Open web page in After Effects with ExtendScript

Question

This may be a simple one but I can't figure it out. How can I open a web page in the main browser from extendscript as I would do with window.open() in Javascript?

I am targeting After Effects and would like it to work on both OS X and Windows.

Answer 1

In After Effects you can simply do it using the system object, as Dirk mentioned. However you need several things for that:

• checking that the script can access the network:

  if (app.preferences.getPrefAsLong("Main Pref Section", "Pref_SCRIPTING_FILE_NETWORK_SECURITY") != 1)
  {
      alert("Please tick the \"Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network\" checkbox if Preferences > General");
  
      // Then open Preferences > General to let people tick the checkbox
      app.executeCommand(2359);
  
      // Here you should check again if they ticked it, and choose to continue or stop ...
  }
  

• checking of the OS:

  var os = system.osName;
  if (!os.length)
  {
      // I never remember which one is available, but I think $.os always is, you'll have to check
      os = $.os;
  }
  app_os =  ( os.indexOf("Win") != -1 )  ?  "Win" : "Mac"
  

• os-dependent system calls:

  var url = "http://aescripts.com";
  
  if ( app_os == "Win" )
  {
      system.callSystem("explorer " + url);
  }
  else
  {
      system.callSystem("open " + url);
  }