Move/Duplicate/Copy

Question

All,
Ok, so essentially I'm trying to write a script so that I can batch process a whole bunch of .SVG files.
The .SVG files come from a variety of sources... some open very cleanly with nice layer structure, etc... others open with completely wacked clipping masks grouped dozens of times, etc.... So, I need to try and "normalize" the .SVG with a batch process.
Basically the "normalizing" process I'm trying to use involves:
1. "Flattening" the layer structure by ungrouping any nested layers.
1b. Moving all art objects into a single GroupItem.
2. Move/Duplicate/Copy the GroupItem to a new Document with a predefined Artboard size.
3. Re-sizing and positioning the GroupItem on the new Artboard based on some criteria.
Anyway, I'm kind of mystified as to the best way to accomplish this, so I'm trying all kinds of things...
I thought the simplest way to get all the artwork to the new Document would be to use the move() or duplicate() methods.
However, I keep getting 'MRAP' errors for this line:
item.move(newDoc.activeLayer, ElementPlacement.INSIDE);
In the CS5 JavaScript Reference, the object parameter is referred to as a "relativeObject".
Does this mean that you can only move() or duplicate() an item within the SAME document?
Is the app.copy() and app.paste() methods the only way to move art from one Document to another?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Well, I think I found the cause of the 'MRAP' errors... I had my looping logic screwed up, so I essentially was trying to either:
1. Move something that didn't exist.
2. Move something that does exist into something that doesn't exist.
3. Move something that does exist into itself.
Also, fixing that allowed me to use the move() method to move art items (or a GroupItem) from one document to another.
I didn't test it, but I imagine duplicate() would work as well. Both these seem to me to be more desireable than the app.copy() method.
Also, a few notes to anyone trying to do something similar for prosterity sake:
- Moving artwork within a document will reset the PageItem indexes, e.g. doc.pageItems[index]
- If you remove all the artwork from a GroupItem, the GroupItem will remain in doc.pageItems unless you call app.redraw()
- If you're trying to "flatten" some random amount of artwork, CompoundPathItems (as well as GroupItems) and their respective PathItems actually take up separate indexes of the doc.pageItems array. For example:
doc.pageItems[5] // myCompoundPathItem
doc.pageItems[6] // PathItem contained in myCompoundPathItem // Also: doc.pageItems[5].pathItems[0]
doc.pageItems[7] // another PathItem contained in myCompoundPathItem // Also: doc.pageItems[5].pathItems[1]
doc.pageItems[8] // a PathItem NOT contained in myCompoundPathItem
So, generally you want to avoid moving a PathItem that has a CompoundPathItem as a parent, because it will destroy the shape and screw with your indexes to no end.