Is it possible to merge sections within one document?

[Joanna101]

Hello, I currently use a check-in/check-out plugin system at work for pages of documents. When I check out multiple pages of the same document, they each come in as a separate section of a single document. I need to merge them so the pages are all one section. Is this possible to do other than clicking each page individually in the Pages panel? Some documents have quite a few pages!

Thanks!

[Eugene Tyson]

Can you tell us more about the plugin that you have - seems quite specific. Maybe you'd need to contact the makers of the plugin. 

[Joanna101]

The plugin is for a newspaper editorial system, NewsEngin, and allows users to pull content from the editorial system onto the page directly from the website. The pages are checked in and out from the server and can be checked in under different statuses. When the page is finished, it can be sent to a status that publishes the page to an e-Edition on the publication's website.

I spoke with the NewsEngin help desk and they weren't helpful, they didn't understand the problem at all. One of the things I do is make magazines for the publications, which aren't printed or published the same way as regular newspaper page. I do center spreads so I need the right and left pages married into spreads. The help desk didn't seem to understand that unfortunately.

[Eugene Tyson]

Ok - I think I understand your issue more clearly now. 

Thanks for explaining. 

Just as an added bonus - can you share a sample document of how it appears - and also how you would like it to appear?
It can be screenshots or it can be a file. 
Whatever suits you.

If it's sensitive you can PM me and anyone else who replies with the files. 

Just so we have a full understanding of the issue.

[Joanna101]

Here is the screenshot of the page view, as you can see the pages are staggered and not married into spreads due to each separate page being a new section. That is the problem I'm having. Just wondering if there is a setting I can use to quickly do this as a whole instead of dragging each right page up to marry it to the left. Some of our files are quite large.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@Joanna101 

Can you check what is the status of both ALLOW options:

- and "check" them:

You will have to answer NO to the first ALLOW.

UPDATE:

It will be quicker if you select all pages and then "check" both options:

That way you don't have to remove sections.

[Peter Kahrel]

To merge a document's sections, remove all sections after the first one. This doesn't remove any pages, just the section settings:

s = app.documents[0].sections.everyItem().getElements();
for (i = s.length-1; i > 0; i--) {
  s[i].remove();
}

[Joanna101]

Thank you! I'm not sure how to use that code though. Is there a way to do this in the menus? Sorry I'm not sure I have the privileges to do this.

[Peter Kahrel]

In the menus you'll have to use the method you mentioned: click a page in the Pages panel and undo the section in the 'Numbering and Sections Options' window.

The code is a script. You can save it as a plain-text file, using the .jsx file type. Then copy it to your Scripts Panel folder. To find that, open the Scripts panel (Window > Utilities > Scripts, then right-click the User folder and select Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). That opens your file manager. Open the Scripts Panel folder and copy the xxxxxx.jsx file to that folder. After a few seconds it'll appear in the Scripts panel. Double-click it to execute the script.

If you don't have permissions to write to that folder, ask your system administrator.

[Joanna101]

Ah ok, I might have permissions for that! I'll give it a try, thanks!

[Joanna101]

It says the script isn't executable. I'm not sure what I did wrong. It seems I have access to the scripts though.

[Peter Kahrel]

You probably didn't save the file as a plain-text file, please check. In whatever program you use, take the Save As option to save the file, then select Text Only. You could even use InDesign for this!

[Joanna101]

Ok I'll get it working. Thanks again!

[Joanna101]

That seems to have fixed the sections, but not marrying the spreads I'm afraid. There may just be no way to do it easily.

[Peter Kahrel · Accepted solution]

Ah! If you had mentioned marriage earlier I would have made a different proposal!

Here's an updated script, it incorporates what Robert suggested about document and spread shuffling:

s = app.documents[0].sections.everyItem().getElements();
for (i = s.length-1; i > 0; i--) {
  s[i].remove();
}

app.documents[0].documentPreferences.allowPageShuffle = true;
app.documents[0].spreads.everyItem().allowPageShuffle = true;

[Joanna101]

This has done the trick! Thank you all so much!