Run a function on each selected frame in turn

[JustyR]

Hi all,

I've made a script that places a text caption to either the side of a graphic frame or below it. At the moment, it only works with a single, selected graphic frame (must have an image inside it to capture the metadata). But I've hit a brick wall trying to get the script to loop when more than one frame is selected.

Here's the script before I started trying to loop it:

var doc = app.activeDocument;
var myPage = app.activeWindow.activePage;
var mySelection = app.selection[0];
var savedUnits = app.scriptPreferences.measurementUnit;
var filename = mySelection.graphics[0].itemLink.name;
var textFrameHeight = 10;
var textFrame = myPage.textFrames.add();
var captionText = filename.replace(/(.*)(\..*)/i, "$1");
var b = mySelection.geometricBounds;
var frameWidth = b[3]-b[1];
var frameHeight = b[2]-b[0];
var objectStyle = doc.objectStyles.itemByName("Photo Caption align base");

//THE DIALOG
var myList = ["Below", "Side"];
var myDialog = app.dialogs.add({name:"Credit/Caption", canCancel:true});
with (myDialog )
    with (dialogColumns.add())
        with(borderPanels.add())
            {
            staticTexts.add ({staticLabel:"Select:"});
            var myDropSelection = dropdowns.add({stringList:myList, selectedIndex:1});
            }
            
if(myDialog.show() == true){
	
	if(myDropSelection.selectedIndex == 0){
		baseCaption();
	}
	else if(myDropSelection.selectedIndex == 1){
		sideCaption();
  }
	myDialog.destroy();  
}



function baseCaption(){
// add a text frame for the caption below the graphic
textFrame.geometricBounds = [b[2], b[1], b[2] + textFrameHeight, b[3]];

//add caption text
textFrame.contents = captionText;

try {
	if(objectStyle.isValid)
		textFrame.applyObjectStyle(objectStyle);

    } catch (error) {
                /* object style not found in document */
    }
}

function sideCaption(){

// add a text frame to the right-hand side of the graphic
//[y1, x1, y2, x2] - coordinates of the top-left and bottom-right corners
//[0,  1,  2,  3] - array positions for coordinates
textFrame.geometricBounds = 
[b[2] ,b[1] + frameWidth, b[2] + textFrameHeight, b[3] + frameHeight];

textFrame.properties = {
  rotationAngle : 90
};

//fill it with the caption text
textFrame.contents = captionText;

try {
	if(objectStyle.isValid)
		textFrame.applyObjectStyle(objectStyle);

    } catch (error) {
                /* object style not found in document */
    }
  }

If some kind soul can offer any advice, that would be great.

Many thanks, J

[Manan Joshi · Accepted solution]

Hi @JustyR,

Try the following

var doc = app.activeDocument;
//THE DIALOG
var myList = ["Below", "Side"];
var myDialog = app.dialogs.add({name:"Credit/Caption", canCancel:true});
with (myDialog )
    with (dialogColumns.add())
        with(borderPanels.add())
            {
            staticTexts.add ({staticLabel:"Select:"});
            var myDropSelection = dropdowns.add({stringList:myList, selectedIndex:1});
            }
            
if(myDialog.show() == true){
	var myPage = app.activeWindow.activePage;
    for(var i = 0; i < app.selection.length; i++){
        var mySelection = app.selection[i];
        var filename = mySelection.graphics[0].itemLink.name;
        var captionText = filename.replace(/(.*)(\..*)/i, "$1");
        if(myDropSelection.selectedIndex == 0){
            baseCaption(myPage.textFrames.add());
        }
        else if(myDropSelection.selectedIndex == 1){
            sideCaption(myPage.textFrames.add());
        }
    }
	myDialog.destroy();  
}



function baseCaption(textFrame){
// add a text frame for the caption below the graphic
var textFrameHeight = 10;
var b = mySelection.geometricBounds;
var objectStyle = doc.objectStyles.itemByName("Photo Caption align base");
textFrame.geometricBounds = [b[2], b[1], b[2] + textFrameHeight, b[3]];

//add caption text
textFrame.contents = captionText;

try {
	if(objectStyle.isValid)
		textFrame.applyObjectStyle(objectStyle);

    } catch (error) {
                /* object style not found in document */
    }
}

function sideCaption(textFrame){

// add a text frame to the right-hand side of the graphic
//[y1, x1, y2, x2] - coordinates of the top-left and bottom-right corners
//[0,  1,  2,  3] - array positions for coordinates
var textFrameHeight = 10;
var b = mySelection.geometricBounds;
var frameWidth = b[3]-b[1];
var frameHeight = b[2]-b[0];
var objectStyle = doc.objectStyles.itemByName("Photo Caption align base");

textFrame.geometricBounds = [b[2] ,b[1] + frameWidth, b[2] + textFrameHeight, b[3] + frameHeight];

textFrame.properties = {
  rotationAngle : 90
};

//fill it with the caption text
textFrame.contents = captionText;

try {
	if(objectStyle.isValid)
		textFrame.applyObjectStyle(objectStyle);

    } catch (error) {
                /* object style not found in document */
    }
  }

If it works then let me know if you don't understand anything. The key is just to iterate over the selection collection and repeating the operations.

-Manan

[JustyR]

Thank you, Manan. That got it working perfectly. I shall study what you've done as I see there are a few subtle changes. Thanks again.

[rob day]

Hi @JustyR , Also, in your version you save the scripting measurement units, but you don’t set them, so when I ran Manan’s code with my document ruler units set to Inches the caption frame heights were 10 inches. You’ll need to set the script’s measurement units:

var doc = app.activeDocument;
app.scriptPreferences.measurementUnit = MeasurementUnits.MILLIMETERS;

I’m not sure if is necessary to save and reset the scripting preference units—like you would for ruler units— because they are set for this script.

[JustyR]

Thanks, Rob, I kept meaning to do something with that line.