Item : by name ?

[golgo]

Hello there, first post for me

The only way to manipulate an Item seems to call it by its index, that represents his alphabetic position in all the project's items, right ???

Is there a way to call an item (a comp for exemple) by it's name, like for a layer ?

The use of item index is not fair, like when you import a new item, the rank and so the index changes...

thanx for your lights !

[Atomic]

You can reference by name, like so...

Code: Select all

var myComp = app.project.activeItem;  //NOTE comp must be selected in the project window.
var AudioAmplitudeLayer = myComp.layer("Audio Amplitude"); 

Audio Amplitude is the name of a layer in my comp.

Now you can refference properties of the layer like so...

Code: Select all

t=AudioAmplitudeLayer.inPoint;

[Paul Tuersley]

I think Golgo was asking if you could reference a comp by name, in the same way as you can with a layer. I think the only way is to create a loop that goes through all the items, checking for the correct name. Not so bad really.

[Atomic]

So,

Does app.project have a count?

[Dan Ebberts]

app.project.numItems

Dan

[Atomic]

So I guess to scan the project window you could...

Code: Select all

n = app.project.numItems;
for (m=1; m<n; m++;)
{
if (app.project.item(m).name =="Label I am Searching For")
{
//I have found an item in the project window by name.
}
}

[nab]

Index starts at 1 (not 0) for project items.

[golgo]

So I guess to scan the project window you could...

Code: Select all

n = app.project.numItems;
for (m=1; m<n; m++;)
{
if (app.project.item(m).name =="Label I am Searching For")
{
//I have found an item in the project window by name.
}
}

Ok, that works fine. But my goal is to select a comp, so how can I do it ? (activeItem is read only)

Thanx !

[nab]

m <= n , unless you want to skip the last item !

when you have retrieved the item (in a variable), do whatever you want with it (add layers, change settings...)

the scripting guide is a good way to start

[)orgen]

maybe I don't fully understand the question, but you can at least reference a layer in a specific comp like this:

amp=comp("intro").layer("control").effect("amplitude")("Slider");