Action or Script to Expand ( unfold ) Layer Groups. ?

[Jim.D.D.]

Bare with me, I know nothing useful about scripting.
I am building an action that contains several steps, one of the steps involves duplicating a layer group and then selecting a layer inside that layer group. I cannot find any way to open ( unfold ) a layer group. Selecting, 'next' or 'previous' only selects the top layers and does not open the group. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

🙂

[jazz-y · Accepted solution]

var g = (ad = activeDocument).activeLayer; if (g.typename == 'LayerSet' && g.layers.length) ad.activeLayer = g.layers[0]; ad.activeLayer = g

[Stephen Marsh]

@jazz-y – Great work as always!

This got me thinking, there is a native command to collapse all groups, however, there isn't one to collapse just the selected set. Can you post code for that, please?

Edit: I got that backwards... Additionally, as there is a collapse all groups command – what about a script to expand all groups?

[jazz-y]

There is a "layerSectionExpanded" key in PIStringTerminology.h. It probably describes the state of a particular group. I tried to use it in different ways, but did not succeed. As a workaround, we can save the group properties (name, blending mode, effects, etc.) as completely as possible, ungroup it and create again.

collapseAllGroupsEvent:

executeAction(stringIDToTypeID('collapseAllGroupsEvent'), new ActionDescriptor(), DialogModes.NO)

[Stephen Marsh]

Sometimes I think that I have forgotten more things than I remember! Looks like the code could still use a little more work...

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/is-there-a-quot-collapse-all-groups-l...

https://gist.github.com/MarshySwamp/a39e3e1efee41174b3b92ee68c40fcd8

[Stephen Marsh]

OK, so this function will (should?) collapse only the active layer group. It has had limited testing, so use with care:

/*
Collapse Only The Active Layer Group.jsx
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/action-or-script-to-expand-unfold-layer-groups/m-p/13077014
Stephen Marsh, 9th August 2022, v1.1
*/

#target photoshop

collapseActiveGroup();

function collapseActiveGroup() {
    function main() {
        if (activeDocument.activeLayer.typename === "LayerSet") {
            // Doc name variable
            var origDoc = app.activeDocument.name;
            // Toggle the active layer visibility
            toggleLayerVisibility(true);
            // Create the temp doc from active layer group
            newDocFromLayer("_tempDoc");
            // Collapse the group
            executeAction(stringIDToTypeID('collapseAllGroupsEvent'), new ActionDescriptor(), DialogModes.NO);
            // Dupe the layer back to the original doc
            dupeLayer();
            // Close the temp doc
            activeDocument.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
            // Select the visible backward layer
            selectForwardORBackwardLayer(false, "backwardEnum");
            // Delete the original expanded group
            removeGroup();
            // Select the visible forward layer
            selectForwardORBackwardLayer(false, "forwardEnum");
            // Toggle the original active layer visibility
            toggleLayerVisibility(true);
        } else {
            alert("Not a layer group!");
        }


        // Functions

        function newDocFromLayer(docName) {
            var s2t = function (s) {
                return app.stringIDToTypeID(s);
            };
            var descriptor = new ActionDescriptor();
            var reference = new ActionReference();
            var reference2 = new ActionReference();
            reference.putClass(s2t("document"));
            descriptor.putReference(s2t("null"), reference);
            descriptor.putString(s2t("name"), docName);
            reference2.putEnumerated(s2t("layer"), s2t("ordinal"), s2t("targetEnum"));
            descriptor.putReference(s2t("using"), reference2);
            descriptor.putInteger(s2t("version"), 0);
            executeAction(s2t("make"), descriptor, DialogModes.NO);
        }

        function dupeLayer() {
            var s2t = function (s) {
                return app.stringIDToTypeID(s);
            };
            var descriptor = new ActionDescriptor();
            var list = new ActionList();
            var reference = new ActionReference();
            var reference2 = new ActionReference();
            reference.putEnumerated(s2t("layer"), s2t("ordinal"), s2t("targetEnum"));
            descriptor.putReference(s2t("null"), reference);
            reference2.putName(s2t("document"), origDoc);
            descriptor.putReference(s2t("to"), reference2);
            descriptor.putInteger(s2t("version"), 5);
            list.putInteger(0);
            descriptor.putList(s2t("ID"), list);
            executeAction(s2t("duplicate"), descriptor, DialogModes.NO);
        }

        function selectForwardORBackwardLayer(makeVisible, forwardORbackward) {
            var s2t = function (s) {
                return app.stringIDToTypeID(s);
            };
            var descriptor = new ActionDescriptor();
            var list = new ActionList();
            var reference = new ActionReference();
            // "forwardEnum" or "backwardEnum"
            reference.putEnumerated(s2t("layer"), s2t("ordinal"), s2t(forwardORbackward));
            descriptor.putReference(s2t("null"), reference);
            // true or false
            descriptor.putBoolean(s2t("makeVisible"), makeVisible);
            list.putInteger(15);
            descriptor.putList(s2t("layerID"), list);
            executeAction(s2t("select"), descriptor, DialogModes.NO);
        }

        function removeGroup() {
            function s2t(s) {
                return app.stringIDToTypeID(s);
            }
            var descriptor = new ActionDescriptor();
            var reference = new ActionReference();
            reference.putEnumerated(s2t("layer"), s2t("ordinal"), s2t("targetEnum"));
            descriptor.putReference(s2t("null"), reference);
            executeAction(s2t("delete"), descriptor, DialogModes.NO);
        }

        function toggleLayerVisibility(toggleOptionsPalette) {
            var s2t = function (s) {
                return app.stringIDToTypeID(s);
            };
            var descriptor = new ActionDescriptor();
            var list = new ActionList();
            var reference = new ActionReference();
            reference.putEnumerated(s2t("layer"), s2t("ordinal"), s2t("targetEnum"));
            list.putReference(reference);
            descriptor.putList(s2t("null"), list);
            descriptor.putBoolean(s2t("toggleOptionsPalette"), toggleOptionsPalette);
            executeAction(s2t("show"), descriptor, DialogModes.NO);
        }
    }
    activeDocument.suspendHistory('Collapse Only The Active Layer Group.jsx', 'main()');
}

[Stephen Marsh]

Update: I believe that the following script may work better than the one that I created above.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/collapse-single-group-of-layers/m-p/1...

https://gist.github.com/MarshySwamp/a39e3e1efee41174b3b92ee68c40fcd8

[Jim.D.D.]

Thank you all for your help. 

Please forgive the extreme newbie question, but how exactly do I create this script? I am running CC2021 but I can't seem to find any information on what application to use just to simply build the script. Apparently ExtendScript is no longer available. I am on a mac running just Catalina. 

I know how to write some basic javascript inside After Effects expressions. I am just not sure what my starting point is or what app to use to actually write the script. 

[Stephen Marsh]

Instructions here:

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html?m=1