Exploring and Exploiting the Bridge Libraries

Question

One of the things we did when we developed the Bridge Workflow Automation Scripts, was create a set of libraries to make bridge scripting easier and more productive.
The libraries are AdobeLibrary1.jsx and AdobeLibrary2.jsx. There is an AdobeLibrary3.jsx, but it's primarily patches for the other two.
Over the next few weeks, I am going to post some messages about those libraries to help get folks started bridge scripting.
First up are some file handling utilities.
getBridgeThumbnails and getBridgeFiles are two library functions that return the selected (in Bridge) Thumbnail objects or File objects. getBridgeFiles takes the output from getBridgeThumbnails and converts them to File objects. These functions also ensure that any Version Cue files that were selected are up to date on the local file system prior to returning the selected objects.
The definition is:
getBridgeThumbnails = function( mask, getFolderChildren, filesOnly, firstOnly )
Where:
mask is a comma delimited list of file extensions or Mac file type strings. The function will only return Thumbnails that point to files of these types. It defaults to no mask, which will return everything. If the user selected Thumbnails that are not included in the mask, the user will be warned by an alert dialog (the user has the ability to opt not to be warned again).
getFolderChildren is a boolean. Set to true, it will return the first level children of any selected folder. The concept is that if a user selects a folder in bridge, they can operate the files in that folder. It defaults to true.
filesOnly is a boolean. Set to true, it will return only files, no folders. It defaults to false.
firstOnly is a boolean. Set to true, it returns only the first valid file found. This is useful when you are attempting to do an example of the result of one of the selected files. It defaults to false.
One more thing: If the user has a document open in bridge, but has not selected anything, it will assume the entire contents of the document are desired. It will flip up a warning dialog if this is the case (the user can opt to not be warned again).
We also extended the File Object in bridge (not the point apps) to do the file filtering for us. Part of that was the creation of a number of standard masks.
TYPES.PHOTOSHOP
TYPES.PHOTOSHOP_OPENABLE
etc.
var thumbs = getBridgeThumbnails( TYPES.PHOTOSHOP_OPENABLE, true, true );
for ( var i = 0; i < thumbs.length; i++ ) {
thumb = thumbs[ i ];
// do something with the selected thumbnail

Answer 1

John,
Thanks.
I'll try to get some basic examples up here too. I think the docs on Exchange were replaced with a non-read only set. Try downloading them again.
Next Topic: The basic Bridge Scripting Paradigm
Bridge being what it is, the typical usage of a script is to select a set of files, then select a menu item to perform some magic on the selected files.
Scripts, therefore, typically need to create a MenuElement at startup, and then wait patiently for the user to call them.
There are 2 ways scripts get loaded. The first is by placing them in the startup scripts folder. The best way to find the startup scripts folder is to click the button in Preferences.
The other way is via Adobe ScriptManager. Script Manager is shipped with the full Creative Suite. It does what it says, pretty much. Provides a way to control what scripts load at startup and what don't. With ScriptManager installed (in startup scripts), it automatically loads scripts in the Workflow Automation Scritps folder (child of startup scripts for the full CS2 installation) and one other folder that is settable by the user.
The Script Manager also has some nice to have features for scripters. When a user selects a script, the Script Manager displays information provided by the scripter. The information includes stuff like the script's name, description, help, author, website, etc. As a scripter, you should always write your scripts assuming the Script Manager is present and loading your script.
To do this, the minimum script template is:
// first is a target directive - tells the extendscript engine that
// this script should be loaded into bridge. Makes it so that if a
// user opens the script in Bridge, it will load it rather than
// display the raw script in the ESTK
#target bridge
// next - all point products attempt to load all scripts in the
// startup scripts folder, if your's is bridge-only, make sure it
// only loads in bridge by wrapping everything in a condition like
// this
if ( BridgeTalk.appName == "bridge" ) {
// always make a namespace object for your script. Make it something
// that will not likely be something someone else might use. This
// avoids possible name collisions between scripts
myScript = {}; // namespace object for this script
// next ditty is for the Script Manager
try {
myScript.scriptInfo = new ScriptManager.ScriptInfo();
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "name", "My Script" );
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "description", "A Cool Script" );
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "help", "Help text" );
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "author", "Your Name" );
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "company", "Your Company" );
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "copyright", "It's mine and you can't have it );
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "version", "1.0" );
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "date", "06-27-2005" );
myScript.scriptInfo.set( "website", "http://www.adobe.com" );
} catch ( e ) {
// Your Script Goes HERE.
myScript.ui = function( menu ) {
// this function puts up any UI your script needs, then executes
// the script
// create your menu
var menu = MenuElement.create( "command", "My Menu", "at the end of Tools", "tools/myScript" );
menu.onSelect = myScript.ui;
// the last thing for the Script Manager - after your script has
// loaded, send the script info object to it.
try {
ScriptManager.reportLoading( myScript.scriptInfo );
} catch ( e ) {
} // closing brace for the if (appName == bridge) condition