Rectangle vs. Graphic Frame

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
December 14, 2024
2 replies
1673 views

Hi all,

does anyone have any idea how to differentiate between these two rectangles using ExtendScript.

About the creation process: An XML tag was assigned to the lower rectangle, which was then removed. This way, the appearance in the layer palette can be recreated.

They do not differ in IDML. Thus, the lower element becomes a “normal” rectangle when the IDML file is opened.

Thanks for any hints
Roland

graphic_frame.zip

Scripting

This topic has been closed for replies.

m1b

Community Expert

Hi @Roland Dreger, I couldn't find a single thing that differentiated these two frames, based on doing diff between the two dumps in the ExtendScript debugger. ~~Maybe the exported XML is different?~~

I don't know your use case, but I wondered if the following code might be safe to use:

var doc = app.activeDocument,
    item1 = doc.rectangles[0],
    item2 = doc.rectangles[1];

resetGraphicRectangle(item1);
resetGraphicRectangle(item2);

function resetGraphicRectangle(item) {

    if (
        ContentType.GRAPHIC_TYPE !== item.contentType
        || 0 === item.graphics.length
    )
        return;

    item.contentType = ContentType.UNASSIGNED;
    item.contentType = ContentType.GRAPHIC_TYPE;

};

Edit: fixed typo.

- Mark

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Good idea @m1b

Just wonder if the core issue is addressed - rather than resetting.

Maybe some Metadata or Hidden Attributes could be added to the frame. While the obvious properties are identical, this would mean a hidden attributes or metadata (perhaps a label, taggedPDFData, or custom object metadata) that might be accessible by ExtendScript.

I'd try with testing export Tags, since Roland mentioned differences in PDF tagging, maybe a script could compare export tag settings (perhaps tagged PDF Data or other related properties).

Could a check for Custom Label where untagging elements could leave residual label data or other flags? Perhaps there's a way for a script to loop through all objects and differentiate label properties.

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

I am not sure what your goal or needs are, but ID frames are... malleable entities that shift with the designer's whim. Drag out a "Rectangle"; drag out a rectangular "Frame"; either can be used as a graphics element or tagged as a graphics or text frame by subsequent actions.

Not a Script Guy, but I'd wager that script-level actions are no more differentiated. That is, I'd bet you can create a (graphics) Rectangle and follow up with assigning and formatting text in it, or placing a graphic, and vicey-versey-alleey-roundy.

R

Roland DregerAuthor

Inspiring

Thank you for your answer. That's right, you can convert it back to its original state. But what I want to find out is how these two states of the rectangle can be distinguished at script level.

Both are rectangle frames, both have (it seems) the same script properties and are the same in IDML. Only one rectangle was tagged once (XML) and the tag removed again.

Background, why I want to find out: one rectangle is tagged when exporting a PDF, the other is not.