Fix #4978: Area Type Options › Text Flow by rows or by columns

docs/mcp.md

@@ -4593,6 +4593,17 @@ again, so SVG, PDF and EPS show the aligned text.
 {"name":"run_command","arguments":{"command":"text.areaOptions","params":{"verticalAlign":"center"}}}
 ```
 
+### Text flow
+
+`text.areaOptions {flow: columns|rows}` (Area Type Options › Text Flow) sets the order area type with several rows
+and columns fills its cells: `columns` (the default) runs down each column's rows, then on to the next column;
+`rows` runs across each row's columns, then on to the next row. The reply reports `flow`; other values are refused.
+Native files save it only when it is `rows`, so files from before it open by columns.
+
+```json
+{"name":"run_command","arguments":{"command":"text.areaOptions","params":{"rows":2,"columns":3,"flow":"rows"}}}
+```
+
 ## Fitting area type: Auto Size, Shrink Text to Fit, overflow
 
 `text.areaOptions` (and `text.create`'s `area`, `text.createInPath` in area mode) take a `fit`:

docs/type-parity.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Type parity
 
-> **Last reviewed:** 2026-10-10 · **Last updated:** 2026-11-01 · **Change:** minor (Digits: the native digits of the Indic scripts, #4942; scores unchanged) · **Target:** Adobe Illustrator 2026 (30.x)
+> **Last reviewed:** 2026-10-10 · **Last updated:** 2026-11-01 · **Change:** minor (Area Type Options › Text Flow by rows or by columns, #4978; scores unchanged) · **Target:** Adobe Illustrator 2026 (30.x)
 
 Type is Illustrator's largest single area by use (weight 13 of 105 across "Type core" and "Type advanced" in
 [target-app-parity.md](target-app-parity.md)). This checklist lists the features one by one. Status is from the
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ against Illustrator's public documentation; **estimated** unless noted.
 | Soft return (forced line break, Shift+Enter) | done | Shift+Enter inserts a soft return (U+2028), breaking the line without starting a new paragraph; paragraph spacing (space before/after) and first-line indents apply only at paragraph ends; continuation lines in lists do not repeat the marker; soft return lines in justified text do not spread (#2754) |
 | Native font-family labels | partial | With Show Font Names in English off, localized legacy names are used when typographic names contain no native label (#2208); loaded-font and catalog-only regressions. Choosing among multiple native languages is unchanged. |
 | Point, area and type-on-a-path type; vertical variants | done / partial | vertical point, area and path type have initial support; fullwidth `！` / `？` keep the nominal glyph upright when no vertical alternate exists (Unicode Tu); in a non-rectangular area a word too wide for the top lines moves down to the first line that holds it (#1615); Escape while typing ends the edit, keeps the type selected and switches to the Selection tool (#1802); `text.create` and `text.createInPath` take `justify` (#1752); MCP `add_text` forwards `vertical` to both commands |
-| Area Type Options (rows, columns, inset, first baseline, Auto Size, Shrink Text to Fit) | done | the commands that make or restyle type say when it does not fit its frame; MCP `add_text` takes Auto Size and Shrink Text to Fit (#1471) |
+| Area Type Options (rows, columns, inset, first baseline, Text Flow by rows or by columns, Auto Size, Shrink Text to Fit) | done | Text Flow fills the cells down each column first (By Columns, the default, as files from before it open) or across each row first (By Rows), in the dialog and `text.areaOptions {flow}` (#4978); the commands that make or restyle type say when it does not fit its frame; MCP `add_text` takes Auto Size and Shrink Text to Fit (#1471) |
 | Threaded text, Fit Headline, Text Wrap | done | Fit Headline sees wrapping in a frame one line tall (#1444); a thread holds area type and type on a path in any mix, as Illustrator links type in an area or along a path ([help](https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/manage-text-area.html)) |
 | Threading from the ports: selected area type and type on a path show an in port and an out port, empty, with an arrow on a side where the frame is threaded, or with a red "+" in the out port when the text doesn't fit; a click on either port loads the text; a click on a closed path, area type or type on a path threads into it, a click on empty canvas makes a frame of the same kind, shape and size there, a drag draws a rectangular frame; the frame placed comes after the clicked one from its out port and before it from its in port (the story then starts there); Escape or another tool cancels; a double-click on a threaded port breaks the thread there | partial | #2572: the Selection tool, `text.thread.add {from, to?, rect?, at?, before?}`, as the reference app's help describes ports and threading ([archived help, Threading text between objects](https://web.archive.org/web/20210119051048/https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/creating-text.html), [create text threads](https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/desktop/design-with-text/add-manage-text/create-text-threads-between-objects.html)); area type's in port sits on the left side below the top-left corner, type on a path's just before its start bracket; Show Text Threads draws its lines between the same ports; with more than 1,000 such objects selected no ports are drawn. a double-click on a port where the frame is threaded breaks the thread there, the story flowing into the frames before the break and the frames after it left empty, still threaded with each other when two or more (`text.thread.break`, [archived help](https://web.archive.org/web/20220127090642/https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/creating-text.html)). Remaining: the ports only take clicks with the Selection tool, and the loaded cursor borrows the I-beam until it's drawn |
 | Type on a Path effects and options; brackets | done | #429 |
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ Character Styles menu New/Redefine and footer New capture the first selected cha
 
 | Date | Change | Summary |
 |---|---|---|
+| 2026-11-01 | minor | Area Type Options › Text Flow (#4978): By Rows / By Columns radio buttons and `text.areaOptions {flow}`; area type with several rows and columns fills them across each row first or down each column first (the default, so existing documents are unchanged; saved only when by rows); scores unchanged |
 | 2026-11-01 | minor | Digits (#4942): the native digits of Devanagari, Bengali, Gurmukhi, Gujarati, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam in the Character panel menu › Digits and `{digits}`; scores unchanged |
 | 2026-11-01 | minor | Language per character (#4946): Character panel › Language, `text.setFormat` / `text.setRangeStyle {language}`, character styles; text is shaped in its language (`locl`, #4940); new type takes the document's; Indian languages in the list (#4943); scores unchanged |
 | 2026-10-31 | minor | PDF import finds an installed font whose PDF name holds hyphens (`Noto-Sans-Bold` is Noto Sans, Bold: the longest part before a hyphen that names an installed family) and a composite font by its CIDFont's name rather than its base name, which ends in the CMap's (`Name-Identity-H`, [ISO 32000-1 §9.7.6.1](https://opensource.adobe.com/dc-acrobat-sdk-docs/pdfstandards/PDF32000_2008.pdf)); a missing font is split only before a style part (`Helvetica-BoldOblique`), so it is reported as `MS PGothic`, not `MS`; scores unchanged |