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Hi Silly-V, I figured it out, with big big, and I mean BIG help from Adobe's Sanjay K
// apply offset path live effect to selected path
var idoc = app.activeDocument;
var ipath = idoc.selection[0];
xmlstring = '<LiveEffect name="Adobe Offset Path"><Dict data="R mlim 4 R ofst 20 I jntp 2 "/></LiveEffect>';
ipath.applyEffect(xmlstring);
//mlim is the MiterLimit Value “4”, ofst is the Offset Value “20”, jntp is the Join Type “2” for Miter.
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Okay, let the experimentation begin.
First, I wanted to get the FXG file, but have no CS5 or CS6 where I am at the moment, so I used the scripting command to do a SaveAs using new FXGSaveOptions. This saved the current file, but not as fxg, rather as .ai. I renamed the file to fxg manually, but I suspect that one could simply open the ",ai" file as text anyway.
Well, in my result which came from CC2015, as there is no UI dialog FXG save option and no "show code" option, I did not get my XML string as described in Carlos' post. However, the same info is present in the FXG text, which for my simple 1-rectangle file consumed over 20,000 lines. Doing a search for my desired effect, Offset Path, I saw a structure from where the data can be also obtained if one doesn't have CS5 or CS6 and has to save the file like I did to get the effect parameter string data.
Then I was able to thus isolate this section:
/BasicFilter :
(Adobe Offset Path) 1 0 /Filter ,
1 /Visible ,
(OffsetPath.aip) /PluginFileName ,
(Offset Path) /Title ,
/Dictionary : /NotRecorded ,
0 /Int (jntp) ,
10 /Real (ofst) ,
4 /Real (mlim) ,
; /Dict ;
From where you can tell which parts relate to the XML string as Carlos has described:
<LiveEffect name="Adobe Offset Path"><Dict data="R mlim 4 R ofst 20 I jntp 2 "/></LiveEffect>
The name attribute in LiveEffect tag comes from the line with "1 0 /Filter ,"
The various attributes are from the lines beflow the /Dictionary : /NotRecorded ," and their number values (in case of this effect) are followed by the "datatype" (?) name, which is then abbreviated into a 1st capital letter in the effect string, and then the name which is in parentheses.
When copied, pasted and spliced and chopped so as to resemble the working example of Carlos, these pieces of strings can be used in the live effect string in any order.
Interestingly, the Join Type for this Offset Path effect does not quite correspond with the dropdown menu in the effect's actual UI dialog: the 0 value is for "Round" which is the 2nd (middle) item in the dropdown, the 1 value is for "Bevel" which is the 3rd item, and 2 is for "Miter" which is the 1st item.
Doing numbers from 3 on up for the joint type will default this effect to "Miter".
Using this new insight, I'm able to produce the all-powerful Transform effect dynamically.
In this example, the horizontal move is created using the width of the selection.
#target illustrator
function test(){
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var p = doc.selection[0];
var effectStr_2 =
'<LiveEffect name="Adobe Transform">' +
'<Dict data="' +
'R scaleH_Factor 1 ' +
'R moveV_Pts 0 ' +
'R scaleV_Percent 100 ' +
'I pinPoint 4 ' + // note the anchor point parameter- it goes from top-left (0) to bottom-right (8)
'B scaleLines 0 ' +
'I numCopies 1 ' +
'B randomize 0 ' +
'R rotate_Radians 0 ' +
'R moveH_Pts ' + p.width + ' ' +
'R scaleV_Factor 1 ' +
'B reflectY 0 ' +
'B reflectX 0 ' +
'R rotate_Degrees 0 ' +
'R scaleH_Percent 100 ' +
'B transformPatterns 0' +
'"/>' +
'</LiveEffect>';
p.applyEffect(effectStr_2);
}
test();
There is a problem in that we can't edit existing effects, and we can't apply new instances of effects with ability to override old ones. They simply get stacked on and on inside the appearance palette. For those uses where a one-time application is OK, or expansion soon follows, this probably doesn't matter. And for those that it does matter to, it is possible to record a "Reduce to Basic Appearance" action and run it with the script immediately. Another non-optimal solution which may work for some situations is having a pre-included set of 'default' graphic styles in the document, which could be called later to be applied onto the art, overriding any other effects and resetting it back.
great, thanks for adding your findings Silly, seeing the FXGSaveOptions in the documentation and Object browser, I thought we could save as fxg from CC 
This is a great thread, I was following moluapple's method through an uncompressed AI file when I noticed that these Live Effects look like siblings to what I optimistically hope might be other accessible things. In my file, the Stroke Offset effect shows up mixed in with Stroke and Fill effects:
/Part ,
/BasicFilter :
(Stroke Style Filter) 0 0 /Filter ,
1 /Visible ,
2 /FillOrStroke ,
/Dictionary : /NotRecorded ,
/StrokeStyle : 0 R
0.011535820551217 0.457404434680939 0.82201874256134 0 0.96078431372549 0.607843137254902 0.270588235294118 XA
0 1 0 0 0 Xy
0 J 0 j 2 w 1 M []0 d
0 XR
1 0 Xd
/Def ;
(StrokeStyle) ,
; /Dict ;
/Part ,
/CompoundFilter :
(Chain Style Filter) 0 0 /Filter ,
1 /Visible ,
/BasicFilter :
(Adobe Stroke Offset) 1 0 /Filter ,
1 /Visible ,
(Illustrator.exe) /PluginFileName ,
(Stroke Offset Live Effect) /Title ,
2 /FillOrStroke ,
/Dictionary : /NotRecorded ,
(Inside) /String (DisplayString) ,
/StrokeStyle : 0 R
0 0 0 0 1 1 1 XA
0 1 0 0 0 Xy
0 J 0 j 1.8 w 1 M []0 d
0 XR
1 0 Xd
/Def ;
(StrokeStyle) ,
'B StrokeOffsetInside 1' +
; /Dict ;
/Part ,
/BasicFilter :
(Blend Style Filter) 0 0 /Filter ,
1 /Visible ,
/Dictionary : /NotRecorded ,
/BlendStyle : 0 0.6 0 0 0 Xy
0 J 0 j 1 w 10 M []0 d
0 XR
/Def ;
(BlendStyle) ,
; /Dict ;
/Part ,
The format looks very similar too -- moluapple's RegExp picks up "Adobe Stroke Offset" which looks to be "Stroke Style Filter" in the effect above. I'm curious if strokes and fills could be accessed as LiveEffects and if what we're looking at is how the Appearance panel is handled. Would it be possible to access a stroke through this method then use PageItem.tag to keep track of multiple strokes? I don't know anything about C++, but I wondered if the way this worked was through the AILiveEffectSuite:
If so, would that mean that a script could potentially have access via app.sendScriptMessage? Or am I completely out in left field on this?
The app.sendScriptMessage was added later, and deals with custom plugins, the only documented piece in the javascript guide pdf is this:
So if there are such accessible strings available for the various default plugins, I have not yet seen such a list, but most likely they are not there because this scripting command was added way later. I'd love to be wrong..
It's worth mentioning that @m1b that has done some really nice work on live effects:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/scripting-live-effects/m-p/11744702
By @femkeblanco
Yes, I've been admiring that one too 🙂
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