Application Object

app

Description

The application (app) global object enables access to data and functionality within the After Effects application. Attributes of the Application object provide access to specific objects within After Effects. Methods of the Application object can create documents, open existing documents, control Watch Folder mode, purge memory and quit the After Effects application. When the After Effects application quits, it closes the open project, prompting the user to save or discard changes as necessary, and creates a project file as necessary.

Methods

newProject()	see Application newProject() Method	opens a new project in After Effects
open()	see Application open() Method	opens a project or an open project dialog
quit()	see Application quit() Method	quits the application
watchFolder()	see Application watchFolder() Method	starts watch folder mode. Does not return until watch folder mode is turned off
pauseWatchFolder()	see Application pauseWatchFolder() Method	pauses a current watch folder process
endWatchFolder()	see Application endWatchFolder() Method	ends a current watch folder process
purge()	see Application purge() Method	purges a targeted type of cached information (replicates Purge options in the Edit menu)
beginUndoGroup()	see Application beginUndoGroup() Method	groups the actions that follow it into a single undoable step
endUndoGroup()	see Application endUndoGroup() Method	ends an undo group; needed only when one script contains more than one undo group

Attributes

project	see Project Object	an instance of the After Effect Project and all of its associated methods & attributes
isRenderEngine	see Application isRenderEngine Attribute	Identifies whether the local After Effects application is installed as a render engine
language	see Application language Attribute	identifies the language in which the application is running
version	see Application version Attribute	identifies the version number of the After Effects application
isProfessionalVersion	see Application isProfessionalVersion Attribute	identifies if the After Effects version is the Professional Version
serialNumber	see Application serialNumber Attribute	identifies the serial number of the After Effects installation
registeredName	seeApplication registeredName Attribute	identifies the name to which the After Effects installation is registered
registeredCompany	see Application registeredCompany Attribute	identifies the company to which the After Effects installation is registered
isWatchFolder	see Application isWatchFolder Attribute	boolean which returns true when the local application is running in Watch Folder mode
onError	see Application onError Attribute	a callback which is called when an error occurs in the application
settings	see Settings Object	calls settings within After Effects that can be set via scripting
exitCode	see Application exitCode Attribute	used only when executing script externally (i.e. from a command line or AppleScript). Set to zero, indicates no error occurred; set to a positive number, indicates an error occurred while running the script.