Seeking Scripts to Change Measurement Units in InDesign and Display Current Units

[Roger Breton]

I use the Ctrl + Shift + Alt + U keyboard shortcut but it does not work all the time.
Like, once I'm in the New document dialog box, it won't work. At least with my Canadian Multilingual keyboard mapping in Windows. I always thought it would be "nice" to see the current units being displayed somewhere in the interface? I understand that I can, to some extent, "read" the current units out of the appearance of the Rufers but it's far from ideal. 

Maybe a scipt that show the current units and give a choice of units to switch to in the form of a series of vertical radio buttons? Don't even need an OK button, to speed things up. 

Any help is appreciated

<Title renamed by MOD>

[Roger Breton · Accepted solution]

Here is a script that works for me :

// Roger Breton / October 18 2024

// Get the active document

var myDocument = app.activeDocument;

var DocName = app.activeDocument.name;

// Retrieve current Measurement units

var CurrentXUnits = myDocument.viewPreferences.horizontalMeasurementUnits;

var CurrentYUnits = myDocument.viewPreferences.verticalMeasurementUnits;

// Convert to string to see the unit name

var CurrentXUnitsString = CurrentXUnits.toString();

var CurrentYUnitsString = CurrentYUnits.toString();

// Create a new window

var myWindow = new Window("dialog", "Unités de Mesure");

// Add a panel to the window

var myPanel = myWindow.add("panel", undefined, "Choisir Unité:");

myPanel.alignChildren = "left";

// Add some space between the panel title and the radio button group

myPanel.margins = [10, 20, 10, 10]; // [left, top, right, bottom] margins

// Add a group to the panel

var radioGroup = myPanel.add("group");

radioGroup.orientation = "column";

radioGroup.alignment = "left"

// Add radio buttons to the group

var option1 = radioGroup.add("radiobutton", undefined, "Pouces");

var option2 = radioGroup.add("radiobutton", undefined, "Points");

var option3 = radioGroup.add("radiobutton", undefined, "Picas");

var option4 = radioGroup.add("radiobutton", undefined, "Centimètres");

var selectedOption;

// Add an OK button to the panel

var okButton = myPanel.add("button", undefined, "OK");

okButton.onClick = function() {

   // Get the selected radio button value

   if (option1.value) {

       selectedOption = "Pouces";

   } else if (option2.value) {

       selectedOption = "Points";

   } else if (option3.value) {

       selectedOption = "Picas";

   } else if (option4.value) {

    selectedOption = "Centimètres";

}

    // Change settings based on the user's selection

    // alert("You selected " + selectedOption);

    // Close the dialog

    myWindow.close();

};

// Pre-select a radio button based on a condition

var condition = CurrentXUnitsString; // Example condition

// Manually set the radio button value

if (condition === "INCHES") option1.value = true;

else if (condition === "POINTS") option2.value = true;

else if (condition === "PICAS") option3.value = true;

else if (condition === "CENTIMETERS") option4.value = true;

// Show the window

myWindow.show();

// Change settings based on the user's selection

if (selectedOption === "Pouces") {

    myDocument.viewPreferences.horizontalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.INCHES;

    myDocument.viewPreferences.verticalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.INCHES;

} else if (selectedOption === "Points") {

    myDocument.viewPreferences.horizontalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.POINTS;

    myDocument.viewPreferences.verticalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.POINTS;

} else if (selectedOption === "Picas") {

    myDocument.viewPreferences.horizontalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.PICAS;

    myDocument.viewPreferences.verticalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.PICAS;

 } else if (selectedOption === "Centimètres") {

    myDocument.viewPreferences.horizontalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.CENTIMETERS;

    myDocument.viewPreferences.verticalMeasurementUnits = MeasurementUnits.CENTIMETERS;

 }

[rob day]

show the current units and give a choice of units to switch to in the form of a series of vertical radio buttons?

Hi @Roger Breton , You can also Control or Right-Click the Rulers and get a full list and change units

[Roger Breton]

Thank you for the suggestion. That's one of the first technique I show students.