HistoryLog

WARNING: OLD VERSION

WARNING

This page is for an old plug-in called HistoryLog, which is not being updated any more. This page is for the benefit of existing users with InDesign CC or older.

Intro – InDesign Document History

NOTE: HistoryLog is NOT COMPATIBLE with the CC or 20xx versions of InDesign.

This is a very simple tool that can perform two tasks:

• On every save, insert a simple ‘live’ time stamp into a designated text frame
• Keep an automated log of file modifications to an InDesign document in another designated text frame

Over time, the history box accumulates a history of who has opened or saved the document, and when.

This tool is not meant to be used for time tracking – it simply keeps track of who opened the document, and when – not for how long the document was edited.

Installation

Before you start installing, exit out of InDesign.

Please make sure you have a copy of the APID ToolAssistant plug-in installed. Make sure you install the proper plug-in for your version of InDesign since the plug-ins are mutually incompatible. The Windows CS5.x plug-ins also come with an additional folder with a parenthesised name which needs to be copied along.

If you already have an APID ToolAssistant plug-in installed (e.g. because you use one of our other plug-ins), make sure it is up-to-date.

You will be installing two separate, but related software products: HistoryLog and APID ToolAssistant. HistoryLog will continue to work when the APID ToolAssistant demo expires.

i.e You do NOT need to purchase a license for APID ToolAssistant.

Copy the HistoryLog.spln into the same folder as the APID ToolAssistant plug-in (typically that will be the InDesign Plug-Ins folder). Don’t worry about the icon of the .spln file: it might not be a ‘regular’ icon, and that’s OK.

Usage

To keep a log of file manipulations:

• Create a text frame somewhere. A history box would typically be created in the pasteboard area of page 1; a timestamp box would instead sit on the first page, last page, or on a master page.
• Select the text frame using the selection tool (black arrow tool). Make sure you are not in text selection mode.
• Use the Window – Automation – Script Label menu (in InDesign CS2 or CS3) or theWindow – Scripting – Script Label menu (in InDesign CS) to bring up the palette where you can define a label for the text frame.
• Label the frame either with the word history (all lowercase) or timestamp (all lowercase).
• After typing the label, click somewhere else in the document window to deselect the box.
• Close and save the document.
• Re-open the document; do some modifications and save. Either on open or on save or both, a dialog for the tracking ID will appear. Fill in your name or whatever text you want to use as a tracking identification.
• You’ll want to adjust the width of the history text box and its tab settings to make sure the log entries each fit on a single line.

How It Works

The tool is very simple to use once a document has been prepared by designating one or two text frames to respectively keep the time stamp and/or the document history.

For both functions, the tool uses a tracking ID – it is up to the user to decide what information to use for this tracking ID. Most often this will be the user’s full name, initials, first name – whatever is most appropriate.

The tool will auto-update a designated text frame (the timestamp box) with a time stamp consisting of

• Document name
• Tracker ID
• Time and date of the last save

The tool will also append a log entry at the end of a designated text frame (called the history box) on each ‘open’ and each ‘save’ . The log entry consists of the tracking ID together with a time stamp. The history box typically resides on your document’s pasteboard.

More Info

For more detailed information on HistoryLog, go to:

https://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/manuals/historylog-manual/