InDesign AppleScript word count by page

Hi Randolph,

below some ExtendScript (JavaScript) code for all using InDesign on Windows and/or on Mac OS X.

Run this code snippet when text is selected in the story. Could be a single insertion point as well.

/*
	WARNING:
	1. NOT COUNTING words in table cells, words in footnote texts.
	2. Not counting words if the text frame or the text path is on the pasteboard.
	
	Also see what exactly makes a word here:
	
	Highly recommended read, blog post by Marc Autret:
	http://www.indiscripts.com/post/2011/09/what-exactly-is-a-word
	
*/

// SELECT SOME TEXT BEFORE RUNNING THIS:

var story = app.selection[0].parentStory;
var textContainers = story.textContainers;

var resultArray = [];
var resultString = "PagePos" +"\t"+ "Number of Words";

for( var n=0; n<textContainers.length; n++ )
{
	if( textContainers[n].parentPage == null ){ continue };
	var pagePositionString = ( textContainers[n].parentPage.documentOffset + 1 ) + "" ;
	
	if( resultArray[pagePositionString] == null )
	{ resultArray[pagePositionString] = textContainers[n].words.length }
	else
	{
		resultArray[pagePositionString] = 
		resultArray[pagePositionString] + textContainers[n].words.length;
	};
};

for( x in resultArray )
{
	resultString = resultString +"\r"+ x +"\t"+resultArray[x] ;
};

alert( resultString );

Below  a sample result where a story is threaded from page 1 to the pasteboard, then on to page 2, page 4 and back to page 1 of a document. The text on the pasteboard will not be counted.

Another note: To get word count with table cells and footnote text as well one could use e.g. GREP Find and limit the scope to text frames and text paths of a story. FWIW: The code above will also count text in frames that are nested inside e.g. groups.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )