explicit manner, such as:

...unless somebody knows some syntax that I am forgetting. It's been a while since I wrote EDDs. Hope this helps.

Russ

[edit] Postscript... with this method, you probably would want to make the attribute a Choice type, so you can limit the values to only those supported by the context rules you specify.

[Eric5F88]

Thanx a lot for your answer !

[frameexpert · Accepted solution]

An alternative to Russ's EDD approach would be to use ExtendScript. Here is a snippet that illustrates the basic concept:

var doc, element, attrValue, pgf;

// Assuming you have doc, element, and pgf objects in scope...
// ...
attrValue = getAttributeValue (element, "orphan_lines");
if ((attrValue) && (attrValue !== "")) {
   pgf.BlockLines = attrValue;
}

function getAttributeValue (element, name) {
    
    var attrList = element.Attributes, i = 0;
    
    for (i = 0; i < attrList.length; i += 1) {
        if (attrList[i].name === name) {
            if (attrList[i].values[0] !== undefined) {
                return (attrList[i].values[0]);
            }
        }
    }
}