Deleting last sublayer of group.

[ellipirelli]

Hi,

I need to delete the last layer in a group or delete a CompoundPath layer that is part of a group. Or delete a layer of a group that has a certain name. I think I need to loop through the function but I am not sure how.

These are my layers:

The amount of layers can vary...

Here iy my script:

   if (bks.layers.getByName("icon")){
      bks.layers.getByName("icon").locked = false;
        var icon = bks.layers.getByName("icon");

        for(var i = 0; i < icon.pageItems[0].pathItems.length; i++){
            var iconpath = icon.pageItems[0].pathItems[i];
            var iconobj = icon.pageItems[0];
            iconpath.strokeColor = grau;
            var ab = bks.artboards[0];
            var artboardRight   = ab.artboardRect[2];
            var artboardBottom  = ab.artboardRect[3];
            var artboardX       = ab.artboardRect[0];
            var artboardY       = ab.artboardRect[1];
            var horziontalCenterPosition = (artboardRight - iconobj.width)/2;
            var verticalCenterPosition = (artboardY + iconobj.height)/2;
            iconobj.position = [horziontalCenterPosition, verticalCenterPosition];
        }
    }

[femkeblanco · Accepted solution]

This will delete the last item in the first group in the "Icon" layer.

var group = app.activeDocument.layers["Icon"].groupItems[0];
var lastIndex = (group.pageItems.length) - 1;
group.pageItems[lastIndex].remove();

Alternatively, this will loop through the items in the first group in the "Icon" layer and delete compound paths.

var group = app.activeDocument.layers["Icon"].groupItems[0];
for (var i = 0; i < group.pageItems.length; i++) {
  if (group.pageItems[i].typename == "CompoundPathItem") {
    group.pageItems[i].remove();
  }
}

Neither the group nor the items in the group are named, so they cannot be deleted by name.

[Charu Rajput]

Hi, I think the following code will not remove all compoundPath Items from the group.

var group = app.activeDocument.layers["Icon"].groupItems[0];
for (var i = 0; i < group.pageItems.length; i++) {
  if (group.pageItems[i].typename == "CompoundPathItem") {
    group.pageItems[i].remove();
  }
}

Here is the scenario in which it fails, Consider group with two compound path Items only, The above code will delete only one compoundpath item and one is left. What your thoughts?

[femkeblanco]

Yes, you are absolutely right.  It should be

var group = app.activeDocument.layers["Icon"].groupItems[0];
for (var i = (group.pageItems.length) - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
  if (group.pageItems[i].typename == "CompoundPathItem") {
    group.pageItems[i].remove();
  }
}

Thank you.

[ellipirelli]

This works really well, however I have a sceond question. Is it possible to adapt it fpr a text element?

I've tried this but it doesn't work. 

  var app = app.activeDocument;

     var group = app.layers["Icon"].groupItems[0];
        for (var i = (group.pageItems.length) - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
          if (group.pageItems[i].typename == "TextFrameItem") {
            group.pageItems[i].remove();
          }
        }

[femkeblanco · Accepted solution]

The "typename" of text is "TextFrame".  

So try this:

var group = app.activeDocument.layers["Icon"].groupItems[0];
for (var i = (group.pageItems.length) - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
  if (group.pageItems[i].typename == "TextFrame") {
    group.pageItems[i].remove();
  }
}

[ellipirelli]

Thank you so much 😄

[ellipirelli]

Hi,

the first example worked very well for me, thank you very much 🙂

And I relize that I hadn't named the layer of the compound path. I had however previously tried that to find a solution myself.

thank you very much 😄

[Charu Rajput]

Hi,

First of all you need to correct your terminology here. For an example, you said "last layer in a group". Well layer cannot present inside the. A group can exists inside the layer. As per screenshot, here is the description we understand,

"Icon" is the name of the layer. This layer consists of one group. And this group have different objects like ellipse and other objects. Refer screen shot for more details

So I think you need the following the things. And please correct we something is wrong.

• Delete last item in a group inside layer named as "Icon"
• Delete all compound path from a group inside layer named as "Icon". Compund Path should be deleted from all groups exists inside the layer named "Icon"?
• Delete layer with certain name. 

If these are your scenarios, then you can try following script for each of them

var docRef = app.activeDocument;

/*******************************************************************
	Method to delete last item from first group inside the layer.
*******************************************************************/
function deleteLastItemFromGroup(layerName) {
    var _layer = docRef.layers[layerName];
    var firstGroup = _layer.groupItems[0];
    var lastIndex = (firstGroup.pageItems.length) - 1;
    firstGroup.pageItems[lastIndex].remove();

}

/*******************************************************************
	Method to delete all compund path items from all groups inside layer
*******************************************************************/
function deleteCompoundPaths(layerName) {
    var _layer = docRef.layers[layerName];
    var _groups = _layer.groupItems;
    for (var g = 0; g < _groups.length; g++) {
        var _itemLength = _groups[g].pageItems.length
        for (var c = _itemLength - 1; c >= 0; c--) {
            if (_groups[g].pageItems[c].typename == 'CompoundPathItem')
                _groups[g].pageItems[c].remove();
        }
    }
}

/*******************************************************************
	Method to delete layer by its name
*******************************************************************/
function deleteLayer(layerName) {
    try {
        var _layer = docRef.layers[layerName];
        _layer.remove();
    } catch (e) {
        alert("No layer exists with name - " + layerName);
    }
}

deleteLastItemFromGroup("Icon");    //Delete last item in a group inside layer named as "Icon"
deleteCompoundPaths("Icon");    // Delete all compund path items from all groups insid elayer named as "Icon"
deleteLayer("Icon");    // Delate layer by its name

Let us know if this helps. 

[ellipirelli]

Thank you for your help. The simple code from above already helped.

I want to try this out later.

I'm actually having a bit of trouble with the terminology, especially a lot of the explanation given here. 
I need more examples to understand it all.

[Charu Rajput]

Hi,

Just for your information, you can refer following Javascript Guide for Illustartor. This will helps you.

http://wwwimages.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/illustrator/pdf/Illustrator_Scriptin_Reference...

[ellipirelli]

Thanks. I already did all the reading I could to find the solution on my own. I would not have posted here if that weren't the case.

My main source is this:
https://illustrator-scripting-guide.readthedocs.io/

[Charu Rajput]

Thats great!