Select page in action list, then execute action(s)

[edupartner]

Hi all!

I'm trying to build a Switch workflow with PitStop Server where invisible objects get removed. The action list I created works well when used in Acrobat and I select the pages I want the action to be executed on there. However, if I add 'select pages' and add a variable there (in the end, the end user should be able to select the pages in the Switch portal), it takes forever. The action looks as follows:
- Select pages
- Select visible objects
- NOT
- AND
- Select objects inside region
- AND
- Remove selection

I think it might have to do with the action 'select objects if page is selected' but I'm not sure how to use that...

Any help is much appreciated!

[loicaigon]

Have you look at this action: Select concealed objects
https://www.enfocus.com/manuals/Extra/A ... jects.html

It might does what you want to do in a shorter way. However depending on the file structure, that could still take time.

[edupartner]

Thanks, Loic! The functionality isn't really the problem though, I'm looking to increase the speed... The issue I see is that when I use actions such as 'Select visible objects' or 'Select concealed objects', PitStop selects these objects on every page, even if I use the 'Select page' action in combination with this.

[loicaigon]

That is because you do select page objects, not page content objects.

- Select pages
- Select objects if page is selected
- Select visible objects
- NOT
- AND
- Select objects inside region
- AND
- Remove selection

That should help

[edupartner]

It sadly does not change the speed, PitStop still checks the entire document. I tried adding another AND before 'Remove selection' but nothing changed... Any ideas?

[loicaigon]

Of course, checking for visibility is time consuming, especially if the document is complex.
Do you want to share a file so that we can have a closer look?

[edupartner]

That's precisely my point, PitStop should not check the entire document for those objects, only the page(s) I specify in the first action. I sadly cannot provide the file...

[loicaigon]

I do think that this should behave that way.
Look at this case. I put in wireframe but you can see the smaller rectangle, which is the hidden object:

Now look at the Action List

Once run, only hidden object in page 1 is removed:


So no PitStop doesn't look at all pages. If the selection is correct, it must limit to the selected pages.

[bens]

This is an interesting case. The select action, for technical reasons, does need to _process_ all pages. And that can take time. Even if the objects are later deselected (e.g. with the AND operator), the initial selection still needs to happen. There is no way around that. Typically select actions are very fast, but selecting concealed objects is not. If you need speed, there are a couple of things I would suggest:

* Don't use select concealed objects. Try to think of a different way to do what you need to accomplish.
* Pre-process the file by removing concealed objects on all pages. This step won't be fast, but it'll help with every later step.
* Split the file into those pages you need to process and those you don't.