A fault introduced in CC2019: can't update or relink a link when a document is opened by a script.

Steps to reproduce:

1. To verify that with an existing open document the problem does not occur:
   a. Start a new InDesign document
   b. Place a graphic on the first page
   c. Run this script:

app.documents[0].links[0].update();

No error occurs.

1. To reproduce the error:
   a. Save the document created in step 1 and close it.
   b. Run this script:

s = '/d/test/links.indd'; // Use your string
app.open (File(s));
app.documents[0].links[0].update();

Expected result: The links should be updated.
Actual result: "Error: This file is already open by another user or another application. This file may be stored on a network server and cannot be opened until the other user closes it."

Note 1: It doesn't matter that in this example the link doesn't actually need updating. The result is the same with out-of-date links.

Note 2: The problem is not confined to update(): it also occurs when you relink a link.

It would be useful to be able to create an Event Listener that would fire when a document failed to open. It would be great if we could cancel the default behavior using the PreventDefault.

My use case is the following. We offer a script that adds a custom menu item to allow users to select, convert, and open files that aren't usually supported by InDesign. We want to be able to offer the same type of functionality if the user attempts to open one of our supported file types through the standard Open Dialog (File->Open).

We would set up an Event Listener for "failedToOpen," which would validate that the file is one we support. If so, we would PreventDefault and prompt the user, asking if they'd like the file converted. If we didn't support the file type, we would allow the default behavior.

Note: my sample code is jsx, but the problem may not be limited to jsx. Change the filetype of my provided files from txt to jsx prior to using!

We have multiple products that sometimes show a problem with document.close() not actually closing the file, leading to incorrect functioning, memory bloat, slowdowns, and we believe some crashes. I provide a test script that takes a currently open document and iteratively copies it, opens the copy, then closes the copy -- after the loop is finished, the copy files are removed.

Important: If run from the ESTK or Scripts Panel, the script works as expected -- no problems. If run from a custom menu (setup script also provided), the problem happens every time.

We believe we've seen this in cases where a custom menu is not the launch mechanism, and may be intermittent in those cases.

We believe we've seen this in InDesign Server as well. My scripts have been tested in CC 2019 and CC 2020 and on both Win and Mac.

In order to run the "Test_menu.jsx" script for using a custom menu, the "Documents left open on close.jsx" script must be in a "TestScripts" folder in your 'home' or 'user' folder (i.e., inside of "~/TestScripts").

This problem is a real headache and is difficult to work around. It affects multiple product areas; we urge prompt attention to this problem.

Thanks.

I'll attach a self-contained script which first creates in order to demonstrate problems with textStyleRange.convertToNote(). The script creates a small document containing "b"s. These are marked with a smaller pointSize so that they form individual textStyleRanges. The script then converts these textStyleRanges into notes. Unfortunately, the script terminates with a message: "Object is invalid; tsr.convertToNote()". This message happens because the scripting engine has become confused and is trying to convert a "b" within a note into another note. This shouldn't happen and is the first problem.

Open the story window. The beginning of the story has a clear pattern of notes between sentences. This should continue to the end of the document, but looking further down, two more problems can be seen:

(1) Overflow.jpg shows that the text at the frame's overflow boundary has become confused. It should say "The quick green fox ...", but instead it says something like "The The The quick The ...".

(2) Nearer to the end of the story, Confusion.jpg shows that larger phrases are converted into notes even though only "b" should be converted.

I can't attach a script, so here it is:

// Run this script in InDesign CC 2019, Roman Region.
//THIS IS THE PROBLEM PART THE REST IS JUST TO SET IT UP.

// Convert all "b" characters into notes
function hideNotes(story){

 // Find all the "b"s

 app.findTextPreferences = null;

 var findPrefs = app.findTextPreferences;

 findPrefs.findWhat = "b";

 var matchingItems = story.findText()


 // It shouldn't be necessary to copy the findText() results, but just in case ...

 var copy = []

 for (var i = 0; i < matchingItems.length; i++) { 

     copy[i] = (matchingItems[i])

 }

 // Loop through the "b"s and convert them to notes

 for (var i = 0; i < copy.length; i++) { 

     var tsr = copy[i].textStyleRanges.firstItem();

     tsr.convertToNote();

  }

}

// This is just setting up a document with reasonable defaults
function setup(){

// Set up application

var millimeterMeasurementUnits = 2053991795; // This means millimeters

app.viewPreferences.verticalMeasurementUnits = millimeterMeasurementUnits ;

app.viewPreferences.horizontalMeasurementUnits = millimeterMeasurementUnits ;


// Set up new document

var doc = app.documents.add();

doc.zeroPoint = [0, 0];

doc.viewPreferences.rulerOrigin = 1380143215 // This means PageOrigin;

doc.documentPreferences.pageWidth = 210

doc.documentPreferences.pageHeight= 297

doc.marginPreferences.left  = 20

doc.marginPreferences.right  = 20

doc.marginPreferences.top  = 20

doc.marginPreferences.bottom  = 20

// Set up new page

var page = doc.pages.firstItem();

page.marginPreferences.left  = 20

page.marginPreferences.right  = 20

page.marginPreferences.top  = 20

page.marginPreferences.bottom  = 20

// Set up new frame

var textFrame = doc.textFrames.add();

textFrame.geometricBounds = [20, 20, 277, 190];

// Add frame text

for(var i = 0; i < 250; i++){

    var insertionPoint = textFrame.insertionPoints.lastItem()

    insertionPoint.pointSize = 12

    insertionPoint.contents = "The quick green fox jumped over the lazy dog. "

    insertionPoint = textFrame.insertionPoints.lastItem()

    // This point size will set the "b" into its own textStyleRange

    insertionPoint.pointSize = 7

    insertionPoint.contents = "b"

}

}

//Entry Point
setup();
var stories = app.activeDocument.stories;
for (var i = 0; i < stories.length; i++) {

hideNotes(stories[i]);

}

Note: my sample code is jsx, but the problem may not be limited to jsx.

We have multiple products that sometimes show a problem with document.close() not actually closing the file, leading to incorrect functioning, memory bloat, slowdowns, and we believe some crashes. I provide a test script that takes a currently open document and iteratively copies it, opens the copy, then closes the copy -- after the loop is finished, the copy files are removed.

Important: If run from the ESTK or Scripts Panel, the script works as expected -- no problems. If run from a custom menu (setup script also provided), the problem happens every time.

We believe we've seen this in cases where a custom menu is not the launch mechanism, and may be intermittent in those cases.

We believe we've seen this in InDesign Server as well. My scripts have been tested in CC 2019 and CC 2020 and on both Win and Mac.

In order to run the "Test_menu.jsx" script for using a custom menu, the "Documents left open on close.jsx" script must be in a "TestScripts" folder in your 'home' or 'user' folder (i.e., inside of "~/TestScripts").

This problem is a real headache and is difficult to work around. It affects multiple product areas; we urge prompt attention to this problem.

Thanks.