Simple script for selecting a specific layer

[carelfransen]

I have been trying to find/write a script to select a layer with a specific name. However, I have no JavaScript experience, I found rather little information on scripting in Illustrator, and loads of examples I did find online do not work anymore in the latest releases of Illustrator.

There are two separate scripts I'm trying to write, namely:

– Select/highlight the layer with the name "Road"

– Select all on the currently active layer only

I got as far as this:

app.activeDocument.layers["Road"].hasSelectedArtwork = true;

Which sort of does what I want. It both highlights and selects everything on the specific layer named "Roads". However, there are two problems:

– It also selects everything on this layer, even if it is locked

– Only if the layer is unlocked, the layer is selected/highlighted

I cannot seem to be able to come up with a way to select/highlight a specific (un)locked layer without also selecting everything in it. And I cannot seem to find a way to only select everything on the currently active/highlighted layer.

I hope someone can help me out.

[CarlosCanto · Accepted solution]

app.activeDocument.activeLayer = app.activeDocument.layers[2]; // activates third layer from top
app.activeDocument.activeLayer.hasSelectedArtwork = true; // selects all in active layer

[carelfransen]

Thank you, CarlosCanto, for the quick reply! That works great!

The only thing I see is that the "Select all in active layer" script also selects locked objects on that layer. Is there a simple way for the script to omit the locked objects?

[CarlosCanto]

Hello carel, yes. Instead of using hasSelectedArtwork property, loop through all items in the layer, evaluate if they're locked or not and select each accordingly using 

pgItem.selected =  true;

[carelfransen]

Thank you Carlos. That looks a bit more difficult that a single rule script, but the explanation is clear enough. I'll find my way around it. 🙂

[Flowgun]

kinda old thread, but I found myself here.
The fastest solution I found is to actually use hasSelectedArtwork as it evaluates way faster, then we loop through the top-level items and deselect them if they are hidden/locked (as they are not always present).
As a bonus to the speed, I get the bounding box flashing when selecting hidden items, reminding me of them.

var doc = app.activeDocument;
var layer = doc.activeLayer;
layer.hasSelectedArtwork = true;
var top = layer.pageItems;
for (var i = 0; i < top.length; i++) {
var it = top[i];
if (it.hidden || it.locked) {
it.selected = false;
}

I set this code to ctrl+A, and double-tapping Ctrl+a would select everything on the document

[CarlosCanto]

you're welcome, I could give you the code but it'll be more educational if you try doing it yourself.

post back if you get stuck. We'll help you get you back on track.