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jeffreyp6484616
jeffreyp6484616
Level 2
August 25, 2015

Batch create .article files?

  • August 25, 2015
  • 2 replies
  • 9254 views

Since you can't batch update the files in a folio any longer from within InDesign, is it possible to batch create .article files, preferably from the book palate? (Export as PDF doesn't give the option, at least in CC 2014.)

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    2 replies

    V
    Adobe Employee
    Vintage-ukAdobe Employee
    Adobe Employee
    August 25, 2015

    Hi,

    You could do this via InDesign scripting.

    This sample script will ask you to select a folder and will then generate .article files for all the Indd files in that folder.

    You may need to modify this script for your environment and setup.

    var srcFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Please select path to the InDesign files"); // get source folder

    srcFolderContents = srcFolder.getFiles("*.indd"); // get a list indd file

    for (var i = 0, n = srcFolderContents.length; i != n; i=i+1) // for each indd file create an article

    {

       var articleName = srcFolder + "/" + srcFolderContents[i].name.replace(".indd",".article");

       var doc = app.open(srcFolderContents[i], false);

       var dpsArticleP= [

        [ "assetformat", "pdf"],           // pdf, png, jpg or auto (auto chooses between png and jpg)

        [ "showprogressbar", false ]     

           ];

        app.exportDpsArticle (File(articleName), doc, dpsArticleP); // export article

        doc.close;

    }

      R
      rperez_bonnier
      Level 4
      August 25, 2015

      Is this script able to work with inDesign files in sub-folders as generated by the script available here:

      Rapidly create folios using a PDF-to-InDesign script | Adobe Developer Connection‌

      R
      rperez_bonnier
      Level 4
      August 26, 2015

      Thanks Neil!

      I'm testing as I type this and it seems to be working!

      The only thing I'm noticing at the moment is that all the indd files have lock files (as they do when a user opens the file) and the lock files are remaining in place while the script continues to loop through the rest of the folders.

      At the moment I don't know if this is good or bad. Just something curious. Do you think it's leaving the files open in the background until the loop ends? I see the doc.close; statement so it should be closing them.

      Just wondering if it is something that can be tweaked or if it's nothing to worry about. I'm testing on CS6 BTW if that helps.


      The script looped successfully and created a corresponding .article file for every inDesign file using CS6.

      However the lock files remain and:

      - If a user on the same computer that ran the script double clicks one of the inDesign files, the file opens normally--then manually closing the inDesign file will cause the lock file to go away.

      - If a user on a computer other than the computer that ran the script double clicks one of the inDesign files (which are on a local server), the inDesign file will not open (as expected) and we get the message regarding someone else using the file.

      The copy of inDesign on the "source" computer does not show any open documents.

      Almost there! This script will be very very helpful to many folks once it is tweaked.

      K
      Adobe Employee
      ktukkerAdobe Employee
      Adobe Employee
      October 20, 2015

      Hi,

      The documentation for the InDesign API (Extendscript) for exporting articles (and uploading them into DPS) can be found here:

      * https://helpx.adobe.com/digital-publishing-solution/help/integrating-dps.html

      -Klaasjan

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