Unexpected Transformation of Hints with NSAffineTransform

Scripting
1

I am new to scripting with Glyphs and encountering an issue.

transform = NSAffineTransform.transform()
transform.translateXBy_yBy_(50, 0)

For instance, when I translate a glyph by 50 units in the x-direction like this, all origin and target information in the hints gets incremented by 50. The behavior I expect is that only the origins of vertical hints should be incremented by 50.

How can I achieve the expected behavior? I would also appreciate knowing whether the current behavior is a bug or if it is considered correct as per the specifications.

  • Glyphs version: 3.2.2 (3259)
  • Python version: 3.11.6 (Glyphs).
  • macOS: 14.4.1

screenshot
screenshot1920×1098 105 KB

The full example code is as follows:

from Foundation import NSAffineTransform

# X-direction movement amount
x_factor = 50

# Select the currently open layer
current_layer = Glyphs.font.selectedLayers[0]

# Get hint information for the current layer
hints = current_layer.hints

# Output hint information before the transformation
print('before transform:')
for hint in hints:
    print(hint)
print('\n')

# Define a transformation to move 10 units to the right
transform = NSAffineTransform.transform()
transform.translateXBy_yBy_(x_factor, 0)

# Apply the transformation
current_layer.applyTransform(transform)

# Output hint information after the transformation
print('after transform:')
for hint in hints:
    print(hint)

Thank you in advance for your help.

2

You are right. The hint scaling code is broken. I fixed it.
But you should always connect the hints to some nodes. That way they always move along the nodes. Because I never have disconnected hints, I never seen the problem in the last 15 years.

You don’t need a script to see the problem, e.g. scale it from the transformation panel.

BTW, Path > Transform can do exactly what your script is doing.