How to set the communication protocol of the Adobe plugin to AppleEvent/COM?

Adobe XMLCommand plugin versions as of 2.9.1 (MacOS) and 2.9.3 (Windows)

Context

Communication between Adobe and the censhare Client is handled using the XMLCommand plugin.

As of XMLCommand plugin 2.9.1 (macOS) and 2.9.3 (Windows), support for a new protocol was added, the WebSocket communication protocol. In recent versions of Adobe, censhare and the plugin, WebSocket is set as the default communication protocol. For a detailed list of the supported combinations, see the Adobe compatibility tables.

Previous communication protocols AppleEvent (macOS) and COM (Windows) are still available as a fallback. If communication via WebSocket is the default but fails, the communication switches to AppleEvent/COM automatically.

When WebSocket is used as default communication, we highly recommend not to change this. In case of any incompatibilities, the protocol falls automatically back to AppleEvent/COM. So there is no need to actively switch the communication protocol. Also, on application level, nothing changes. Users can check-in and out their InDesign and InCopy files as usual.

• However, for test purposes or any unforeseen issues, if you need to switch between WebSocket and AppleEvent/COM communication protocol, find the necessary steps below.

Check which communication protocol is enabled

Enable logging in the Adobe XMLCommand plugin.

Open the censhare Client and go to File > Interfaces > Adobe InDesign and check the plugin log file.

• Plugin log file if WebSocket is enabled:

  [EVENT] WebSocket: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="yes"?>

• Plugin log file if AppleEvent (macOS) is enabled:

[EVENT] AppleEvent <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="yes"?>

• Plugin log file if COM (Windows) is enabled:

[EVENT] COM <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="yes"?>

How to set the communication protocol of the Adobe plug-in?

1. Log in to the censhare Admin Client.

2. Select Configuration > Modules > Clients > Client, and double-click Client Preferences.

3. In the Client Preferences dialog, click Edit XML-File.

4. In the XML file, go to the <indesign> section.

MacOS:
To use AppleEvent, set use-apple-event-communication = "true".
To use WebSocket, set use-apple-event-communication = "false".

Windows:
To use COM, set  use-microsoft-com-communication = "true".
To use WebSocket, set use-microsoft-com-communication = "false".

    5. Click OK to save your edits.

    6. Update the server configuration.

Result

The communication between Adobe and censhare Client is handled using the selected protocol.