Strange behavior using table.cells.itemByName("c:r")

[brianp311]

I'm doing some maneuvering through tables, and running into a bit of a conundrum using the cells.itemByName("colIndex:rowIndex") matrix to select my preferred cell. 

var cell_ref = '"' + new_column.toString() + ":" + new_row.toString() + '"';
$.writeln(cell_ref); //returns "2:3"
THE_TABLE_OBJECT.cells.itemByName(cell_ref).select(); //selects column 0, row 3

Very odd behavior. I am able to work around with: 

THE_TABLE_OBJECT.rows[new_row].cells[new_column].select();

If I test on the same table with just a one-line code of: 

THE_TABLE_OBJECT.cells.itemByName("2:3").select();

it works fine. 

Could it have something to do with how converting new_column.toString() is behaving? It shows as "2:3" in the console, but maybe something fishy is going on there? I've tested the new_column integer and it shows as 2 with a Number constructor.

Anyone else have any experience with this bug? Not a huge deal I suppose since there's a workaround; just curious. 

[Sunil Yadav · Accepted solution]

Hi brianp311,

Why are you putting those double quotation marks?

Instead you can try like this :

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

var cell_ref = new_column + ":" + new_row;
$.writeln(cell_ref);
app.documents[0].textFrames[0].tables[0].cells.itemByName(cell_ref).select();

///////////////////////////////////////////////////

Because Cells.itemByName(Argument)== This methods expects String (Digit:Digit) but in your code you are giving Double quotation as well and that is not a digit that is the reason why column index is  not working, but after color (:) there is a digit for row, so that one is working fine with index.

Best

Sunil

[brianp311]

D'oh, of course. Long story short, converting someone else's Applescript to jsx and got lost in translation. Thanks Sunil.