Thanks a lot, can this be used as a method to populate the text without

scripting?  For instance, will this variable set be able to be sent to the

translators and they translate it, then reload the data for that drawing?

Mind you there would be 100's of drawings at a time.

Thank you very much for your speedy response, you may have saved me hours of

redundant copy+pasting.  So I'll forward the xml file in some sort or

viewable format for them to do their translations than paste that back into

the xml file and load it.  At least I think from what you're telling me, I

can do just that.

Well I wish I could give you some points, post something on my question and

I'll give you the rep credit!

Edit:  I was answering this via email, didn't realize it was actually being posted!  Gave you credit

That XML just spits out too much information.  Thanks for the potential

solution, but I'd be right back to square one, only extracting the text from

the XML file instead of the illy file.  I think I can run a script that will

step through all the text fields and assign them variable names, list the

drawing number, variable name, and the text within that field, and write it

all to a spreadsheet.

Yea Mark, I have laid out the skeleton of the script I need to write, I just have to find a way to step through all the text fields in the drawing via code and assign them a variable.  OR utilize an already unique identifier for each text field that I can access via code, that way the identifier can be coupled into the spreadsheet.  I need to use a spreadsheet because it needs to have the drawing/filename, each text variable, then the text in that corresponding text field.  So something similar to this relational example: Drawingname.Textfield1.text = "English", I need that info organized like this so I can automate the input of the translated text to the correct text fields on the correct drawings/Ai files.

So all in all, I will batch a folder of drawings and the script will access the activedocument, do a For/Next loop to either gain the unique identifier or change each to dynamic text and assign each a name Text(i), then in the loop it will write to a single column, FilenameText(i), then in the next column write the text in that field "English", save, close, next drawing.  Done, send it off to the translators in excel format because that's what they use to feed their software.

The ReWrite script would read the currently batched ActiveDoc, then find that filename in the spreadsheet, and step through each text variable, replacing the english with the new foreign translation.  All that's left to do is watch the batch run so I can catch anything that makes the text so long from being in another language, that it overlaps another text field.

Above and beyond sir, I can't thank you enough.  I understand all of the

code, I see that the comment marks are reversed when putting things back

into Ai.  The only thing I don't understand is how you wrote to a

spreadsheet without opening an instance of excel in the code.

I can code it to open a spreadsheet and save it automatically, but I don't see anything in place to make sure the write function puts the translated text in the exact box the english came from, no sort of naming convention to check that it doesn't mix them up.  I assume illustrator is going to read the textfields in the same order as it did when I wrote the spreadsheet?  And I'll be writing 100s of drawings to one Excel file.  And they'll have to all be distinguishable from one another.  What I was thinking of doing is copying the filename in column1 and a text number in column 2 the english and translation in Col3 and 4.

So last dilemma is, do I have the script search my spreadsheet for the active filename then pull from that row, or assume the batch will go in the exact same order it did the first run through, which is back to front I think.

Well much of it I can do through Ai actions.  For instance the closing and

saving.  So it can just run the script as a component of an action, upon

opening the file in a batch process, then at the end of the action, save

over itself (as I'll be copying them all to a separate translation folder),

then close, open next one.  I appreciate you helping me through the process

of getting it done and some code snippets, you may have helped save me hours

upon hours of work some weeks.  Which means I can work more in 3d and less

in 2d