.. That “join(“r”)” line near the top should actually read “join(“r”)”, to insert a return between each line. If I call up the Edit Post, I get the entire script on a single line :(

(It's of no effect to the inner workings of the script but I thought you might to try the sample as-is.)

The getFiles command returns anything that matches the mask you provide. In my example, I limited it to “”*.indd” to get only InDesign files, but — after some deliberating — I decided to add an explicit check because it may also return a Folder named “my files.indd”. (Don't laugh. Of course, me personally would never name a folder something like that, but you'd be amazed.)

This 'explicit check' is right below the for..loop:

if (myList[list] instanceof Folder)
continue;

.. so the entire rest of the loop will be skipped ('continue') if the item under consideration is a folder. To make it scan for just folders, you need to make two crucial changes:

1. Change the pattern of 'getFiles' to (“*”), or omit it entirely — its default is in fact “*”. This will make it pick up any and all files and folders.

2. Change the line after the for.. command to

if (myList[list] instanceof File)

continue;

so the commands below it will only be processed when 'myList[list]' is a folder.

.. Or do i need to write a loop that goes into the folder and scans until it's done?

Well … it depends on what you are planning to do. If you want to 'process' all InDesign files in a certain folder and all the ones in subfolders, possibly nested, you need a recursive routine. If you look up “Recursive” in any good dictionary, it'll read “see Recursive” — that sums it up, I guess.

A good way would be:

1. Don't use the for..loop I gave as an example, but instead define two functions: processFile and processFolder.

2. Start your script with 'processFolder'.

3. Have this function scan for all files, and call the function 'processFile' for each.

4. Then have it scan for folders, and call the function 'processFolder' for each.

You see, hopefully, that #4 is the recursive part: if there is a folder inside your main (starting) folder, the function will call itself and process the files in there. If there is a folder in that, it will call itself and process the files in that one. Et cetera ad infinitum, or until all files & folders are processed — whatever comes first.

Tip: If part of your 'processFile' involves saving the file under a new name, take care not to process these in turn! That might lead to an endless loop, not quite ad infinitum but merely ad full hard disk.

You mean, you'd want add all of the layers in each document added to all other documents?

As a matter of fact you can do it with a single command, which is very useful because it's also one single Undo! (You don't have to feel bad about seeing this command for the first time — it dwells into the “advanced” realm of scripting.)

app.activeDocument.stories.everyItem().tables.everyItem().rows.everyItem().properties = {autoGrow:true, minimumHeight:”1p”};

There!

(You might want to note that this does not change the actual row height. I tested it on some manually enlarged rows, and it happily sets the minimum height but doesn't change the actual height when it's larger than that.)

You need one master page per tab. (The only alternative is drawing each of them on each page…)

The very best way to set this up is:

1. Create a Master Master spread. Put all of your tabs on this one, so you can align them and globally change whatever you want.

2. For each new chapter, create a separate Master spread and base it on the Master Master spread.

3. Cmd+Shift+Click on each of the unwanted tabs to delete them, per new chapter master. Leave the one you need alone.

Now, when you update your Master Master, all of the other masters will automatically update as well.

so if I use a invisible character like a hard or soft return it will serve as an “end character”?

Yep — and Adobe even thoughtfully included one, specifically for this case. It's called “End Nested Style”.

Reminiscent of the ol' “What Happend to Cmd+H” discussion on the Mac!

For Windows, Alt+Spacebar always has had a function; this is from Microsoft's Windows 7 Shortcut Key list:

“ALT+SPACEBAR

Open the shortcut menu for the active window”

I'm not sure why Windows would issue a *ping* when it actually should display the Window menu. In any case, it's Adobe's fault (!) for trying to work around system-defined shortcut keys — again.

.. the no break setting's a load of crap when the Adobe Paragraph Composer is turned on.

Can you expand on that? Perhaps your URLs are too long to fit comfortably on a single line. The Paragraph Composer should try to work around it by distributing the excess space all over the entire paragraph, where the Single-line Composer just gives up, spaces out that one line beyond belief, then merrily continues with the rest of the text.