Automate Adobe Flash using VB.NET or C#

Adobe is very thin as usual on technical details, so I've had to poke around and try different things.

Here's what I've found :

* .NET can communicate directly with Illustrator, but not directly with Flash, nor with BridgeTalk.

* .NET can send javascript to Illustrator, including javascript which utilises BridgeTalk to communicate between Illustrator and Flash.

* So it is possible to automate both Illustrator and Flash using VB.NET/C#/other-.NET-languages, but it requires .NET <-> Illustrator <-> BridgeTalk <-> Flash.

* In VB.NET, you connect to Illustrator as follows :

Dim app As Object = CreateObject("Illustrator.Application")

* To get Illustrator to run arbitrary javascript :

app.DoJavaScript(myJavaScript);

e.g. to get Illustrator to greet us :

app.DoJavaScript("alert('Hello!');");

* To get Illustrator to return a useful value from a script we have sent it, don't use the "return" keyword - just include the return value as the final expression in the script block.

e.g. :

Dim ReturnValueFromIllustrator As Object = app.DoJavaScript("1 + 2;")
MsgBox(ReturnValueFromIllustrator) ' Shows "3"

* The .NET <-> Illustrator leg is synchronous, even though the Illustrator <-> BridgeTalk <-> Flash legs are ASYNCHRONOUS. (Yeah - just to make life more interesting.)

Hmmm - in short, I wouldn't say it's "easy", but it is possible.

Maybe Adobe will enter the 21st century sometime and really make all their apps easily cross-scriptable, and their scripting engines a lot more robust. Until then...

... your brother in the pain of scripting Adobe products.

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P.S. If you're using C#, or if you're using VB.NET and want a better Intellisense experience (and better runtime performance, and better compile-time checking) than just using VB.NET's CreateObject method, add a reference to the "Adobe Illustrator CS4 Type Library". Once you've done that, you can connect to Adobe Illustrator as simply as "Dim app As New Illustrator.Application" (or in C#, "Illustrator.Application app = new Illustrator.Application();").