Catch a subLayer with .getByName(name);

[Urbanspaceman]

Hi, i need (in my extension), to get a subLayers
for example
- firstLayer
-- secondLayer

docRef.layers.getByName('firstLayer'); //it's ok
docRef.layers.getByName('secondLayer'); //it's not ok

getByName look only at root level's layers
any suggestion?

Thanks

[pixxxelschubser]

Does that works for you?

app.activeDocument.layers.getByName('firstLayer').layers.getByName('secondLayer').visible = false;

If so

have fun

😉

[femkeblanco]

It's shorter and more intuitive (at least for me) to reference names using bracket notation. 

var layer2 = app.activeDocument.layers["firstLayer"].layers["secondLayer"];

[Inventsable]

Don't both of the above answers cause the script to fail and stop execution if either layer of this name is not found? Only works for a single depth too.

var layer2 = app.activeDocument.layers["firstLayer"].layers["secondLayer"];
// If either "firstLayer" or "secondLayer" don't exist, this alert is never shown:
alert("Test")

Here's a recursive solution that will snatch any layer or sublayer with any property and return the first instance found:

function getLayerByProperty(property, value) {
  Array.prototype.find = function(callback) {
    for (var i = 0; i < this.length; i++)
      if (callback(this[i], i, this)) return this[i];
    return null;
  };
  function get(type, parent) {
    if (arguments.length == 1 || !parent) parent = app.activeDocument;
    var result = [];
    if (!parent[type]) return [];
    for (var i = 0; i < parent[type].length; i++) {
      result.push(parent[type][i]);
      if (parent[type][i][type])
        result = [].concat(result, get(type, parent[type][i]));
    }
    return result || [];
  }
  return get("layers").find(function(layer) {
    return layer[property] == value;
  });
}

Might seem like overkill but I like this utility because the script never fails silently and it works for any property or any depth, even if this layer is in a chain 9 parent layers in:

var target = getLayerByProperty("name", "secondLayer");
// Below alert is always shown. If "secondLayer" does not exist, returns as null
alert(target)

[femkeblanco]

In CS6, if a named element is not found, I get "Error 1302 : No such element." pointing to the line. 

Thanks for the script.