Free Script Splits Long InDesign Files into Smaller Ones

Mats Leid̦ says:

@Loic: am I correct in assuming that this line:

var exportdoc = doc.save(File(saveextractfolder + exportdocname));

is the one doing the heavy lifting?
I am trying to understand how the script works, but I can’t see where the choice is made as to what page gets exported as a new document – I tried putting up an alert just after this line, and yes, it creates a one page document if the “separate” was checked, before the “separate sub function, which only opens the original document again as far as I can tell.

This line is inside a for-loop with the same length as the amount of pages chosen in the dialog. If it is this one line, I find it to be a genius solution. I just don’t understand how it works… The “save” command is ExtendScript, but then you use a core javascript File function.

Mats Leidoe says:

Alright, I got it working now. The basic workings of the script are so simple and it only uses standard page removing and file saving commands, which makes it both flexible, and a perfect contender for educating purposes. Thanks for providing us with them, Loic and Peter Kahrel.

So, I wanted to understand what this script was doing and finally took the time to write a mini version. This is it. Maybe someone learning ExtendScript might find it useful.

Note: it has no dialog box, it assumes that you know what you are doing, that you have only one open document, and that you always work on a copy of your precious original document, in a separate folder. It is for educational purposes and there is _no error handling or version control_, if you want that you should probably use the original script, ask Loic for a version for you, or add your own.

This mini version always separates every page as a new document (this is what I wanted) and it iterates through all pages in the original. I use app.activeDocument a lot here, mostly since it makes the script a little easier to read and to understand what is happening. Changed the page removal for-loops to while-loops, I found it easier to visualise with them in this case.
Enjoy!
—-

//—mini page extractor – original script by Loic, scriptopedia.org, modded by zixk2. Only for education, use at your own risk — //
//— and have fun! —//
app.scriptPreferences.userInteractionLevel = UserInteractionLevels.neverInteract;

extractFolder=Folder(app.activeDocument.filePath + “/extracted/”);
if (!extractFolder.exists){extractFolder.create();}

var origdoc = new File (app.activeDocument.fullName);
for(w=0; ww+1){
app.activeDocument.pages[-1].remove();
}
//remove first page until only one is left – this is the correct page
while (app.activeDocument.pages.length>1){
app.activeDocument.pages[0].remove();
}
var exportdocname = app.activeDocument.name.replace (/\.indd$/, “”) + “_Pg” +(w) +”.indd”; //new name for the extracted document
var exportdoc = app.activeDocument.save(File(extractFolder +”/”+ exportdocname)); //save the extracted document in the extract folder with its new name
app.activeDocument.close(SaveOptions.no); //important to close the active document _without_ saving, as all pages but one were removed in the active document.
app.open(origdoc, true); //original document has to be opened again in order for the for-loop to continue.
}

app.scriptPreferences.userInteractionLevel = UserInteractionLevels.interactWithAll;