Accessing merged path from Python?

Scripting
1

Is there an easy (computationally cheap) way to access the “final” paths of a layer with removed overlaps and decomposed smart stuff etc.?

I am working on my Red Arrow plugin again, and I want to ignore outline errors that disappear in the final outline.

2

Which path are you currently using? “computationally cheap” gets difficult once the font is exported, say, to TTF or filters are defined on the instances.

3

Currently I’m looping through the nodes and call the appropriate checks based on the node type.

   def checkLayer(self):
        self.errors = []
        for path in self.layer.paths:
            for node in path.nodes:
                node_type = node.type
                if node_type == CURVE:
                    self._runCurveTests(node)
                elif node_type == QCURVE:
                    self._runQCurveTests(node)
                elif node_type == LINE:
                    self._runLineTests(node)
                else:
                    self._runOffcurveTests(node)

        for component in self.layer.components:
            self._runComponentTests(component)

Here’s an example: Those inside corners will disappear, so the “Spike” warning would not need to be shown here.

Bildschirmfoto 2024-07-25 um 16.32.09

Probably getting the paths as shown in black here would be enough for this? TTF or filters would be too much :wink:

4

Consider using the bezierPath on GSLayer. It’s what get’s drawn. Note that it is of type NSBezierPath.

5

The final outlines are only available in the bezierPath as mentioned above. You can iterate it like so:

for i in range(bezier_path.elementCount()):
    element_type, points = bezier_path.elementAtIndex_associatedPoints_(i, None)
    points_array = objc.unpackPointArray(points, 3)
    if element_type == 0:  # NSMoveToBezierPathElement
        print("moveTo", points[0])
    elif element_type == 1:  # NSLineToBezierPathElement
        print("lineTo", points[0])
    elif element_type == 2:  # NSCurveToBezierPathElement
        print("curveTo", points[0], points[1], points[2])
    elif element_type == 3:  # NSClosePathBezierPathElement
        print("closePath")