[InDesign] Can't get alias

Scripting Forums AppleScript | Mac OS X
#1

I am trying to make a print publication from an online NFL picks contest we are running. I have set up AS to use JS to grab all the info and place it all in variables. Now I need to place the graphics into the table I have in InDesign. There are frames each with a script label that matches the variable in the AS

I have tried to do this two ways and I get the same error: InDesign can not get the alias


set theLogofolder to "Volumes/SpecialSections/Special Pages A-G/Football Challenge 2011/1 Logos/" --Has PDFs of every NFL team LOGO named ATL.pdf, GB.pdf, etc...

--game1vip1 -> GB --because they picked Green Bay 
set theLogo to (game1vip1 as string) & ".pdf"
set theImage to ((theLogofolder as string) & (theLogo as string) as alias)


tell application "Adobe InDesign CS4"
	activate
	tell rectangle "game1vip1" of page 1 of document 1
		place theImage --Errors
	end tell
end tell

Next try:


set theLogofolder to "Volumes/SpecialSections/Special Pages A-G/Football Challenge 2011/1 Logos/" --Has PDFs of every NFL team LOGO named ATL.pdf, GB.pdf, etc...

--game1vip1 -> GB --because they picked Green Bay 

tell application "System Events"
	set these_files to every file of folder theLogofolder
end tell
repeat with i from 1 to the count of these_files
	set this_file to (item i of these_files as alias)
	set this_info to info for this_file
	if visible of this_info is true and alias of this_info is false then
		if name of this_info contains game1vip1 then
			
			tell application "Adobe InDesign CS4"
				activate
				tell rectangle "game1vip1" of page 1 of document 1
					place this_file  --Errors
				end tell
			end tell
		end if
	end if
end repeat

Another thought I had to solve it was to rename the script labels (using the script) to the value.
Something like:


tell application "Adobe InDesign CS4"
    set label of rectangle "game1vip1" to game1vip1  --error
end tell

Another issue is the way I set this up to begin with:

tell application "Adobe InDesign CS4"
	set thislabel to label of every rectangle of page 1 of document 1
end tell

--> {"Game16VIP6", "Game15VIP6", "Game14VIP6", "Game13VIP6", "Game12VIP6", "Game11VIP6", "Game10VIP6", "Game9VIP6", "Game8VIP6", "Game7VIP6", "Game6VIP6", "Game5VIP6", "Game4VIP6", "Game3VIP6", "Game2VIP6", "Game1VIP6", "Game16VIP5", "Game15VIP5", "Game14VIP5", "Game13VIP5", "Game12VIP5", "Game11VIP5", "Game10VIP5", "Game9VIP5", "Game8VIP5", "Game7VIP5", "Game6VIP5", "Game5VIP5", "Game4VIP5", "Game3VIP5", "Game2VIP5", "Game1VIP5", "Game16VIP4", "Game15VIP4", "Game14VIP4", "Game13VIP4", "Game12VIP4", "Game11VIP4", "Game10VIP4", "Game9VIP4", "Game8VIP4", "Game7VIP4", "Game6VIP4", "Game5VIP4", "Game4VIP4", "Game3VIP4", "Game2VIP4", "Game1VIP4", "Game16VIP3", "Game15VIP3", "Game14VIP3", "Game13VIP3", "Game12VIP3", "Game11VIP3", "Game10VIP3", "Game9VIP3", "Game8VIP3", "Game7VIP3", "Game6VIP3", "Game5VIP3", "Game4VIP3", "Game3VIP3", "Game2VIP3", "Game1VIP3", "Game16VIP2", "Game15VIP2", "Game14VIP2", "Game13VIP2", "Game12VIP2", "Game11VIP2", "Game10VIP2", "Game9VIP2", "Game8VIP2", "Game7VIP2", "Game6VIP2", "Game5VIP2", "Game4VIP2", "Game3VIP2", "Game2VIP2", "Game1VIP2", "Game16VIP1", "Game15VIP1", "Game14VIP1", "Game13VIP1", "Game12VIP1", "Game11VIP1", "Game10VIP1", "Game9VIP1", "Game8VIP1", "Game7VIP1", "Game6VIP1", "Game5VIP1", "Game4VIP1", "Game3VIP1", "Game2VIP1", "Game1VIP1", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "ad5", "ad4", "ad2", "ad3", "ad1", ""}

For every label there is also a corresponding variable in the AS…
I REALLY need a way to cycle through the variables and nothing works…Dynamic variable names seems to be a dream in AS

repeat with v from 1 to 2
	repeat with g from 1 to 2
		--set this_pick to "Game" & v & "VIP" & g
		set this_logo to "game" & v & "vip" & g
		set this_logo to value of this_logo
		
	end repeat
end repeat

Any help on any of my issues would be greatly appreciated

#2

Hi,

just use a macPath …

set theLogofolder to "SpecialSections:Special Pages A-G:Football Challenge 2011:1 Logos:"

Bye

Hans-Gerd Claßen

#3

It wasn’t as simple as changing to a macpath (which I had tried)

set theLogofolder to "SpecialSections:Special Pages A-G:Football Challenge 2011:1 Logos:"

set Logo_Name to "GB" -- Another sting variable
set This_Label to "game1vip1"

try
	set This_Logo to (theLogofolder & Logo_Name & ".pdf") --as alias -- Concat the strings then coerce
	-- If an 'alias' was made then the file exists
	my placeFile(This_Label, This_Logo)
on error
	display dialog "Hum. The File Does Not Exist.?" giving up after 3
end try

-- Pass your name string & file alias
on placeFile(This_Label, This_Logo)
	tell application "Adobe InDesign CS4"
		activate
		tell document 1
			tell page 1
				tell (the first rectangle whose label is This_Label)
					place This_Logo
					
					fit given proportionally
					fit given center content
				end tell
			end tell
		end tell
	end tell
end placeFile

Now to work out how to get the dynamic variable name

#4

Hi,

guess it was that simple :wink: but never mind …

Tipp:
Have a look at the SampleErrorHandlingFiles of Apple.
Because:
Creating a own errormessage which just expects an specific error may give a wrong information …

Have a nice day :slight_smile: