[CS3 JS] Possible to Inspect Custom XMP Metadata With JavaScript?

Question

I am using custom XMP metadata in InCopy and InDesign docs in CS3 to hold custom metadata that can vary wildly. I know the full set of possible items but not what values will be in a particular document.
Short of writing the XMP to a file and then processing that from my script, is there a way to inspect the custom properties from JavaScript. I didn't see a way to do it from the data model.
Thanks,
Eliot

Answer 1

Here is another script to catch MetaData, some more than the basic:
// metaDataOfLinks.jsx
//DESCRIPTION: Catches MetaData of linked images and creates a report at the DeskTop.
// Martin Fischer 10/2008
var myLinkXmpArray = ["author", "copyrightInfoURL", "copyrightNotice", "copyrightStatus   ", "creationDate", "creator", "description", "documentTitle", "format", "jobName", "keywords", "modificationDate", "serverURL"];
var myIPTCArray = ["CiAdrCity", "CiAdrCtry", "CiAdrExtadr", "CiAdrPcode", "CiAdrRegion", "CiEmailWork", "CiTelWork", "City", "CiUrlWork", "CopyrightNotice", "Country", "CountryCode", "Creator", "CreatorContactInfo", "CreatorJobtitle", "DateCreated", "Description", "DescriptionWriter", "Headline", "Instructions", "IntellectualGenre", "JobID", "Keywords", "Location", "Provider", "Province-State", "RightsUsageTerms", "Scene", "Source", "SubjectCode", "Title"];
var myPSArray = ["photoshop:AuthorsPosition", "photoshop:CaptionWriter", "photoshop:Category", "photoshop:City", "photoshop:Country", "photoshop:Credit", "photoshop:DateCreated", "photoshop:Headline", "photoshop:Instructions", "photoshop:Source", "photoshop:State", "photoshop:SupplementalCategories", "photoshop:TransmissionReference", "photoshop:Urgency"];//var myPSArray = ["photoshop:AuthorsPosition", "CaptionWriter", "Category", "City", "Country", "Credit", "DateCreated", "Headline", "Instructions", "Source", "State", "SupplementalCategories", "TransmissionReference", "Urgency"];
var myTiffArray = ["tiff:ImageWidth", "tiff:ImageLength", "tiff:BitsPerSample", "tiff:Compression", "tiff:PhotometricInterpretation", "tiff:Orientation", "tiff:SamplesPerPixel", "tiff:PlanarConfiguration", "tiff:YCbCrSubSampling", "tiff:YCbCrPositioning", "tiff:XResolution", "tiff:YResolution", "tiff:ResolutionUnit", "tiff:TransferFunction", "tiff:WhitePoint", "tiff:PrimaryChromaticities", "tiff:YCbCrCoefficients", "tiff:ReferenceBlackWhite", "tiff:DateTime", "tiff:ImageDescription", "tiff:MakeProperName", "tiff:Model", "tiff:Software", "tiff:Artist", "tiff:Copyright"];
var myExifArray = ["exif:ExifVersion", "exif:FlashpixVersion", "exif:ColorSpace", "exif:ComponentsConfiguration", "exif:CompressedBitsPerPixel", "exif:PixelXDimension", "exif:PixelYDimension", "exif:UserComment", "exif:RelatedSoundFile", "exif:DateTimeOriginal", "exif:DateTimeDigitized", "exif:ExposureTime", "exif:FNumber", "exif:ExposureProgram", "exif:SpectralSensitivity", "exif:ISOSpeedRatings", "exif:OECF", "exif:ShutterSpeedValue", "exif:ApertureValue", "exif:BrightnessValue", "exif:ExposureBiasValue", "exif:MaxApertureValue", "exif:SubjectDistance", "exif:MeteringMode", "exif:LightSource", "exif:Flash", "exif:FocalLength", "exif:SubjectArea", "exif:FlashEnergy", "exif:SpatialFrequencyResponse", "exif:FocalPlaneXResolution", "exif:FocalPlaneYResolution", "exif:FocalPlaneResolutionUnit", "exif:SubjectLocation", "exif:ExposureIndex", "exif:SensingMethod", "exif:FileSource", "exif:SceneType", "exif:CFAPattern", "exif:CustomRendered", "exif:ExposureMode", "exif:WhiteBalance", "exif:DigitalZoomRatio", "exif:FocalLengthIn35mmFilm", "exif:SceneCaptureType", "exif:GainControl", "exif:Contrast", "exif:Saturation", "exif:Sharpness", "exif:DeviceSettingDescription", "exif:SubjectDistanceRange", "exif:ImageUniqueID", "exif:GPSVersionID", "exif:GPSLatitude", "exif:GPSLongitude", "exif:GPSAltitudeRef", "exif:GPSAltitude", "exif:GPSTimeStamp", "exif:DateTimeOriginal,", "exif:DateTimeDigitized.", "exif:GPSTimeStamp", "exif:GPSSatellites", "exif:GPSStatus", "exif:GPSMeasureMode", "exif:GPSDOP", "exif:GPSSpeedRef", "exif:GPSSpeed", "exif:GPSTrackRef", "exif:GPSTrack", "exif:GPSImgDirectionRef", "exif:GPSImgDirection", "exif:GPSMapDatum", "exif:GPSDestLatitude", "exif:GPSDestLongitude", "exif:GPSDestBearingRef", "exif:GPSDestBearing", "exif:GPSDestDistanceRef", "exif:GPSDestDistance", "exif:GPSProcessingMethod", "exif:GPSAreaInformation"];
