breakFrame.js
Area: Text
Breaks a text flow at a frame: it unlinks everything after the flow head, relinks the kept frames, and moves the text between the resulting stories. Glyphs and attribute runs are captured with getGlyph, getGlyphAttRunsFrom, and getParagraphAttRunsFrom, then restored with createInsertGlyph and createFormatText.
Source: breakFrame.js
Example scripts
breakFrame.js
breakFrame.js
/*
BSD 3-Clause License
Copyright (c) 2026, Canva Pty Ltd.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its
contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
*/
'use strict';
const { CompoundCommandBuilder, DocumentCommand } = require('/commands.js');
const { Document } = require('/document.js');
const { Selection, TextSelection } = require('/selections.js');
const { StoryDelta } = require('/storydelta.js');
function executeAll(doc, cmds) {
if (cmds.length == 0)
return;
if (cmds.length == 1) {
doc.executeCommand(cmds[0]);
return;
}
const builder = CompoundCommandBuilder.create();
for (const cmd of cmds)
builder.addCommand(cmd);
doc.executeCommand(builder.createCommand());
}
// Every frame of the flow the given frame belongs to, in flow order.
function framesInFlow(frame) {
return frame.textFrameInterface.textFlowNodes;
}
// Story range each frame currently displays: from its text begin to the next frame's.
function visibleRanges(frames) {
const story = frames[0].story;
const begins = frames.map(f => f.textFrameInterface.textBegin);
return begins.map((begin, i) => ({ begin, end: i + 1 < begins.length ? begins[i + 1] : story.length }));
}
function textSelection(doc, node, begin, end) {
const selection = Selection.create(doc, node);
selection.addSubSelectionForNode(node, TextSelection.create([{ begin, end }]));
return selection;
}
// ---- Formatting capture -------------------------------------------------------------------
// Attribute runs within [begin, end), re-based to the range start, each with its full state.
function captureRuns(runs, range, attsKey, makeDelta) {
const result = [];
for (const run of runs) {
if (run.begin >= range.end)
break;
result.push({
begin: Math.max(run.begin, range.begin) - range.begin,
end: Math.min(run.end, range.end) - range.begin,
delta: makeDelta(run[attsKey])
});
}
return result;
}
// Everything needed to rebuild a range of the story in another frame.
function captureRange(story, range) {
const glyphs = [];
for (let pos = range.begin; pos < range.end; ++pos)
glyphs.push(story.getGlyph(pos));
return {
glyphs,
glyphRuns: captureRuns(story.getGlyphAttRunsFrom(range.begin), range, "glyphAtts", StoryDelta.createFromGlyphAtts),
paragraphRuns: captureRuns(story.getParagraphAttRunsFrom(range.begin), range, "paragraphAtts", StoryDelta.createFromParagraphAtts)
};
}
// Re-insert the glyphs, then restore the full attribute state over each run.
function restoreCommands(doc, node, captured, cmds) {
captured.glyphs.forEach((glyph, i) => cmds.push(DocumentCommand.createInsertGlyph(textSelection(doc, node, i, i), glyph)));
for (const run of captured.paragraphRuns)
cmds.push(DocumentCommand.createFormatText(textSelection(doc, node, run.begin, run.end), run.delta));
for (const run of captured.glyphRuns)
cmds.push(DocumentCommand.createFormatText(textSelection(doc, node, run.begin, run.end), run.delta));
}
// ---- Break ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Unlink is "break the flow before this frame": the frames before keep the story, the frames
// from it onward form a new flow with an empty story. Breaking arbitrary frames therefore
// means unlinking everything after the head, relinking the kept frames in order, and then
// moving text between the resulting stories.
function breakFlow(doc, frames, breaking) {
const story = frames[0].story;
const ranges = visibleRanges(frames);
const kept = frames.map((f, i) => i).filter(i => !breaking.has(i));
const head = kept.length > 0 ? kept[0] : 0;
const captured = new Map([...breaking].filter(i => i != 0).map(i => [i, captureRange(story, ranges[i])]));
const tail = head > 0 ? captureRange(story, { begin: ranges[head].begin, end: story.length }) : null;
// Unlink from the back so every frame after the first becomes a singleton.
const cmds = [];
for (let i = frames.length - 1; i >= 1; --i)
cmds.push(DocumentCommand.createUnlinkTextFrame(frames[i]));
// Relink the kept frames onto the head, in flow order.
for (let j = 1; j < kept.length; ++j)
cmds.push(DocumentCommand.createLinkTextFrame(frames[kept[j - 1]], frames[kept[j]]));
executeAll(doc, cmds);
cmds.length = 0;
// The head flow's story: frame 0's if it is the head, otherwise rebuilt from the tail.
const headOffset = head > 0 ? ranges[head].begin : 0;
if (tail)
restoreCommands(doc, frames[head], tail, cmds);
// Remove broken frames' text from the head story, from the back so ranges stay valid.
for (const i of [...breaking].filter(i => i > head).sort((a, b) => b - a))
cmds.push(DocumentCommand.createSetText(textSelection(doc, frames[head], ranges[i].begin - headOffset, ranges[i].end - headOffset), ""));
// Frame 0 keeps only its own text when it is not the head.
if (head > 0)
cmds.push(DocumentCommand.createSetText(textSelection(doc, frames[0], ranges[0].end, story.length), ""));
// Give every other broken frame its text back.
for (const [i, c] of captured)
restoreCommands(doc, frames[i], c, cmds);
executeAll(doc, cmds);
}
function breakFrames(doc, selected) {
// Group the selection by flow, keyed on the first frame of each flow.
const flows = new Map();
for (const frame of selected) {
const frames = framesInFlow(frame);
const key = frames[0].textFrameInterface.textBegin + ":" + frames[0].story.text;
if (!flows.has(key))
flows.set(key, { frames, breaking: new Set() });
flows.get(key).breaking.add(frames.findIndex(f => f.isSameNode(frame)));
}
for (const { frames, breaking } of flows.values())
breakFlow(doc, frames, breaking);
}
function main() {
const doc = Document.current;
if (!doc) {
alert("This script requires an open document");
return;
}
const frames = doc.selection.nodes
.filter(n => n.isTextNode && n.textFrameInterface.isMultiFrameTextFlow)
.toArray();
if (frames.length == 0) {
alert("Please select one or more linked text frames");
return;
}
breakFrames(doc, frames);
}
module.exports.main = main;