[CS4/5][JS] Script causes InDesign to crash

Question

Hello,
I'm having a bit of an issue with some InDesign scripting i'm working on, and wonder if anyone else has had the same issue.
I have a script that uses app.dialog to prompt for user information.  It then takes the result of that dialog, and uses it in the script.  Pretty standard so far, and if i run this from the scripts panel, or from ESTK, it works fine.  If I set it up as a Script Menu Action, when I run the script via the menu, it executes, then crashes InDesign.
I have tried this with multiple dialog's, and each time a dialog is called from a SMA, InDesign crashes.  The following code is fairly pointless, but will cause InDesign to crash when the SMA is run.
//failTest.jsx
//Test script will cause InDesign to crash when the SMA is invoked
//Daniel Cole
//Wed Jun 09 2010 13:26:47 GMT-0400
#targetengine "session"
//set up the SMA and eventListener
var saTest = app.scriptMenuActions.add("Test SMA");
var elTest = saTest.eventListeners.add("onInvoke", function()
          alert(testFunc());
//Check for the menu, and create it if it doesn't exist
try{
    var menuTest = app.menus.item("$ID/Main").submenus.item("Test");
    menuTest.title;
catch (e){
    var menuTest = app.menus.item("$ID/Main").submenus.add("Test");
menuTest.menuItems.add(saTest)
//test function
//creates a dialog box with a text edit box
//returns the content of the text edit box
function testFunc(){
     testDialog = app.dialogs.add({name:"Enter Text:", canCancel:true});
          with(testDialog){
               with(dialogColumns.add()){
                    var getTextField = textEditboxes.add({editContents: "Test Text", minWidth:250});
     testResult = testDialog.show()
     if(testResult == true){
          var testText = getTextField.editContents;
          testDialog.destroy();
          return testText;
     else{
          return "No Text Entered";
          myFileDialog.destroy();
I've tried this on CS4 and CS5, on multiple installs, and it crashes every time.  Can anyone else replicate this?  Is this a known issue?  Is there any way to work around it?
thanks,
Daniel Cole
Electronic Prepress and Automation Specialist
Disc Makers

Answer 1

I don't know exactly why your code crashes ID in some versions, but there are potential issues in using:
- unneeded global variables in a function scope,
- the with statement,
- the "var menuTest" redeclaration in the try...catch,
- a generic #targetengine "session" directive,
- menu and menuAction creation procedure without preventing object duplication (beware of application/session persistence),
- the myFileDialog.destroy() instruction when myFileDialog is unknown (in your original code).
In order to isolate the "destroy" bug, I suggest you separate the process from the menu installer (see http://bit.ly/cIsZuG for more detail about menu management).
Here is a possible structure:
#targetengine "DanielColeTest"
// YOUR PROCESS
// Use clean local vars within the func
var testFunc = function()
     var dlg = app.dialogs.add({
          name:"Enter Text:",
          canCancel:true
     var textField = dlg.dialogColumns.add().textEditboxes.add({
          editContents: "Test Text",
          minWidth:250
     var r = (dlg.show())?
          textField.editContents:
          "No Text Entered - Marc";
     dlg.destroy();
     return r;
var testInvokeHandler = function(/*onInvoke*/)
     alert( testFunc() );
// YOUR MENU INSTALLER
// Encapsulate the routine to avoid duplication issues
// - a SMA is session-persistent
// - a menu is application-persistent
var testInstaller = testInstaller||(function()
     var smaTitle = "Test SMA",
          mnuTitle = "Test",
          subs = app.menus.item("$ID/Main").submenus,
          sma, mnu;
     // 1. Create the script menu action
     sma = app.scriptMenuActions.add(smaTitle);
     // 2. Attach the onInvoke event handler
     sma.eventListeners.add("onInvoke",testInvokeHandler);
     // 3. Create and/or target the menu
     mnu = subs.item(mnuTitle);
     if( !mnu.isValid ) mnu = subs.add(mnuTitle);
     // 4. Create the menu item
     mnu.menuItems.add(sma);
     return true;
Hope it could help.
Regards,
Marc