var myCameraRawArray = ["crs:AutoBrightness", "crs:AutoContrast", "crs:AutoExposure", "crs:AutoShadows", "crs:BlueHue", "crs:BlueSaturation", "crs:Brightness", "crs:CameraProfile", "crs:ChromaticAberrationB", "crs:ChromaticAberrationR", "crs:ColorNoiseReduction", "crs:Contrast", "crs:CropTop", "crs:CropLeft", "crs:CropBottom", "crs:CropRight", "crs:CropAngle", "crs:CropWidth", "crs:CropHeight", "crs:CropUnits", "crs:Exposure", "crs:GreenHue", "crs:GreenSaturation", "crs:HasCrop", "crs:HasSettings", "crs:LuminanceSmoothing", "crs:RawFileName", "crs:RedHue", "crs:RedSaturation", "crs:Saturation", "crs:Shadows", "crs:ShadowTint", "crs:Sharpness", "crs:Temperature", "crs:Tint", "crs:ToneCurve", "crs:ToneCurveName", "crs:Version", "crs:VignetteAmount", "crs:VignetteMidpoint", "crs:WhiteBalance"];
var myInfo = new Array;
var myDoc = app.activeDocument;
var myLinks = app.documents[0].links;
for ( i = 0; i < myLinks.length; i++)
   getMetaData ( myLinks[i] );
writeData ( 'Metadaten zu ' + myDoc.name + '\r-----------\r\r' + myInfo.join ( '\r\r'), File ('~/Desktop/Metadaten_' + myDoc.name.replace(/.indd$/, '') + '.txt'));
// ===============================================================
//                                  Funktionen
// ===============================================================
function getMetaData ( aLink )
   var myLinkXmp = aLink.linkXmp.properties.toSource().replace( /^\(\{/,'' ).replace (/\)\}$/,'').replace( /parent.+$/,'').replace(/:/g, ':\t').split( ', ');
   var myString = aLink.name;
   myString += loopLinkXmp ( aLink, myLinkXmpArray );
   myString += loopArray ( aLink, "http://iptc.org/std/Iptc4xmpCore/1.0/xmlns/",  "Iptc4xmpCore:CreatorContactInfo/Iptc4xmpCore:",  myIPTCArray);
   myString += loopArray ( aLink, "http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/",  "", myPSArray );
   myString += loopArray ( aLink, "http://ns.adobe.com/tiff/1.0/", "", myTiffArray );
   myString += loopArray ( aLink, "http://ns.adobe.com/exif/1.0/", "", myExifArray );
   myString += loopArray ( aLink, "http://ns.adobe.com/camera-raw-settings/1.0/",  "", myCameraRawArray );
   myInfo.push( myString.replace( /, $/,'') );
function loopArray( aLink, s1, s2, anArray )
   var temp = '\r\t--- ' + s1 + ' ---\r\t';
   for ( var a = 0; a < anArray.length; a++)
      try {
         var theEvalString = 'aLink.linkXmp.getProperty(\"' + s1 + '\", \"' + s2 + anArray[a] + '\")';
         var myCode = eval( theEvalString );
         if ( myCode != '' )
            temp += '[' + anArray[a] + ']\t' +  myCode + '\r\t'; 
      } catch (e){ //temp +=e + '\r'
   return temp;
function loopLinkXmp( aLink, anArray )
   var temp = '\r\t--- LinkMetadata ---\r\t';
   for ( var a = 0; a < anArray.length; a++)
      try {
         var theEvalString = 'aLink.linkXmp.' + anArray[a] ;
         var myCode = eval( theEvalString );
         if ( myCode != '' )
            temp += '[' + anArray[a] + ']\t' +  myCode + '\r\t'; 
      } catch (e){ //temp +=e + '\r'
   return temp;
function writeData ( aData, theFile )
   theFile.open ( 'w', 'Text', 'R*ch' );
   theFile.encoding = 'UTF-8';
   theFile.write ( aData );
   theFile.close ();
Ressources:
Adobe XMP Developer Center: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/xmp/
XMP Specification: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/xmp/pdfs/xmp_specification.pdf
Martin Fischer