Script does not select colour?

[terrypin]

On an image with black text on a white background I recorded a script that:

1. Selects the Select > Rectangle tool .
2. Clicks the Backround/Fill square in the Materials palette and chooses White, replacing whatever was already set.
3. Selects a rectangle around text I want to remove.
4. Presses the Delete key.

But the script doesn't record the selected colour. So if it was say green, then the script results in a green rectangle replacing the text.

Here's an example script. (I'm still using PSP 8.)

Code: Select all

from JascApp import *

def ScriptProperties():
    return {
        'Author': u'',
        'Copyright': u'',
        'Description': u'',
        'Host': u'Paint Shop Pro',
        'Host Version': u'8.10'
        }

def Do(Environment):
    # EnableOptimizedScriptUndo
    App.Do( Environment, 'EnableOptimizedScriptUndo', {
            
            })

    # Selection
    App.Do( Environment, 'Selection', {
            'General': {
                'Mode': App.Constants.SelectionOperation.Replace, 
                'Antialias': App.Constants.Boolean.false, 
                'Feather': 0
                }, 
            'SelectionShape': App.Constants.SelectionShape.Rectangle, 
            'Start': (436,0), 
            'End': (912,27), 
            'GeneralSettings': {
                'ExecutionMode': App.Constants.ExecutionMode.Default, 
                'AutoActionMode': App.Constants.AutoActionMode.Match
                }
            })

    # ClearSelection
    App.Do( Environment, 'ClearSelection', {
            'GeneralSettings': {
                'ExecutionMode': App.Constants.ExecutionMode.Default, 
                'AutoActionMode': App.Constants.AutoActionMode.Match
                }
            })

    # SelectNone
    App.Do( Environment, 'SelectNone', {
            'GeneralSettings': {
                'ExecutionMode': App.Constants.ExecutionMode.Default, 
                'AutoActionMode': App.Constants.AutoActionMode.Match
                }
            })

[LeviFiction]

Script recording has never included selecting colors it instead saves selected colors directly into the commands that rely specifically on them. When script authors absolutely need to use a specific color and in a place where PSP doesn't record the color we have two choices: 1) Find a way to use a command that does record the color (such as using Fill instead of Clear) or 2) adding in the SetMaterial command ourselves.

This excerpt is taken from the Scripting For Script Authors PDF provided by Corel

Command: SetMaterial

Parameters:
• IsPrimary - Boolean that determines if we are setting the foreground/stroke material, or the background/fill material. 1= True 0 = False
• NewMaterial - Material to be used

Sample Script

Code: Select all

    App.Do( Environment, 'SetMaterial', {
        'IsPrimary': 1,
            'NewMaterial': {
            'Color': (0,0,0),
            'Pattern': None,
            'Gradient': None,
            'Texture': None
            }
        })

Description

Set the specified material into the material palette. In the above example, the foreground/stroke material would get set to solid black.

So in your example code you want to add the above command before the "ClearSelection" command, you want to set IsPrimary to 0 for the background color, and you want to set Color equal to the RGB of the color you want. A solid Green might look like (0, 255,0)

There are several such commands that are never recorded in the script recorder so familiarizing yourself with the API is always handy.

[terrypin]

Thanks Levi, that fixed it nicely.

While I'm here, can you tell me if there's a command I can insert at any point to stop the script, i.e. ignore the remaining commands?

[LeviFiction]

Yes it is a python command called "return"

So what you do, is where you want the script to end prematurely is simply place this single word "return" and the script will end early skipping everything after the word.

[JoeB]

I'd be interested in knowing why anyone would want to place the word return in a script rather than just delete the remaining portion of the script.

[LeviFiction]

It can be useful for several reasons. For example while Single Step is the usual method people will use to find out exactly when a script breaks down, sometimes adding your own break point with something like return is a very way to end a script early without those annoying "Do you want to continue" dialogs popping up. You can also quickly edit a script to do something slightly different temporarily with a single additional keyword.

Another possible reason is to add or change the functionality of a script using conditionals. Add a msgbox "Do you want to add a border?" and if the answer is no, just end the script, if yes, continue. Or if there is no document, open and you need one open, just end the script no muss no fuss.