Adobe 65010248 - Illustrator CS4 - PC, Manual, Page: 19 / 57

C
HAPTER
2: The Illustrator Scripting Object Model The artwork tree 19
Document
The
document
object, which your scripts can create or access through the
application
object, represents
an art canvas or loaded Illustrator file. The
document
object’s properties give you access to the document’s
content; for example:
➤
The current
selection
, or art objects that the user selected in the document
➤
All contained art objects, called
page items
, that make up the artwork tree
➤
Art objects of particular types, like
symbols
and
text frames
➤
All
layers
and the currently
active layer
Document properties also tell you about the state of the document itself; for example:
➤
User settings for the document, such as
ruler units
➤
Whether the document was
saved
since the last alteration of content
➤
The
path
of the associated file
The
document
object’s methods allow your scripts to act on the document; for example:
➤
Save
to an Illustrator file or
save as
the various supported file formats
➤
Activate
or
close
a document
➤
Print
the document. Your scripts can select a printer by referencing a
print options
object, or they
can reference available printers through the application object’s
printer list
property.
Layer
The
layer
object provides access to the contents, or artwork tree, of a specific layer. You access the
layer
object through the
document
object. The
layer
object properties provide access to, or information about,
the layer, such as:
➤
Whether the layer is
visible
or
locked
.
➤
The layer’s
opacity
(overall transparency) and
z order position
(position in the stacking order).
➤
Art-creation preferences for the layer, like
artwork knockout
and
blending mode
.
The artwork tree
The content of an Illustrator document is called the artwork tree . Artwork is represented by the following
objects:
➤
compound path item
➤
graph item
➤
group item
➤
legacy text item