Select and open multiple recent files are once

Hi @StarAG​, here's my solution. Run this script and it will show you a list of recent documents to open. Initially they are all selected, but you may choose a subset before clicking "Open".

- Mark

/**
 * Shows list of recent documents.
 * Click "Open" button to open selected documents.
 * Note: will only list documents *that exist*.
 * @author m1b
 * @discussion https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/select-and-open-multiple-recent-files-are-once/td-p/13717506
 */
(function () {

    var settings = {
        showUI: true,
        pathsToOpen: getRecentFilePaths(true),
        openDocumentsWithFitAll: false,
    };

    if (settings.showUI) {

        var result = showUI(settings);

        if (result == 2)
            // user cancelled UI
            return;

    }

    for (var i = 0; i < settings.pathsToOpen.length; i++) {
        app.open(File(settings.pathsToOpen[i]));
        app.selection = null;
        if (settings.openDocumentsWithFitAll)
            app.executeMenuCommand("fitall");
    }

})();


/**
 * Returns paths of open documents.
 * If `paths` array is supplied,
 * will add open document paths to it.
 * @author m1b
 * @version 2023-04-24
 * @param {Array<String>} [paths] - array of paths to add to (default: empty).
 * @returns {Array<String>} - array of paths.
 */
function getOpenDocumentsPaths(paths) {

    paths = path || [];
    var unquifier = {};
    for (var i = 0; i < paths.length; i++)
        unquifier[paths[i]] = true;

    for (var i = 0; i < app.documents.length; i++) {

        if (!app.documents[i].saved)
            continue;

        var path = app.documents[i].fullName.fsName;

        if (!unquifier[path])
            paths.push(path);

    }

};


/**
 * Returns array of recent files paths.
 * @author m1b
 * @version 2023-04-24
 * @returns {Array<String>}
 */
function getRecentFilePaths(onlyIfFileExists) {

    var fileCount = app.preferences.getIntegerPreference("RecentFileNumber");

    var recentFilePaths = [];
    for (var i = 0; i < fileCount; i++) {

        var path;

        /*
        // recent files might be stored in FileList:
        if (app.preferences.getStringPreference('plugin/FileList/file' + i + '/name') != '')
            path = app.preferences.getStringPreference('plugin/FileList/file' + i + '/path');

        // or in MixedFileList:
        else */

        if (
            app.preferences.getStringPreference('plugin/MixedFileList/file' + i + '/name') != ''
            && app.preferences.getIntegerPreference('plugin/MixedFileList/file' + i + '/type') == 0
        )
            path = app.preferences.getStringPreference('plugin/MixedFileList/file' + i + '/path');

        else
            continue;

        recentFilePaths.push(path);

    }

    if (onlyIfFileExists)
        recentFilePaths = getPathsThatExist(recentFilePaths);

    return recentFilePaths;

};


/**
 * Returns subset of paths that
 * resolve to actual files.
 * @param {Array<String} paths
 * @returns {Array<String}
 */
function getPathsThatExist(paths) {

    paths = paths || [];

    var pathsThatExist = [];

    for (var i = 0; i < paths.length; i++) {
        var f = File(paths[i]);
        if (f.exists)
            pathsThatExist.push(paths[i]);
    }

    return pathsThatExist;

};


/**
 * Shows UI for the various divide functions.
 * @author m1b
 * @version 2023-04-07
 * @param {Object} settings - the settings associated with the UI.
 */
function showUI(settings) {

    if (settings == undefined)
        throw Error('showUI: bad `settings` parameter.');

    settings.allPaths = settings.pathsToOpen.slice();

    var suppressEvents = false,
        columnWidth = 480,

        // set up the window
        w = new Window("dialog { text:'Open Recent', properties:{ resizeable:true } }"),

        // user input view
        fileListBox = w.add('listBox', undefined, '', { numberOfColumns: 1, multiselect: true }),

        bottomUI = w.add("group {orientation:'row', alignment:['fill','fill'], margins:[0,1,0,0] }"),
        buttons = bottomUI.add("group {orientation:'row', alignment:['right','center'], alignChildren:'right' }"),
        cancelButton = buttons.add("Button { text: 'Cancel', properties: {name:'cancel'} }"),
        okayButton = buttons.add("Button { text:'Open', enabled: true, properties: {name:'ok'} }");

    buildListBox(fileListBox, getFileNames(settings.allPaths));

    // event handling
    fileListBox.addEventListener('change', updateUI);
    okayButton.onClick = function () { w.close(1) };
    cancelButton.onClick = function () { w.close(2) };

    updateUI();
    fileListBox.active = true;

    // Explr.init(fileListBox);
    fileListBox.maximumSize.height = 100;

    // show dialog
    w.center();
    return w.show();

    /**
     * Updates the UI when controls have changed.
     */
    function updateUI() {

        if (suppressEvents)
            return;

        suppressEvents = true;

        // update paths to open
        var s = fileListBox.selection || [];
        if (s != null) {
            settings.pathsToOpen = [];
            for (var i = 0; i < s.length; i++)
                settings.pathsToOpen.push(settings.allPaths[s[i].index]);
        }

        // update enabled
        okayButton.enabled = settings.pathsToOpen.length > 0;

        suppressEvents = false;

    };

    /**
     * Builds listbox items.
     */
    function buildListBox(listbox, arr, index) {
        for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++)
            listbox.add('item', arr[i]);
        if (index == undefined)
            listbox.selection = selectAllItems(listbox);
        else
            listbox.selection = index;
    };

    /**
     * Returns a full selection array.
     */
    function selectAllItems(obj) {
        var sel = [];
        for (var i = 0; i < obj.items.length; i++)
            sel[i] = i;
        return sel;
    }

    /**
     * Returns array of file names.
     * @param {Array<String>} paths - the paths to files.
     * @returns {Array<String>} - the file names.
     */
    function getFileNames(paths) {

        paths = paths || [];
        var names = [];

        for (var i = 0; i < paths.length; i++)
            names.push(decodeURI(File(paths[i]).name));

        return names;

    };

};

Edit 2023-04-25: removed the step that first looks in the `FileList` dictionary, because it seemed to cause problems. So now script just looks directly in the `MixedFileList` dictionary. Also commented out the "fitall" menu command for OP.