Get array of colors in swatch Group

[studiovanzwet]

Hi All,

I'm trying to get an array of swatchnames in a swatch group I created in a Indesign Template, so I can random pick a color of that array.

var template = app.open (File ('~/Desktop/test.indt'));
// Do stuff

var palette = app.swatchGroups.getByName("mypallete").swatches;
alert(palette[0].name);

How can I get the swatchGroup?

Cheers, Dennis

[m1b]

Hi @studiovanzwet, they are best accessed through a Document, and are called "colorGroups", with swatches in "colorGroupSwatches" property, so

var palette = doc.colorGroups.itemByName("mypallete").colorGroupSwatches;

See documentation.

 - Mark

Edit: oops, itemByName, not getByName.

[studiovanzwet]

Hi Mark,

Thank you for your quick reply, that link is very usefull. Is it getByName or itemByName. Would this var be a array?

Cheers,

Dennis

[Manan Joshi]

itemByName. See the documentation shared by Mark

-Manan

[m1b]

Oops. Yes itemByName. I should have tested the code. I'll edit. - Mark

[m1b]

No it isn't an Array, it is a ColorGroupSwatches object. It does work like an Array in some ways though, for example you can access its members by index.

// get ColorGroupSwatches of 3rd colorGroup of doc
var myColorGroupSwatches = doc.colorGroups[2].colorGroupSwatches;

// make an index to random element of myColorGroupSwatches
var index = Math.floor(Math.random() * myColorGroupSwatches.length);

// get the Color object at that index in myColorGroupSwatches
var myRandomColor = myColorGroupSwatches[index].swatchItemRef;

$.writeln('myRandomColor = ' + myRandomColor.name);

 - Mark

[studiovanzwet]

Thank you Mark, this gets me in the right direction. 

Cheers, Dennis

[studiovanzwet]

Hi, 

Can I store the colorGroupSwatches in 'myColorArray'? So I can pick a random color, delete it from the array (with splice), and repeat untill there are no more items in the array (array.length)

//example array
myColorArray = [
[100,0,0,0],[0,100,0,0],[0,0,100,0],[0,0,0,100]
];

for ( var i=0 ;  i<myColorArray.length; i++ ) {
            var randomFromArray = Math.floor(Math.random()*myColorArray.length); 
            var myRandomColor = myColorArray[randomFromArray];

            //do something, for example fill a square with that color

            // remove the color we selected so it can't be selected next time.
            myColorArray.splice(randomFromArray,1); 
 }

[m1b · Accepted solution]

Hi @studiovanzwet, if you want the colors in an Array, you can put them in one:

var myColors = [];

for (var i = 0;i < doc.colorGroups[1].colorGroupSwatches.length; i++)
    myColors.push(doc.colorGroups[1].colorGroupSwatches[i].swatchItemRef);

// now we have the colors in an Array
// so we can use any Array method

var firstColor = myColors.shift();

- Mark

[studiovanzwet]

Hi Mark, 

Thank you for your reply (again), really appreciate this, cause I'm newbee in extend/javascript and love to learn it. 

This was exactly what I was looking for. 

Cheers, Dennis