Indesign set columns TabStop Position problem

[miloes329]

hi all,

I have a question to set the tabstop position,

according below script is fail,

I can't set the tab stop position value to every single columns

can anyone help me?

thanks a lot!!

var myTable = app.selection[0].columns.everyItem();
var mySetCol = myTable.cells.everyItem().texts.everyItem();
mySetCol.tabStops.add({alignment: TabStopAlignment.CHARACTER_ALIGN, alignmentCharacter: ".", position: myTable.width - 4})

[tpk1982]

Not sure why you used column.everyitem()..this will apply only for tables

Here is a way to start.. change as per your requirement..

var paras = app.activeDocument.stories.everyItem().paragraphs.everyItem().getElements();
for(var i=0;i<paras.length;i++)
{
    paras.tabStops.everyItem().remove(); 
    paras.tabStops.add( ); 
    var tabstops = paras.tabStops;
    tabstops[0].alignment = TabStopAlignment.LEFT_ALIGN;
    tabstops[0].position = "8pt";
    //  tabstops[1].remove;
}

[miloes329]

thanks a lot for your reply!

but I try it and can't solve my problem

the picture is what I want to do

select columns and set tabstop

in my case I try my script before when I type "position: myTable.width - 6"

it will count 2 columns total width -6 (70-6)

but I just want to set every column -6 (35-6)

[tpk1982]

The picture shows you are using tables and not tabbed text tables..

not sure what you want with column values..

it shows three columns.. please mention column 1, 2 and 3 values you need.

[Laubender]

Hi together,

if you are working on a selection of text cells you can do it like that:

var textsArray = app.selection[0].cells.everyItem().texts.everyItem().getElements();

var tabStopProperties =
{
    alignment : TabStopAlignment.CHARACTER_ALIGN ,
    alignmentCharacter : "." ,
    position : "29mm"
};

for(var n=0;n<textsArray.length;n++)
{
    textsArray[n].tabStops.everyItem().remove();
    textsArray[n].tabStops.add();
    textsArray[n].tabStops[0].properties = tabStopProperties;
};

No need to access paragraphs. Just work with the texts object of a cell.

Regards,
Uwe

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Transferring this thread from the old forum to the new Adobe InDesign forum in 2019 damaged the posted code. Fixed it now.

Uwe Laubender, March 23, 2020.

[Laubender · Accepted solution]

And if you want to calculate the tab's position from the right edge of a cell, you could do it like that:

var textsArray = app.selection[0].cells.everyItem().texts.everyItem().getElements();

var tabStopProperties =
{
    alignment : TabStopAlignment.CHARACTER_ALIGN ,
    alignmentCharacter : "."
};

for(var n=0;n<textsArray.length;n++)
{
    var cellWidth = app.selection[0].cells[0].width;
    var position = cellWidth - 4;
    textsArray[n].tabStops.everyItem().remove();
    textsArray[n].tabStops.add();
    textsArray[n].tabStops[0].properties = tabStopProperties;
    textsArray[n].tabStops[0].position = position;
};

Regards,
Uwe

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Transferring this thread from the old forum to the new Adobe InDesign forum in 2019 damaged the posted code. Fixed it now.

Uwe Laubender, March 23, 2020.

[miloes329]

Thanks Laubender!

ITS WORK and GREAT!!

THANKS so much!!!

[Laubender]

BTW: You could also write the widths of all selected cells to an array beforehand and use the stored values in the loop.

Regards,
Uwe