Adode InDesign ExtendScript: Making an element a child element of another

Question

I'm looking for a way in Adobe InDesign CS5+ to make one element a child element of another (similar to what you can do with Edit -> Paste Into).

I can't use the app.pasteInto option unfortunately because in my script, the window is not visible.

Is there any other way of doing this?

Regards,

pieter

Answer 1

If an object is a PageItem and supports the contentPlace() method, you can place another object inside of it (documentation). For example, if there are two rectangles on a page and you want to place one rectangle inside the other, you could use something like this:

var doc = app.activeDocument;

var page = doc.pages[0];

var rect = page.rectangles[0];
var rect2 = page.rectangles[1];

rect.contentPlace([rect2]);     // Content place duplicates the item,
rect2.remove();                 // so it needs to be removed after moving it.