Your Script Doctor

ADD HANDLER TO HANDLER LIST

The neat thing about having handlers in Script Editor’s Scripts folder is that when you are working with AppleScript Editor, all you need do to add a handler to a script is to hold down the Control key and click inside of your script. Select the handler you want from the menu that pops up. To see how this works, walk through the following tutorial.

1. 1. Convert your handler from code to text (a string).
      Place a backslash in front of every quotation mark. For our getDocRef handler above, the text will look like the following:

   try
      set docRef to getDocRef()
   on error errStr
      display alert errStr
      return
   end try
   --========
   --HANDLERS
   --========
   (*Returns reference to active document; otherwise generates error.*)
   on getDocRef()
	tell application \"Adobe InDesign CC 2015\"
		if modal state = true then
		    error \"Please close dialogs before running script\"
		end if
		if not (exists document 1) then
		    error \"Requires active document\"
		else
		    return active document
		end if
	end tell
   end getDocRef

1. 1. Save the handler as getDocRef.scpt.
   2. Enter the following code into a new script to create an InDesign handler template:

   set targetString to "--XXXX"
   set scriptText to "

   --Place script here
   "
   tell application "AppleScript Editor"
	tell the front document
		set thecontents to contents
		set theOffset to offset of targetString in thecontents
		if theOffset is not 0 then
			set selection to characters theOffset thru (theOffset + ((length of targetString) - 1))
			set the contents of the selection to scriptText
		else
			set contents of selection to scriptText
		end if
	end tell
   end tell

Notice the beginning and ending quotes that surround –Place Script here. Library handlers are designed to work with Script Editor only. The method used above for providing these handlers to Script Editor is simplified from sample code provided by Apple. As with other sample scripts, use at your own risk.

1. Save this script to the desktop with the name “ScriptLibTemplate.scpt”.
   Later, you may want to add this to template to those available from your AppleScript Templates collection.
2. Copy the code from the “ScriptLibTemplate” into a new script.
3. Copy the text (string) version of your handler and paste it into the new script.
   Paste the copied script to replace the code from the template that says “–Place script here”.
4. Compile the script.
   The script should compile without error. If it does error, look for quotes that are not escaped (with a slash in front).
   Make sure the handler code you added has a quotation mark above and below (is enclosed in quotation marks provided by the template).
5. Save your script with the handler to the desktop with the name “getDocRef.scpt”

FILE THE HANDLER

Now that you have the handler created and saved on the desktop, you can add it to the appropriate folder in your Handler Library (in AppleScript’s scripts folder). Hopefully you have created a folder named “Documents” in the scripts folder as the getDocRef handler would be a perfect candidate for this classification.

1. Click on the small script icon for the Script Menu in the top menu of your computer.
2. Navigate to Script Editor Scripts and then to the Documents folder inside your InDesign CC Handlers folder.
3. Click on the Documents folder to open it.
4. Drag your handler file to the folder.

Alternatively, you can use the following script to move the handler file to the appropriate folder in your Handler library.

File InDesign Handler script

Copy the following script to a new AppleScript Editor file:

   set libFolder to (path to library folder) as string
   set folderPath to (libFolder & "scripts:Script Editor Scripts:InDesign CC Handlers") as alias
   set tempPath to path to desktop from user domain
   set handlerFile to choose file with prompt "Choose handler script" default location tempPath
   set theInfo to info for handlerFile
   if file type of theInfo is not "osas" then
	error "Wrong file type chosen"
   end if
   set folderRef to choose folder with prompt "Choose folder for handler" default location folderPath
   tell application "Finder"
	move handlerFile to folderRef
   end tell

Compile the script. Save it to the Desktop as “File InDesign Handler.scpt”

When you run the script, choose your getDocRef.scpt file when prompted to “Choose handler script”. You will then be prompted to choose a folder from within your script handler library. Choose the folder “Documents” if available. If not, create it.

TRY OUT YOUR AUTOMATION

Create a new script using the handler you just saved.

1. Start a new file in AppleScript Editor.
2. Hold down the Control key and click in the editor window.
   You will be presented with a menu of the items in Script Editor’s scripts folder.
3. Navigate to your Documents folder inside your InDesign CC Handlers folder and choose the getDocRef file.
4. With Adobe InDesign CC 2015 running in the background, compile your script and run it.
5. If you don’t have an active document open, you will get a message that the script “Requires active document”.
6. Make sure there is an active document open in InDesign CC 2015 and test the script again.

MORE AUTOMATION

To run a script from the Script Menu, just click on its listing.

You can further organize your scripts by adding folders to any one or more of the folders accessed from this menu.

You may want to add your File InDesign Handler script to one; perhaps in a folder of your own named “Files-Folders” or maybe “Favorites”

Try it Out

1. Create a folder called Favorites in your User Scripts folder.
   From the Script Menu, choose Open Scripts Folder > Open User Scripts Folder.
   With the Scripts window frontmost, select File > New Folder from the Finder.
   An untitled folder will be created in your Scripts folder window.
2. Update the name of the untitled folder created
3. Drag the File InDesign Handler script from your desktop to the folder.
4. Click on the Script Menu icon. The folder you created should now be part of the top level listing.
5. Click on the listing for the File InDesign Handler. The script should run and present the system file chooser for choosing the Handler to file.
6. Cancel out of the dialog unless you have a handler handy to file to your Handlers Library.
7. Any time you want to save a Handler for your InDesign scripts, use ScriptLibTemplate to create the handler and file it using the File InDesign Handler script.

Note: If you double-click on a script entry in the Script Menu, the script will open in Script Editor.

ON YOUR OWN

You may also want to add another folder or two to the Script Menu. Your Favorites folder might be a good place to place your favorite AddScriptTemplate script.

For practice, create a simple script handler such as a display dialog script to get a string response from the user. Using the ScriptLibTemplate template, create a Handler file for your handler. Once created, save the handler file to the desktop. Now run the File InDesign Handler script you saved in your folder for the Script Menu. When the script runs you will be asked to choose the handler file, and then the folder into which you want the handler saved. Once the script terminates, check to make sure the handler was saved in the folder designated. (From AppleScript Editor’s File menu choose New (Command + N). Control+Click in the editing window and select the handler from your InDesign CC Handlers folder. Double-check your handler to make sure it works as anticipated. Sit back and think of all the ways having script templates and script handlers easily accessible in convenient locations on your computer will save you hours when it comes to writing scripts.