InDesign Scripting: Is "Remap Break, Whitespace and Special Characters" scriptable?

Scripting Forums AppleScript | Mac OS X
#1

I’m trying to determine whether the “Remap Break, Whitespace and Special Characters” option in InDesign’s Export XML dialog can be controlled via scripting.

The scripting DOM exposes:

app.xmlExportPreferences.characterReferences = true;

and the property is readable/writable. However, after extensive testing in InDesign 2024/2026, setting it to true or false:

  • does not change the state of the Export XML checkbox,
  • does not change the exported XML, and
  • app.xmlExportPreferences.remapBreakWhitespace is undefined.

Has anyone successfully scripted this particular Export XML option, or is it simply not exposed through the InDesign scripting API?

#2

you need to set/get then on the document level:

tell application "Adobe InDesign 2026" to tell document 1 to set character references of XML export preferences to true

#3

OMG! Thank you, Leo!

I can’t believe (or maybe I can knowing me) that I overlooked this.

Thanks again!

-Jeff

#4

It’s easy to overlook. Plus, since XML export prefs is indeed a property of both application and document, it’s unclear why you can’t modify it as the app’s property. So, in my view, it’s actually a bug.