Shading straddled cells

[che47audio]

I have a table with 10 columns and 2 body rows. Before the script is run, cell 1 in the first table row (which contains text) is straddled over all cells in the row (cells 1-10). My script so far deletes the second row then unstraddles the top row and restraddles it over cells 1-7, leaving 3 cells unstraddled (cells 8,9 & 10)

I then want to straddle these 3 cells together (straddle cell 8 over 8, 9 and 10) and shade them. Below is the script I have so far which gets me as far as selecting the three cells to be straddled and shaded. Is it possible to straddle and shade a selection? Also, would someone please advice me for future posts how I post as code just to keep things tidy?

Thanks

var doc = app.ActiveDoc;

var tbl = doc.SelectedTbl;

        //Delete Row

        var row = tbl.FirstRowInTbl.NextRowInTbl;

        row.Delete ()

        if(tbl.ObjectValid() == true)

    {

        alert("Row has been deleted");

    }

        // Remove and re-apply the straddle

       var header=tbl.FirstRowInTbl.FirstCellInRow;

       if (header.ObjectValid()) {

       header.UnStraddleCells(1, 10);

       header.StraddleCells(1, 7);

       alert("Station Header Restraddled.");

        }

        else

        {

        alert("No cells to unstraddle.");

        }

       //Select the three cells I want to shade

       tbl.MakeTblSelection (0, 0, 7, 9);

      //Apply Green shading to cells

     var pgf = doc.TextSelection.beg.obj;

     var cellsForShading = pgf.InTextObj;

      // Get the "PBgreen" color object.

     var color = doc.GetNamedColor ("PBGreen");

     // Set the cell's properties to 100% PBGreen.

     cellsForShading .CellOverrideShading = color;

     cellsForShading .CellUseOverrideShading = true;

     cellsForShading .CellOverrideFill = 0;

     cellsForShading .CellUseOverrideFill = true;

       {

        tbl = tbl.NextTblInDoc;

        }

[frameexpert]

If you use the Advanced Editor, you can use syntax highlighting on your code, which will format it with line numbers, indents, etc.

First of all, you don't have to select cells in order to straddle them (or shade them, etc.). Here is a simple script that you can use to experiment with the table containing your insertion point. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Rick

#target framemaker
var doc = app.ActiveDoc;
var tbl = doc.SelectedTbl;

// Get the 8th cell in the second row. 
// Cells are numbered from 0 so, use 7.
var row = tbl.FirstRowInTbl.NextRowInTbl;
var cell = getCell (row, 7);
if (cell) {
    // Straddle 1 row and 3 columns.
    cell.StraddleCells (1, 3); // (rows, columns)
    doc.Rehyphenate (); // Required so that straddles draw correctly on the screen.
}

function getCell (row, colNum) {

    var i, cell;

    cell = row.FirstCellInRow;
    while (cell.ObjectValid () === 1) {
        if (cell.CellColNum === colNum) {
            return cell;
        }
        cell = cell.NextCellInRow;
    }
}

[frameexpert]

Here is how I am doing shading. Again, it is not necessary to select any cells before doing this. Also note my preference for using separate functions rather than having all of my code in one function. This facilitates easier troubleshooting and code reuse. -Rick

#target framemaker
var doc = app.ActiveDoc;
var tbl = doc.SelectedTbl;

// Get the 8th cell in the second row. 
// Cells are numbered from 0 so, use 7.
var row = tbl.FirstRowInTbl.NextRowInTbl;
var cell = getCell (row, 7);
if (cell) {
    // Shade 3 cells starting with "cell".
    shadeCells (cell, 3, doc);
    doc.Redisplay (); // Refresh the screen.
}

function shadeCells (cell, num, doc) {
    
    var color, i;
    
    // I am going to use Yellow.
    color = doc.GetNamedColor ("Yellow");
    for (i = 0; i < num, cell.ObjectValid (); i += 1) {
        cell.CellOverrideShading = color;
        cell.CellUseOverrideShading = true;
        cell.CellOverrideFill = 0; // solid
        cell.CellUseOverrideFill = true;
        cell = cell.NextCellInRow;
    }
}

function getCell (row, colNum) {

    var i, cell;

    cell = row.FirstCellInRow;
    while (cell.ObjectValid () === 1) {
        if (cell.CellColNum === colNum) {
            return cell;
        }
        cell = cell.NextCellInRow;
    }
}

[che47audio]

This works perfectly thanks! The functions that you've created here are available to call up whenever throughout this script? I find it odd that the function parameters come after the conditions. In my head it would make more sense to define the function before it is used in  Is this a standard way of working?

Cheers

Chris

[frameexpert]

Yes, the functions can be called from anywhere in the script. It is pretty much standard to define all of the functions at the end of the script.