# \[Bug\] Changing layer name, changes layer to visible

**URL:** <https://forums.creativeclouddeveloper.com/t/bug-changing-layer-name-changes-layer-to-visible/2315>\
**Category:** UXP Plugin API\
**Tags:** bug, uxp, javascript\
**Created:** [December 8, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://forums.creativeclouddeveloper.com/t/bug-changing-layer-name-changes-layer-to-visible/2315 "2020-12-08T17:38:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 16

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kerrishotts](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.creativeclouddeveloper.com/kerrishotts/32/8_2.png) [@kerrishotts](https://forums.creativeclouddeveloper.com/u/kerrishotts)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://forums.creativeclouddeveloper.com/t/bug-changing-layer-name-changes-layer-to-visible/2315/16 "2021-02-20T21:41:57Z")

</div>

I _believe_ the issue to be the selection event itself. In order to do a rename or change the color, Ps needs to select the layer that you’re targeting, apply the change, and then reset the original selection. Turns out there’s a flag on the `select` command called `makeVisible`. If it’s not specified, the default action is to… select the layer _and make it visible_.

As far as I can tell, the JS DOM API isn’t taking this into account, and so changing a layer’s `name` can affect layer visibility when it tries to put things back to how they were before the call. If the layer that is to be changed was _already_ selected, then there’s no need to _change_ the selection in the first place, and so the issue never occurs.

Until the bug itself is fixed, as a workaround, you can use `batchPlay` _with_ `makeVisible` (or you will have the exact same issue).

I’ve been able to change layer names & colors without impacting visibility _or the current selection_ using the following code. Feel free to use it as you like. Hopefully it helps.

```auto
async function layerMagic() {
	const app = require("photoshop").app
	
	// get a layer's ID
	const toLayerId = (layer => layer._id);
	
	// get all layers in the current document
	const allLayerIds = app.activeDocument.layers.map(toLayerId);

	// actions required to select one or more layers. Note makeVisible here defaults to "false"
	// so that the selection doesn't impact layer visibility! If this were omitted from the
	// actions, changing the selection would also change the selected layers' visibility.
	// Also note that to select multiple layers, one must use "addToSelection" for further
	// selections, otherwise you'd only end up with the last layer as the selected layer.
	const selectLayers = (ids, makeVisible = false) => ([
	    {_obj: "select", _target: [{ _ref: "layer", _id: ids[0]}], makeVisible},
    	...ids.slice(1).map(id => ({_obj: "select", _target: [{ _ref: "layer", _id: id}], makeVisible, selectionModifier: {_enum: "selectionModifierType", _value: "addToSelection"}}))
	]);

	// Sets all selected layer colors to the specified color value. Doesn't bother to validate
	// that your color is valid.
	const setSelectedLayerColor = color => [{_obj:"set", _target:[{_ref:"layer", _enum:"ordinal", _value:"targetEnum"}],to:{_obj:"layer",color:{_enum:"color", _value: color}}}];

	// Sets the first selected layer's name to the specified value. If multiple layers are selected,
	// then only the first layer in the selection is modified.
	const setSelectedLayerName = name => [{_obj:"set", _target:[{_ref:"layer", _enum:"ordinal", _value:"targetEnum"}],to:{_obj:"layer",name}}];

	const colorChoices = ["red", "green", "yellowColor", "blue", "violet", "gray", "orange"];
	
	// create a list of random colors so that it's obvious the UI what's happening
	const colors = allLayerIds.map(() => colorChoices[Math.floor(Math.random()*colorChoices.length)]);
	
	// save the currently selected layer IDs. We need this to _restore_ the user's selection
	// after we change all the layer colors and names.
	const allSelectedLayerIds = app.activeDocument.activeLayers.map(toLayerId);
	const actions = [
	    // for every layer in the document...
	    ...allLayerIds.map((id, idx) => [ 
		    // select it...
			...selectLayers([id]), 
			// set its color to the random value we've determined earlier
			...setSelectedLayerColor(colors[idx]), 
			// change the name to include the id and a random number
			...setSelectedLayerName(`Layer ID: ${id} - ${Math.floor(Math.random()*1000)}`) 
	    ]).flat(), 
		// and when done, re-select the originally selected layers
		...selectLayers(allSelectedLayerIds)
	];
	
	// ... and go!
	await app.batchPlay(actions, {modalBehavior: "wait"});
}

layerMagic();

```

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