I am trying to write a script for InDesign to find the first character of every line of every paragraph, and change it to another color if it is a vowel. Since it is my very first effort in InDesign scripting, I downloaded Adobe's Scripting Guide and managed so far to do the following:
createCharacterStyle();
main();
function main() {
// I don't check if a document is open for now
var myDocument = app.documents.item(0);
var myStory = myDocument.stories.item(0);
var noOfParas = myStory.paragraphs.length;
for ( var theParaCounter = 0 ; theParaCounter < noOfParas ; theParaCounter++) {
var currentParaLinesCount = myStory.paragraphs.item(theParaCounter).lines.length;
for (var theLineCounter = 0 ; theLineCounter < currentParaLinesCount - 1 ; theLineCounter++ ) {
var theCurrentLine = myStory.paragraphs.item(theParaCounter).lines.item(theLineCounter).contents;
var theFirstChar = theCurrentLine.charAt(0);
if ( theFirstChar == 'a' || theFirstChar == 'e' || theFirstChar == 'i' ||
theFirstChar == 'o' || theFirstChar == 'u') {
theFirstChar.appliedCharacterStyle = 'Highlighted';
}
}
}
}
function createCharacterStyle() {
var myDocument = app.documents.item(0);
// Create the highlight color
try {
myColor = myDocument.colors.item('Red');
myName = myColor.name;
}
catch ( myError ) {
myColor = myDocument.colors.add({name:'Red', model:ColorModel.process, colorValue:[0,100,100,0]});
}
// Create a new Character Style
try {
myCharStyle = myDocument.characterStyles.item('Highlighted');
myName = myCharStyle.name;
}
catch ( myError ) {
myCharStyle = myDocument.characterStyles.add({name:'Highlighted'});
}
myCharStyle.fillColor = myColor;
myCharStyle.underline = true;
}
At first I create the character style (red underline) and then I loop through the lines. The loop works, and finds the first character. The problem is that the style is never applied. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!
As a quick fix you can replace the line:
theFirstChar.appliedCharacterStyle = 'Highlighted';
with:
myStory.paragraphs[theParaCounter].lines[theLineCounter].characters[0].appliedCharacterStyle = 'Highlighted';
The problem is the theFirstChar in your code is just a string, a text. It has no the property appliedCharacterStyle. You have to get the object character from the story/paragraph/line: stories[0].paragraphs[counter].lines[counter].character[0] if you want to apply a character style on it.
Note: the paragraphs.item(theParaCounter) is the same as paragraphs[theParaCounter], lines.item(theLineCounter) is the same as lines[theLineCounter].
Additionally the condition can be shortened:
if ('aeiou'.indexOf(theFirstChar.toLowerCase()) > -1) {
instead of:
if ( theFirstChar == 'a' || theFirstChar == 'e' || theFirstChar == 'i' ||
theFirstChar == 'o' || theFirstChar == 'u') {
.toLowerCase() makes the condition case insensitive. If you need it.
The main() function can be boiled down to this:
function main() {
var doc = app.activeDocument;
var story = doc.stories[0];
var paragraphs = story.paragraphs.everyItem().getElements();
while (paragraphs.length) {
var lines = paragraphs.shift().lines.everyItem().getElements();
while (lines.length) {
var character = lines.shift().characters[0];
if ('aeiou'.indexOf(character.contents.toLowerCase()) < 0) continue;
character.appliedCharacterStyle = 'Highlighted';
}
}
}