Layers getByName() issue?

Question

I'm using CS4 and I'm curious about a particular issue I'm having when I use getByName() to return a layer. It works fine unless the named layer is in a group. Using the following simple code it runs fine until I choose a layer that is within a group. Then it returns an error: No such element.
#target photoshop
n=app.activeDocument.activeLayer.name;
alert(n);
lay=app.activeDocument.artLayers.getByName(n);
alert(lay.name);
Am I doing something wrong? Is there another way other than coding a step-through function to do this so it will return the layer whether it's in a group or not without an error?

Answer 1

I apologize, X. I guess I'll have to back up a bit and explain more. The script is part of an Events Script that runs when I select a layer so all the Event passes to the script is a string containing the layer's name. I use this to automatically select a specific tool for certain layers. The trouble starts when the script takes too long to process. Then, for some reason, my keyboard shortcuts for some tools acts strangely and it turns into more of a hindrance than help.
Here is the actual script I'm using. Again, I apologize for the misinformation.
cTID = function(s) { return app.charIDToTypeID(s); };
sTID = function(s) { return app.stringIDToTypeID(s); };
try {
    if (arguments.length >= 2) {
        var desc = arguments[0];
        var event = arguments[1];
        if (event == cTID('slct')) {
            var ref = desc.getReference(cTID('null'));
            var cls = ref.getDesiredClass();
            var nam=ref.getName();
//            alert(ref.getDesiredClass());
            if (nam=="P2P Copyright") {
                lay.visible=true;
                selectTool('moveTool');
            if (nam && ref.getDesiredClass() == 1283027488 && lay=app.activeDocument.layers.getByName(nam)) {
                function selectTool(tool) {
                    var desc9 = new ActionDescriptor();
                    var ref7 = new ActionReference();
                    ref7.putClass( app.stringIDToTypeID(tool) );
                    desc9.putReference( app.charIDToTypeID('null'), ref7 );
                    executeAction( app.charIDToTypeID('slct'), desc9, DialogModes.NO );
                if (lay.kind == LayerKind.SMARTOBJECT);
                else if (cls == cTID('Chnl') || lay.kind != LayerKind.NORMAL) {
                    selectTool('paintbrushTool');
                    doAction('Reset Swatch','Tools');
                else if (cls == cTID('Lyr ')) {
                    doAction('RGB Color Select','Tools');
                    switch (nam) {
                        case "Details":
                            selectTool('magicStampTool');
                            break;
                        case "Dodge/Burn":
                            selectTool('paintbrushTool');
                            doAction('Dodge/Burn','Tools');
                            doAction('Reset Swatch','Tools');
                            doAction('Reverse Swatch','Tools');
                            break;
                        case "Touchup":
                        case "Color Correct":
                        case "Tone Correct":
                            selectTool('paintbrushTool');
                            doAction('Touchup','Tools');
                            break;
                        case "Spot Sharpen":
                            selectTool('paintbrushTool');
                        case "Cloning":
                            selectTool('cloneStampTool');
                            break;
                        case "P2P Copyright":
                            lay.visible=true;
                            selectTool('moveTool');
catch (e) {
    if (!e.line.indexOf("element")) alert( "Error: " + e + ":" + e.line );
As you can see in the "catch" section, I'm bypassing the error for this to get around it. The layer that is in a group is the "P2P Copyright" layer and as you can see, I had to add an extra if-then check just for that layer as it doesn't work in the switch section and throws an error.