Uh, keep a recent PDF at hand maybe?

If you want to use InDesign to browse through the latest version, all you have to do is

(1) open the right document;

(2) jump to the correct page.

-- I don't see how a script could help you with that (*)

(*) Or maybe, if you could double-click a script that scans your hard disk for all issues, shows you a drop down list of the ones it finds, lets you select one and then prompts you for the page number. Personally, I wouldn't need such a script because all of my work is stored in separate folders for (a) publisher, (b) client, (c) journal, (d) issue -- and sometimes (e) version. So it's a one-way walk straight to "the latest version".

If you will have any method that does not generate preview on-the-fly it will always be a danger, that an operator forgets to export PDF after some important change.

It depends for sure on how many operators, clients and documents are in process.

Could escalate if one page will be sold to several customers at the same time

@Dmitry – exporting a PDF could be an event driven thing.

Here an example with an "beforeSave" event, that every time you do a "Save" to the document will export an PDF with a predefined export set to the same location your InDesign file resides. Or to a different location you will define:

#targetengine "exportPDF"  
 
var myEventListenerVersions = app.addEventListener("beforeSave", ExportPDF, false, undefined);      
 
function ExportPDF(){
    var d=app.activeDocument;
    if (d.saved == true){
        d.exportFile(ExportFormat.PDF_TYPE, File(d.fullName+".pdf"), false, app.pdfExportPresets.itemByName("MyPDFpresetName"));
        };
    alert("Saved and exported to PDF!");
    };

Start that script from the ESTK (to make it work one session long, until you close InDesign) or put it in the "startup scripts" folder to initialize it every time you start InDesign. Of course you have to change the string "MyPDFpresetName" to a reasonable name.

Every time you save the InDesign file the exported PDF will be overwritten, so do not check the option "View PDF after Exporting" in your own PDF export preset.

An event listener for the "Save As" command will be a different one…

Uwe

@Uwe, that's really a good idea.

It would be very useful if the invoicing software could place frames on the pages that are reserved.

Otherway it's still possible that operator sees the outdated version.

@Dieter - MyPDFpresetName is a name of the preset configuration to export PDF.

Why do you want it to have the same name as your document?

The "invoicing software" might be the problem, as of your description it sounds like something generic that also a plumber would use for customer and order management, and you were asked to customize it a bit / reinvent the wheel?

A media specific solution should come ready with interfaces to further components, or bring minimum versions of those itself:

- a page planning system to handle future editions before the first InDesign document exists

- an editorial system should solve multi user workflow / collaboration issues (keyword "outdated").

- as soon they are available also automatically provide previews or PDFs from its database.

- trigger the invoice from publishing, provide a final proof PDF for that

- eventually a separate image archive

and so forth

InDesign would be one important component, but it does not provide interfaces at that high level of abstraction, out of the box it stops at the single user. At a small scale, many of these things are doable with duct tape, scripts and a shared folder. For a reason though there is also a whole ecosystem of specialized solutions. If you're located in/near Germany (my guess from your name) and can dedicate the time, get hold on an early bird ticket for www.ifraexpo.de to catch some ideas.

Dirk

Both forums (scripting and SDK) have a focus on the programming side, in the SDK forum you'll mostly find beginner woes (how to get a hold on the debug build, can I use Java for low level programming etc.) and very specific how-to questions about programming details. Active participation of the "big" solution providers is rare, they apparently prefer to keep their competitive advantage or have better things to do with their time.

To get your feet wet you can just google for buzzwords like "indesign enterprise publishing workflow system" and browse the found sites, and later on visit a few presentations at their already suggested trade show. Some solution providers also offer budget / entry level systems. Don't expect too much detail from the web sites, again they are often afraid of competition.

As your problem is with ad handling, you might need other keywords - Anzeigenverwaltung Blattplanung if you prefer german.

At the other extreme I have watched team efforts of months to just compile a set of relevant criteria for an individual publishing house, request and evaluate the matching answers from various vendors - actually this can become an ongoing process, combined with several more months or even years for the actual deployment and customization - nothing that I'd want to squeeze into a forum thread.

liedzeit wrote:

 

By the way, I have watched the (maybe same) teams Dirk mentioned. And I could not help thinking, sometimes it is better to reinvent the wheel. It is certainly more fun....

Ralf, I did not mean to discourage Dieter, just show him that he's not completely in uncharted waters. Reinventing the wheel can be fun indeed , if you know what's going on.

Dirk