[AI CS4 Mac] How to create a Compound Path?

Question

Hi Folks,
I'm trying to create a compound path in AI CS4 for Mac, but I have not been successful. One would think this would be easy, so maybe I'm missing the obvious solution...
What is best way to create a compound path using the SDK? I just need to make a compound path out of two non-overlapping rectangles so that I can create a clipping mask. Nothing tricky.
The SDK is not clear about the best way to go about creating a compound path, but I figured that programmitically selecting the two rectanlges and then using the built in "adobe_makeCompound" action would work, but it doesn't.
err = sAIActionManager->PlayActionEvent("adobe_makeCompound", kDialogNone, NULL);
When the above code is called while I'm debugging, I get a dialog box that reads: The object "Make Compound Path" is not currently available.
If I click the "Stop" button while debugging, the value of err is 1346458189 which is 'PARM'. So, maybe I need to set a parameter? The crazy thing is that there appears to be no parameters needed for the "adobe_makeCompound" action event. When I created the action manually, the resulting .aia file (see its contents below) has a parameterCount == 0. I've tried passing a parameter block without adding any parameters to it (instead of NULL), but still no joy.
/version 2
/name [ 5
          5365742031
/isOpen 1
/actionCount 1
/action-1 {
          /name [ 12
                    436f6d706f756e6450617468
          /keyIndex 0
          /colorIndex 0
          /isOpen 0
          /eventCount 1
          /event-1 {
                    /internalName (adobe_makeCompound)
                    /localizedName [ 18
                              4d616b6520436f6d706f756e642050617468
                    /isOpen 0
                    /isOn 1
                    /hasDialog 0
                    /parameterCount 0
Any help or suggestions on how to create a compound path would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
-- Jim

Answer 1

Actually, here's a more useful variation
// rectangle1 & rectangle2 are the AIArtHandles for your existing paths
AIArtHandle compound = 0;
sArt->NewArt(kCompoundPathArt, kPlaceAbove, rectangle1, &compound);
sArt->sReorderArt(rectangle1, kPlaceInsideOnTop, compound);
sArt->sReorderArt(rectangle2, kPlaceInsideOnTop, compound);
// this will create the compound right next to wherever rectangle1 is, much simpler and more likely what you want