Panels einblenden per Skript

For (almost?) all menu commands and even more – for example all tools in the tool palette – there are menuActions to trigger them. menuActions can be found like all collections: app.menuActions.itemByName('handle')

For instance, the conditional text panel has the handle: $ID/#CondTextUI_PanelName. The syntax is cryptic because the handle works in every language, even in a Japanese version of InDesign. So this works:

var ma = app.menuActions.item('$ID/#CondTextUI_PanelName');
if (ma.isValid) ma.invoke();

Problem: If the panel was visible before, it will no longer be visible afterward – and vice versa. What if I want to make sure it is shown?

Then this works:

var panel = app.panels.item('Bedingter Text');
if (panel.isValid) panel.visibility = true;

Problem: this, or course, only works in a German InDesign. As far as I know, there is no explicit link between a panel and the menuAction that opens it.

So what to do?

1. We record the visibility state of all panels.
2. We trigger the menuAction.
3. We check which panel changed its visibility.
4. We set that panel’s visibility to the desired value.

panel_visibility();

/**
 * Merkt sich Sichtbarkeit aller Panels. Toggelt ein Panel. Checkt, welches Panel sich geändert hat. Setzt dessen Sichtbarkeit.
 * @param {string} menu_action
 * @param {boolean} visibility
 * @returns {any} null=menu_action invalid, true=visibility set, false=error on setting visibility
 */
function panel_visibility ( menu_action, visibility ) {
  visibility = !! visibility;

  var panels = app.panels.everyItem().getElements();
  var vis = [];
  for ( var n = 0; n < panels.length; n++ ) {
    try {
      vis[n] = panels[n].visible;
    } catch(e) {
    }
  }
  var ma = app.menuActions.item(menu_action);
  if ( ma && ma.isValid ) {
    ma.invoke();
  } else {
    return null;
  }
  for ( var n = 0; n < panels.length; n++ ) {
    try {
      if ( vis[n] !== panels[n].visible ) {
        panels[n].visible = true;
        return true;
      }
    } catch(e) {}
    return false;
  }
}