adobe indesign - Script to always save IDML with INDD

Is there an existing script for InDesign that will save an INDD file and an IDML copy at the same time?

I work with dozens of independent designers on collaborative projects, and those of us with Creative Cloud have to remember to save an IDML copy for those on earlier versions. And we often forget.

I'm hoping to find or tweak a script that will, for instance, add a menu item called, say, 'Save with IDML', and will save both the current document and an IDML copy alongside it.

Answer

This example should get you started. You need to run the script once per InDesign session. You could add it as a startup script for example. It will save everytime the user saves the document a idml file.

#targetengine "session"
// we need a targetegine to make this work
var doc = app.activeDocument; // get the current doc

// now to the event listener

app.addEventListener('afterSave', function(theEvent) {
  $.writeln('saving'); // just to see whats going on
  if (!doc.saved) {
    // catch those possible mistakes
    alert('doc was never saved');
    exit();
  }
  var aName = doc.name; // get the name
  var newName = aName.replace("indd", "idml"); // replace the indd to idml
  // crate a new File Object next to the indd

  var theFile = File(File(doc.filePath).fsName + "/" + newName);
  // export
  doc.exportFile(ExportFormat.INDESIGN_MARKUP, theFile, false);
});

If you want this as a menu command you could take look into this blog post on indiscripts.