Script – Use name instead of indexed number

[Dan Ebberts]

I just use a little function like this:


function getComp(theName){
for (var i =1; i <= app.project.numItems; i++){
if ((app.project.item(i) instanceof CompItem) && (app.project.item(i).name == theName)){
return app.project.item(i);
}
}
return null;
}

// test
var compName = "Comp 1";
var myComp = getComp(compName);
alert(compName + (myComp == null ? " not " : " ") + "found.");


Dan

[Sergio Cabrera]

There is kinda a loop or I’m not understanding the function, I start by knowing the comp name and at the end of the function I get the same name I knew at the start.

alert (myComp); would retrieve: [object CompItem] instead of app.project.item(1) which is “Comp 1”

How do I add some actions to the “Comp 1” composition? Can you show me an example of renaming “Comp 1” composition name or some other action to get a clear idea?

I was hoping to do something like this:

var newname = "Comp 2"

function renameComposition(newName) {
var curComp = null;
curComp = app.project.item(1);
curComp.name = newName;
}

renameComposition(Comp 2)


But replacing app.project.item(1); with myComp:

var compositionName = "Comp 2"

function renameComposition(newName) {
var curComp = null;
curComp = myComp
curComp.name = newName;
}

renameComposition(compositionName)


[Sergio Cabrera]

Working great, sorry, I was having problems understanding the function, my ego would like to blame the lack of coffee. Thank you so much Dan, you’re a god at this! You make it look so easy.

function getComp(theName){
for (var i =1; i <= app.project.numItems; i++){
if ((app.project.item(i) instanceof CompItem) && (app.project.item(i).name == theName)){
return app.project.item(i);
}
}
return null;
}

// test
var compName = "Comp1";
var myComp = getComp(compName);

var NewCompositionName = "Comp 2"

function renameComposition(newName) {
var curComp = null;
curComp = getComp(compName);
curComp.name = newName;
}

renameComposition(NewCompositionName)

[Dan Ebberts]

If all you want to do is rename the comp, this should be all you need:


function renameComp(oldName,newName){
for (var i =1; i <= app.project.numItems; i++){
if ((app.project.item(i) instanceof CompItem) && (app.project.item(i).name == oldName)){
app.project.item(i).name = newName;
break;
}
}
}


Dan

[Sergio Cabrera]

Thank you. One more question, can copyToComp() be used to copy a comp to another comp or it only works with layers?

[Dan Ebberts]

.copyToComp() is only for layers. You could use .add() to add a comp as a layer to another comp.

Dan

[Sergio Cabrera]

Thank you Dan!

[Tomas Bumbulevičius]

Hey Dan, what would you recommend for cases, when there are two, identically named comps? (Apart from not making two identical names, hehe!) By default it picks up the first one in the project items array.

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[Dan Ebberts]

I guess you could modify the function to return an array of all comps with that name (or an empty array if there aren’t any).

Dan