Preferences object¶
app.preferences
Description
The Preferences object provides an easy way to manage internal AE preferences, such as you’d find in AE’s Preferences menu. These are saved in the After Effects preference files, and are persistent between application sessions.
Preferences are identified by section and key within the file, and each key name is associated with a value.
In the preferences file, section names are enclosed in brackets and quotation marks, and key names are listing in quotation marks below the sectionname. All values are strings.
You can create new preferences with this object, as well as accessing existing preferences.
As of Version 12/CC, preferences and settings methods now take a third argument to specify the target preferences file if Section/Key is not in “Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs.txt”.
If the third argument is not passed, default value (PREFType.PREF_Type_MACHINE_SPECIFIC
) is used and After Effects tries to save/get from the “Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs.txt” preferences file.
The third argument is enum PREFType
value, one of:
PREF_Type_MACHINE_SPECIFIC
: Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs.txtPREF_Type_MACHINE_INDEPENDENT
: Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs-indep-general.txtPREF_Type_MACHINE_INDEPENDENT_RENDER
: Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs-indep-render.txtPREF_Type_MACHINE_INDEPENDENT_OUTPUT
: Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs-indep-output.txtPREF_Type_MACHINE_INDEPENDENT_COMPOSITION
: Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs-indep-composition.txtPREF_Type_MACHINE_SPECIFIC_TEXT
: Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs-text.txtPREF_Type_MACHINE_SPECIFIC_PAINT
: Adobe After Effects $versionNumber.x Prefs-paint.txt
Methods¶
Preferences.deletePref()¶
app.preferences.deletePref(sectionName, keyName[, prefType])
Description
Deletes a preference from the preference file.
Tip
It’s generally inadvised to delete internal AE preferences, however you can leverage this method to delete Settings object you have saved. Note that you’ll need to preprend "Settings_"
to your section name.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Nothing.
Example
If you have saved a setting named with the key name “trimPrecomps” in a section called “Precomp Cropper”, you can delete the setting by:
app.preferences.deletePref("Settings_Precomp Cropper", "trimPrecomps");
Preferences.getPrefAsBool()¶
app.preferences.getPrefAsBool(sectionName, keyName[, prefType])
Description
Retrieves a preference value from the preferences file, and parses it as a boolean.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Boolean.
Example
To retrieve the value of the Flow Chart “Expand Flowchart Comps by Default” preference:
var expandByDefault = app.preferences.getPrefAsBool("Flowchart Settings", "Expand Flowchart Comps by Default");
alert("The setting is: " + expandByDefault);
To retrieve the value of the main preference “Javascript Debugger Enabled”:
var debuggerEnabled = app.preferences.getPrefAsBool("Main Pref Section v2", "Pref_JAVASCRIPT_DEBUGGER", PREFType.PREF_Type_MACHINE_INDEPENDENT);
alert("The setting is: " + debuggerEnabled);
Preferences.getPrefAsFloat()¶
app.preferences.getPrefAsFloat(sectionName, keyName[, prefType])
Description
Retrieves a preference value from the preferences file, and parses it as a float.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Float.
Preferences.getPrefAsLong()¶
app.preferences.getPrefAsLong(sectionName, keyName[, prefType])
Description
Retrieves a preference value from the preferences file, and parses it as a long (number).
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Long.
Preferences.getPrefAsString()¶
app.preferences.getPrefAsString(sectionName, keyName[, prefType])
Description
Retrieves a preference value from the preferences file, and parses it as a string.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
String.
Preferences.havePref()¶
app.preferences.havePref(sectionName, keyName[, prefType])
Description
Returns true if the specified preference item exists and has a value.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Boolean.
Preferences.reload()¶
app.preferences.reload()
Description
Reloads the preferences file manually. Otherwise, changes to preferences will only be accessible by scripting after an application restart.
Parameters
None.
Returns
Nothing.
Preferences.savePrefAsBool()¶
app.preferences.savePrefAsBool(sectionName, keyName, value[, prefType])
Description
Saves a preference item as a boolean.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
A boolean containing the new value |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Nothing.
Preferences.savePrefAsFloat()¶
app.preferences.savePrefAsFloat(sectionName, keyName, value[, prefType])
Description
Saves a preference item as a float.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
A float containing the new value |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Nothing.
Preferences.savePrefAsLong()¶
app.preferences.savePrefAsLong(sectionName, keyName, value[, prefType])
Description
Saves a preference item as a long.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
A long containing the new value |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Nothing.
Preferences.savePrefAsString()¶
app.preferences.savePrefAsString(sectionName, keyName, value[, prefType])
Description
Saves a preference item as a string.
Parameters
|
A string containing the name of a preferences section |
|
A string containing the key name of the preference |
|
A string containing the new value |
|
Optional, an enum indicating which preference file to use |
Returns
Nothing.
Preferences.saveToDisk()¶
app.preferences.saveToDisk()
Description
Saves the preferences to disk manually. Otherwise, changes to preferences will only be accessible by scripting after an application restart.
Parameters
None.
Returns
Nothing.