Vertical and horizontal dimensions in the Info Panel seem to include handles, if the handles are selected —as they are, for example, when you double-click a path. Not sure if this is a bug or a feature, but my expectation would be that the measurements just covered the path, which is almost always the information you need.
I discovered this when comparing two letters that looked comparable in height but had widely differing vertical dimensions. It turned out that one of them had a longer northernmost handle.
Thanks Rainer, yes I do mean the grey info box. And I follow the logic, I just think that in practice, 9 times out of 10 (or more) when selecting a whole path the dimension you are interested in does not include the handles. In fact although it may sometimes be useful to know handle length or offset, I cannot think of a scenario where it would be useful to know the overall height of a full path including handles.
I do know that it is possible to Option-double click or Option marquee a path so as to select only on-path nodes, so my suggestion is not for something that cannot already be done, it just seems to me that the default full path selection yields readings that are counter-intuitive and unhelpful.
Good point Georg (no pun intended); perhaps that is why it took me so long to notice this anomaly. Now and again however, a shape comes along where, at least in the editing phase, the rule has to be ignored. Never mind, like many anomalies, recognition is a good second best to cure.
Also a good point, and not what I had realised: that Glyphs is measuring the distance between the nodes and ignoring the paths.
Draw a circle, 300 units in diameter, vertical and horizontal.
Rotate it 45° so handles extend above and below path: select all: 329 units V & H
Option-marquee to select just on path nodes: 212 units.
there are two options. First is to try to use vertical mode. It will calculate the side bearings on the outline vertically. Or write an reporter plugin that displays the dimensions you like to know.
