Is there a way to substitute one component for another globally in every glyph? So that you don’t have to go into every glyph, select the component, select the component name, type in the new component name, hit carriage return and then repeat this for every glyph that uses the component. In the past I think I could delete the glyph and then paste in a new glyph of the same name and all the links would stay in place and reconnect to the new component with the same name, after close and reopen. Now it seems that when you delete a component, all the links are deleted. Any advice - thanks!
That would be the task for a script.
What component did you use so often?
Depending on the case, you could cheat: Instead of changing the components in every occurrence, switch the outlines and rename the glyph. The components are not linked by the name.
So, how would I go about learning glyphs scripts. Is there a manual with glyphs commands that can used in the script?
Regarding the component, I have a setup that uses 2 smart components to create every glyph. There are multiple copies of the same smart component used in each glyph. There could be hundreds of copies of the same component. The smart component has a parametric stroke shape inside it. If the the stroke shape is changed then every glyph changes accordingly to create a new font based on the new stroke shape. So being able to easily swap out smart components is integral to the approach.
I don’t understand the cheat: could the cheat work for what I described above?
For smart components that cheat is not practical.
There are some tutorial on the learn page about python scripting. And the commands can be found here: docu.glyphsapp.com
Here’s the Learn Python bookmark for the Scripting Glyphs tutorials on the learn page that Georg mentioned.
Looks like you can use the Glyphs Script by @mekkablue : Find and Replace Components.
You can download the script via Plugin Manager.
Thanks! On first test, seems to work and is just what I need.
As suggested by akufadhl Beta Tester, there is already a script, Glyphs Script by @mekkablue : Find and Replace Components, which works perfectly - thanks to all!