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How can I batch turn on/turn off layers in a large group of files

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
September 6, 2013
5 replies
3126 views

I lifted this code from another discussion that purports to say it works, but it doesn't.

I keep getting the Error: Object does not support the property or method 'length'

I've looked at other batch process scripts that that line of code seems to be correct.

I know this is a very simple script, and that the turn on/turn off layer part of the script works perfectly fine (on individuall pages), but for some reason I can't get it to batch process.

I have a multi-version set of files with layers such as "de" for germany, "us" for United States, etc. that I need to batch turn on so that I can print.

Here is what I have:

var myFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Select Indesign Folder");

var myIndsnFiles = myFolder.getFiles("*.indd");

for(k=0; k<myIndsnFiles.length; k++)

{

var myIndsnFiles = app.open(myIndsnFiles);

var myIndsnFiles = app.documents[0];

var answersLayer = myIndsnFiles.layers.item("us");

answersLayer.visible = false;

app.activeDocument.close(SaveOptions.yes);

}

Can you fix/explain what I'm doing wrong?

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer ratsurfer1

I got Sergey's Version to work. See below. It's very different than my original. I understood why my original wasn't working, but couldn't figure out how to fix it. I tried inserting Laubender's code into this, but I got the same error as above "Object does not support the property or method 'length'".

I made some adjustments so that the script turns off all layers that should be off, then turns on the layer I need.

Everything runs perfect except I wonder if there's a way I can turn off any warnings, such as missing links, so that it processes the whole batch without pausing. Maybe that's what Laubender was referring to.

var myFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Select Indesign Folder");

if( myFolder != null )

{

var myIndsnFiles = myFolder.getFiles("*.indd");

for( var k = myIndsnFiles.length -1; k >= 0; k--)

{

try

{

var myDoc = app.open(myIndsnFiles);

var inLayer = myDoc.layers.item("in");

inLayer.visible = false;

var itLayer = myDoc.layers.item("it");

itLayer.visible = false;

var deLayer = myDoc.layers.item("de");

deLayer.visible = false;

var ukLayer = myDoc.layers.item("uk");

ukLayer.visible = false;

var usLayer = myDoc.layers.item("us");

usLayer.visible = false;

var intLayer = myDoc.layers.item("INT");

intLayer.visible = false;

deLayer.visible = true;

myDoc.close(SaveOptions.yes);

} catch ( error ) {};// try-catch

};// for

};// if

L

Laubender

Community Expert

@ratsurfer1 – you are missing one crucial point from the other discussion you are mentioning:

The first thing you have to do is setting the user interaction level of the app temporarily to "never interact".

app.scriptPreferences.userInteractionLevel = UserInteractionLevels.NEVER_INTERACT;

//Then insert your lines of code here…

//After running the script restore it back:
app.scriptPreferences.userInteractionLevel = UserInteractionLevels.INTERACT_WITH_ALL;

And it would be best to improve the catch(e){}-scenario with an error message.
Something like that (or a more elaborate one):

catch(e){alert(e.message)};

Uwe

R

ratsurfer1AuthorCorrect answer

Participant

I got Sergey's Version to work. See below. It's very different than my original. I understood why my original wasn't working, but couldn't figure out how to fix it. I tried inserting Laubender's code into this, but I got the same error as above "Object does not support the property or method 'length'".

I made some adjustments so that the script turns off all layers that should be off, then turns on the layer I need.

Everything runs perfect except I wonder if there's a way I can turn off any warnings, such as missing links, so that it processes the whole batch without pausing. Maybe that's what Laubender was referring to.

var myFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Select Indesign Folder");

if( myFolder != null )

{

var myIndsnFiles = myFolder.getFiles("*.indd");

for( var k = myIndsnFiles.length -1; k >= 0; k--)

{

try

{

var myDoc = app.open(myIndsnFiles);

var inLayer = myDoc.layers.item("in");

inLayer.visible = false;

var itLayer = myDoc.layers.item("it");

itLayer.visible = false;

var deLayer = myDoc.layers.item("de");

deLayer.visible = false;

var ukLayer = myDoc.layers.item("uk");

ukLayer.visible = false;

var usLayer = myDoc.layers.item("us");

usLayer.visible = false;

var intLayer = myDoc.layers.item("INT");

intLayer.visible = false;

deLayer.visible = true;

myDoc.close(SaveOptions.yes);

} catch ( error ) {};// try-catch

};// for

};// if

Jump_Over

Legend

Hi,

If we talk about mistakes:

...
for(k=0; k<myIndsnFiles.length; k++)
{
var myIndsnFiles = app.open(myIndsnFiles); 
var myIndsnFiles = app.documents[0];
...

This var - myIndsnFiles is assigned 3 times but your code is iterating through 1st version, so fails in 2nd step. Use different var names or Sergey's code.

Jarek

Sergey_Anosov

Participating Frequently

Hi!

Try this version, I hope it will do:

var myFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Select Indesign Folder");

if( myFolder != null )

{

var myIndsnFiles = myFolder.getFiles("*.indd");

for( var k = myIndsnFiles.length -1; k >= 0; k--)

{

try

{

var myIndsnDoc = app.open(myIndsnFiles);

var answersLayer = myIndsnDoc.layers.item("us");

answersLayer.visible = false;

myIndsnDoc.close(SaveOptions.yes);

} catch ( error ) {};// try-catch

};// for

};// if

A

Anonymous

Without testing anything, I'd guess that it's not a good idea to keep reusing the variable name "myIndsnFiles." First it's an array of files in a folder, then it becomes a reference to a document. So on the second pass through your loop, javascript is trying to get the length of the document instead of the array.

Peter Spier

Community Expert

Moved to the scripting forum....

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