Update Link, Update All Links, SHORTCUT?

[dissidently]

Found a great way to work live, on the iPad, from the computer.

BUT, Adobe being Adobe, it's not perfect.

If I click to "Edit Original" and then edit, and save, I must switch back to InDesign before it actually does the update. 

That's problem 1.  I'd really rather not have to make that switch back.  Any way around that?

Second, haivng switched back to InDesign to get that "live" update, if I [Command + Tab] back to the editing app, the "live" updating link is lost, so the next change I make I must go back to InDesign and use the TINY little button at the top of the screen to find the Update Link choice.

I'd much rather a Keyboard Shortcut for Update All Links, rather than having to deal with this.

Better yet, constant live updates would be epic.  Anyways to do this?    

[BobLevine]

dissidently wrote:

THE CATCH:  I havn't figured out how to assign a Shortcut to invoking the script, yet.  Do you know how?

The same way you do it for anything else. Edit>Keyboard shortcuts. Scroll down to scripts.

[rob day]

The same way you do it for anything else. Edit>Keyboard shortcuts. Scroll down to scripts.

I don't see a way to do it in Illustrator. I can assign Other Scripts but not a custom script.

[tomaxxi]

Rob, you are doing it the longer way.

You can simply create a new action, "Insert Menu Item", select script you want to run, and assign the shortcut to the action.

--

Marijan (tomaxxi)

http://tomaxxi.com

[rob day]

select script you want to run, and assign the shortcut to the action.

Thanks, I new there had to be a way

[dissidently]

so this is nesting a script inside an action, right?  Sorry, again, still getting to grips with the structure and frameworks, paradigms and methodologies, practices and ideologies of InDesign, and Adobe.  And Kicking AND Screaming all the way.

[rob day]

And AppleScript has this kind of authority inside apps?

Not all apps, there has to be a scripting library and InDesigns is one of the best.

You're suggesting AppleScript can listen to an update

Yes there is a link listener. I copied the text in 20 from the AppleScript dictionary. There's also complete JavaScript support.

[dissidently]

Wow. This is literally eye opening.

I have no idea about AppleScript.  Nothing really, about it at all.

I'm coming from a primarily PC based 3D and video editing background, but have learned a little Objective-C lately, and now working on the design of an app for iPads.  Hence suffering through Adobe design products to create mockups and UI examples for the real coders.

However I do know more than a little Javascript, and actually like the language.  For some reason it reminds me of a blend of C and BASIC from when I was a kid.

So you'll have to, please, excuse me while I ask some really dumb framework questions.

You've mentioned Javascript twice.  But I don't know why.

Is that because Indesign scriptig is Javascript, and you're therefore suggesting that an AppleScript "app" could detect the change in an Illustrator file, and then call into InDesign and tell it what to do with Javascript, or is there some other mechanic to this?

[rob day]

You can choose the language you prefer, the capabilities are pretty much the same, so if you know JavaScript you can write in ExendScript Toolkit, or use Applescript Editor for AppleScript.

Applescript will only work on OSX, but is a bit better at scripts that need to move between applications.

The link event listener can't listen for a change in the linked file, but looks it can listen for a change in status inside of ID, which would happen if you edited and saved the linked file.

[dissidently]

So terrilby sorry to sound like I'm repeating myself, but I've made the tragic mistake of doing days of programming before, only to find out that the ultimate goal wasn't actually possible due to communication limitations:

AppleScript can Detect what's going on inside InDesign, and inform InDesign to do things, like Update its links? 

JavaScript (ExtendScript, to be precise) inside InDesign can work when InDesign is in the background at detecting changes in the state of Indesign (the file now needing an update) and therefore and whilst in the background, update those links?

If so, yes, both can do the job.  Which is utterly amazing... because even one of these languages/frameworks being able to do this would be amazing.  But to have two ways to consider doing it is simply a mind blowing moment.

[dissidently]

Oh, btw, yes, there are remote control apps that would allow you to edit on the iPad, an open Indesign doc on your Mac.  But they all suffer horrendous amounts of lag, and touch is really not a nice way to interact with the tiny elements of the UI in Adobe apps.

[JoaoCP · Accepted solution]

@dissidently: You can  define a shortcut for the Update All Links command. It's in the Panel Menus area of the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box. Look for "Links: Update All Links".

@Sandee: I guess the original poster is using some kind of screen sharing application (like VNC) on his iPad, mirroring his Mac. The tiny little button he mentioned may be the yellow triangle with an exclamation point that appears on the top of changed-but-not-yet-updated image frames in ID.

[gilberto_8974]

Y