Option Explicit

' This sample shows how to run Actions in Illustrator.
' An action is asynchronous so it is not guaranteed to have completed when the
' DoScript command returns.
' After issuing a DoScript command you therefore should test the property "ActionIsRunning"
' and wait for it to be false before continuing the script.
'
' The sample code has a sub-routine that does that for you: "Run_Action"
' Note the sample also uses functionality in the module "TimerModule". The code in that
' module is based on: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q231/2/98.ASP


' Sleep API is declared in the form to keep the
' SetWaitableTimer code in its own re-usable module.
Private Declare Sub Sleep Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long)

Private Sub Command1_Click()


Dim objApp As Illustrator.Application
Dim objRectangle As Illustrator.PathItem

Set objApp = CreateObject("Illustrator.Application")

' Create a test document
objApp.Documents.Add
Set objRectangle = objApp.Documents(1).PathItems.Rectangle(200, 50, 175, 220)
objRectangle.Selected = True

' Now perform a standard action
Run_Action objApp, "Opacity 60 (selection)", "Default Actions"



End Sub

' Run_Action executes an action inside Illustrator.
' The method then waits for the action to complete before returning
'
'   objApp : a reference to the Illustrator application
'   ActionName: Name of the action to run
'   Action Set: Name of the action set that contains the action
Private Sub Run_Action(objApp As Object, ActionName As String, ActionSet As String)

objApp.DoScript ActionName, ActionSet

' We now have to wait for the action to complete.
' The property ActionIsRunning can be used to test for this.
'
' If you are using Windows Scrpting Host you can use the "sleep" method
' A value of 1000 means a second
'
' If you are using VisualBasic you can use the following method
' (from: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q231/2/98.ASP )
' Note wait takes seconds as the argument

While (objApp.ActionIsRunning)
    Wait 1
Wend

' The action has completed and we can return

End Sub