Get All Tables in an Indesign Document - Indesign SDK C++

[ryany27707769]

How would I iterate through every page in an Indesign document and build a list of the tables in each page, using the Indesign C++ SDK?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

You don't go through Pages - you go through Stories. 

[ryany27707769]

OK, if that's the case, how do I go through Stories?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

I'm sorry but I'm not plug-in writer.

But, if I may - first, learn how to use InDesign and learn scripting - DOM - otherwise, you'll be constantly hitting the wall - as you have no idea about InDesign's internal structure. 

[ryany27707769]

I'm well aware of the DOM. I just got terms mixed up momentarily.

If anyone here can speak on the C++ side of things, I'm all ears.

[Lawrence Horwitz · Accepted solution]

You'd have to get the stories in the document, iterate through them, and get all the tables on each story.

Each story has a list of story threads. Each table is a story thread (though not every story thread is a table). So go through all the threads in a story, check if it's a table, and if it add it to the list.  Read the API docs for more info on story models, story threads, and tables.

Here's sample code:

/**
 * @brief Retrieves all table models in the specified document.
 *
 * This function iterates through all user-accessible stories in the given document
 * and collects the UID references of all table models found within those stories.
 *
 * @Param in_DocUIDRef The UID reference of the document to search for table models.
 * @Param out_TableUIDs A vector to store the UID references of the found table models.
 * @Return ErrorCode Returns kSuccess if all table models are successfully retrieved, otherwise kFailure.
 */
ErrorCode GetAllTableModelsOnDocument(const UIDRef& in_DocUIDRef, UIDRefVector& out_TableUIDs) const
{
    ErrorCode status = kFailure;

    do {
        // Get the story list interface for the document
        InterfacePtr<IStoryList> storyList(in_DocUIDRef, UseDefaultIID());
        if (storyList == nil)
        {
            ASSERT(storyList);
            break;
        }

        // Get the database associated with the document
        IDataBase* db = in_DocUIDRef.GetDataBase();
        if (db == nil)
        {
            ASSERT(db);
            break;
        }

        // Get the number of user-accessible stories in the document
        const int32 numStories = storyList->GetUserAccessibleStoryCount();

        status = kSuccess;

        // Iterate through each story and collect table models
        for (int32 index = 0; index < numStories; ++index)
        {
            UIDRef curStory(storyList->GetNthUserAccessibleStoryUID(index));

            // Retrieve all tables in the current story
            if (GetAllTablesInStory(curStory, out_TableUIDs) != kSuccess)
            {
                ASSERT_FAIL("Could not get tables from story!");
                status = kFailure;
                break;
            }
        }
    } while (kFalse);

    return status;
}

/**
 * @brief Retrieves all table models in the specified text story.
 *
 * This function iterates through the text story threads in the given text story
 * and collects the UID references of all table models found within those threads.
 *
 * @Param in_TextStoryRef The UID reference of the text story to search for table models.
 * @Param out_TableModelUIDs A vector to store the UID references of the found table models.
 * @Return ErrorCode Returns kSuccess if all table models are successfully retrieved, otherwise kFailure.
 */
ErrorCode GetAllTablesInStory(const UIDRef& in_TextStoryRef, UIDRefVector& out_TableModelUIDs) const
{
    ErrorCode status = kFailure;

    do {
        // Get the database associated with the text story
        IDataBase* db = in_TextStoryRef.GetDataBase();
        if (db == nil)
        {
            ASSERT(db);
            break;
        }

        // Get the story thread hierarchy interface for the text story
        InterfacePtr<ITextStoryThreadDictHier> storyThreadHier(in_TextStoryRef, UseDefaultIID());
        if (storyThreadHier == nil)
        {
            ASSERT(storyThreadHier);
            break;
        }

        UID nextUID = in_TextStoryRef.GetUID();

        // Iterate through the story threads and collect table models
        do {
            if (nextUID != kInvalidUID)
            {
                // Get the table model interface for the current UID
                InterfacePtr<ITableModel> tableModel(db, nextUID, UseDefaultIID());

                // If it's a table model, add it to the output vector
                if (tableModel != nil)
                {
                    out_TableModelUIDs.push_back(UIDRef(db, nextUID));
                }
            }
            nextUID = storyThreadHier->NextUID(nextUID);
        } while (nextUID != kInvalidUID);

        status = kSuccess;
    } while (kFalse);

    return status;
}

[Dirk Becker]

ITableModelList is still around despite an old deprecation warning that also confirms ITextStoryThreadDictHier as new scheme.

On the other hand ITableModelList could be quicker as it is persistent.

Tough choice.

[Lawrence Horwitz]

Ha! I think ITableModelList is 99.9% safe.  How many years old do you think that deprecation warning is?

Good points as always.

[Dirk Becker]

My guess was a farewell/todo message from maybe 2008. Let me see:

The comment is already present in my oldest copy of the SDK, that is version 2.x with a $DateTime: 2002/08/27 .

Never touch a running system.