JS CS4: Create variable for current layer then select the layer at the end of a script

Question

I'm coming up blank with the verbiage and spinning my wheels with the OMV and script guide.
var myOriginalLayer = app.activeDocument.layers.item(0);
alert(myOriginalLayer)
returns "object layer" and not the layer's name.
var myOriginalLayer = app.activeDocument.layers.lastItem().name;
Does return the layer name I want but not by selection.
I'm challenged on how to select the layer.

Answer 1

Hi John,
The difference lies in that the [Object Layer] is the actual object, and the 'name' is just a property -- just like its color.
You can use one of these two approaches:
var myOriginalLayer = app.activeDocument.layers.item(0);
alert(myOriginalLayer.name);
will hold the original layer object, and you can see the name if required :-)
To re-select the layer, use
app.activeDocument.activeLayer = myOriginalLayer;
Alternatively, selecting by name goes like
var myOriginalLayerNAME = app.activeDocument.layers.lastItem().name;
app.activeDocument.activeLayer = app.activeDocument.layers.item(myOriginalLayerNAME);
I also noticed the following:
app.activeDocument.layers.item(0) points to the first layer of your document; not the 'active' one. Similarly, app.activeDocument.layers.lastItem() just points to the very last one. I'm not sure if the order of the activeDocument.layers array mimicks the order as shown in the Labels palette, but I would hope it does :-)
To get/set the active layer, use app.activeDocument.activeLayer as shown above.