Resize two text frames

[xmlapi]

I have two text frames on a page. When the top one is overset, I want it to resize the height so all the content is visible meanwhile reducing the height of the second text frame on the same page. If the top one is not overset and the textframe height is larger than the content, I want to resize it so the second text frame increases in size etc.

How do I accomplish this using a script? (cannot use plugins, must be a script)

[Guest]

You can do it like this with javascript:

function resizeTwoTextFrames(myPage, spaceBetweenTextFrames){ // resizes the top two textframes of a page
     if (myPage.textFrames.length>2){
          alert("Page must contain at least two textframes");
          return;
     }
     var myTextFrames = myPage.textFrames.everyItem().getElements().sort(function(a,b){return a.geometricBounds[0]>b.geometricBounds[1]}); // sorts every textframe on the page by the top margin
     var topTextFrame = myTextFrames[0];
     var lowerTextFrame = myTextFrames[1];
     topTextFrame.fit(FitOptions.FRAME_TO_CONTENT);
     lowerTextFrame.geometricBounds = [topTextFrame.geometricBounds[2]+spaceBetweenTextFrames,lowerTextFrame.geometricBounds[1],lowerTextFrame.geometricBounds[2],lowerTextFrame.geometricBounds[3]]
}

resizeTwoTextFrames(app.activeWindow.activePage, 0);

You might want to change the method of selecting the two textframes in question. This will take the top two textframes on the page.

[John Hawkinson]

Typo?

sort(function(a,b){return a.geometricBounds[0]>b.geometricBounds[1]})

[Guest]

John Hawkinson wrote:

Typo?

sort(function(a,b){return a.geometricBounds[0]>b.geometricBounds[1]})

Yes, it's a typo. This is what it's supposed to be:

sort(function(a,b){return a.geometricBounds[0]>b.geometricBounds[0]})

Here's the whole script with the typo corrected

function resizeTwoTextFrames(myPage, spaceBetweenTextFrames){ // resizes the top two textframes of a page
     if (myPage.textFrames.length>2){
          alert("Page must contain at least two textframes");
          return;
     }
     var myTextFrames = myPage.textFrames.everyItem().getElements().sort(function(a,b){return a.geometricBounds[0]>b.geometricBounds[0]}); // sorts every textframe on the page by the top margin
     var topTextFrame = myTextFrames[0];
     var lowerTextFrame = myTextFrames[1];
     topTextFrame.fit(FitOptions.FRAME_TO_CONTENT);
     lowerTextFrame.geometricBounds = [topTextFrame.geometricBounds[2]+spaceBetweenTextFrames,lowerTextFrame.geometricBounds[1],lowerTextFrame.geometricBounds[2],lowerTextFrame.geometricBounds[3]]
}
 
resizeTwoTextFrames(app.activeWindow.activePage, 0);

[Laubender]

Another typo?

length>2

Should be

length<2

in the if-statement…

Uwe

[Guest]

Very good! That was not a typo, it was a test to see if you were paying attention.

[xmlapi]

Thanks for the reply. However this is what I want:

When there's two text frames on a page one after the other, I want to delete the first textframe and resize the other textframe so it takes up the whole page. How do I do this with a script? I tried modifying the geometric bounds (secondTextFrame.GeometricBounds[0] = 0 but it doesn't move up)

[John Hawkinson]

secondTextFrame.GeometricBounds[0] = 0

This construction fetches secondTextFrame.geometricBounds (an array), keeps it hanging out there, and changes the value of the first element, and then throws the array away. You must use a temporary variable:

var b = secondTextFrame.geometricBounds;
b[0] = 0;
secondTextFrame.geometricBounds = b;

(well, ok, I guess you could do it on one line without the temp. var)

That said, it seems like you should use the bounds of the current page, or something, just in case somebody moves the zero point.

[xmlapi]

Thanks, how do I set it to the geometric bounds of the page margin? I tried textFrame.GeometricBounds =  page.Bounds but that set it above the visible area etc.

[John Hawkinson]

"visible area"? What does that mean?

What do you want?

Are you saying you would like to stay within the page margins?

Please be specific in your questions.

If you want the margin, you'll have to adjust the bounds array

yourself based on the values of the margins which you can look

up in the Page's marginPreferences.

[xmlapi]

TextFrame  secondTextFrame;

var a = secondTextFrame.GeometricBounds;

Page someRandomPage= doc.Pages[4];

var b = someRandomPage.GeometricBounds;

a = b;

secondTextFrame.GeometricBounds = a;

The above code fixes the problem BUT depending on the document, there may not be a page 4 (there maybe only 2 pages etc). Instead of getting the geometric bounds from a random page, how do I get it from the page margins?

[John Hawkinson]

Why would you use page 4? I just don't understand what's going on here.

If you want to pick a random page, you could pick page zero.

But a better choice is probably to use the page the textFrame is actually on.

You know, b = secondTextFrame.parentPage.bounds;