Selection and Navigation

How to stroll around in the InDesign object model. By Ludwig Zeller

Get the mouse selection

#includepath "~/Documents/;%USERPROFILE%Documents";
#include "basiljs/bundle/basil.js";

function draw() {

    var selItems = b.selections();
    
    // only use first item selected
    b.typo(selItems[0], "pointSize", 30);
    
    // for-loop
    for( var i = 0; i < selItems.length; i++ ){
        b.println(selItems);        
        b.typo(selItems[i], "pointSize", 30);
    }

    // experts: use a looping callback
    b.selections(function(item, i){
             b.println(item);
             b.typo(item, "pointSize", 30);    
    });
    
}
b.go();

b.selections() returns all the selected PageItems or Text elements as an array of mixed items
Please note that you will always receive an array, also if just one element is selected
This a sensible strategy if you haven't created many things and they ended up being distributed all over the page
Also good for changing certain items only that you select by e.g. aesthetical criteria

Add, get and set a layer

#includepath "~/Documents/;%USERPROFILE%Documents";
#include "basiljs/bundle/basil.js";

function draw() {
    
    // add new layer
    var layer = b.layer("myLayer");
    b.ellipse(20,20,10,10);
    
    // set active layer
    b.layer(layer);
    // also possible:
    b.layer("myLayer");

    // delete the layer... remove() can be used with all PageItems
    layer.remove();
    
}

b.go();

You can add layers with b.layer()
You can also activate pre-existing layers
Putting your new elements on clearly labelled layers is a clean way to keep your project tidy
You can also use layers to select and alter the new items easily or set them to invisible

Process all objects from a layer, page or document

#includepath "~/Documents/;%USERPROFILE%Documents";
#include "basiljs/bundle/basil.js";

function draw() {

    // process all items on a layer
    var items = b.items(b.layer("fancy"));
    for ( var i = 0; i < items.length; i ++ ) {
        b.println(items[i]);
    }
    
    // process all items on a page
    var items = b.items(b.page(1));
    for ( var i = 0; i < items.length; i ++ ) {
        b.println(items[i]);
    }
    
    // process all items in document
    var items = b.items(b.doc());
    for ( var i = 0; i < items.length; i ++ ) {
        b.println(items[i]);
    }
    
}

b.go();

b.items() allows you to process everything on a Layer, in a Group, on a Page or in a Document

Attaching labels to created items

#includepath "~/Documents/;%USERPROFILE%Documents";
#include "basiljs/bundle/basil.js";

function draw() {

    // the following methods return the PageItem they create
    // thus you can set their label directly after their method call
    b.ellipse(20,20,5,5).label = "dynamic";
    b.ellipse(20,20,5,5).label = "dynamic";
    b.text("hihi",20,20,20,20).label = "dynamic";
    b.rect(20,20,5,5).label = "dynamic";
    b.line(20,20,50,50).label = "dynamic";

    // this way, you can access them by calling their name
    // please note that labels() always returns an array
    var items = b.labels("dynamic");
    
    // you can use forEach() to do something with all of these items
    for( var i = 0; i < items.length; i++){
        b.println(items[i]);
    }
    
    // or you address them individually
    b.itemX(items[0], 100);
    
}

b.go();

Labels can be attached to PageItems by code or mouse using the Script Label panel in InDesign
Since labels are a bit hard to find in the GUI they should only be used if layers don't work for your endeavour

Cleaning up and removing stuff

#includepath "~/Documents/;%USERPROFILE%Documents";
#include "basiljs/bundle/basil.js";

function draw() {

   // clears the given layer
   b.clear(b.layer("fancy"));
   // fully delete a layer
   b.layer("fancy").remove();
   // clears the given page
   b.clear(b.page());   
   // clears the document
   b.clear(b.doc());

}

b.go();

Downloads

Navigation.idml

Use this file as a starting point for the code examples above.