New Extension: restack z-order

[Rob Antonishen]

I have developed a new python extension to restack the selected objects' z-order, from left to right, top to bottom (or vice versa), specifying the base point for comparison (top, left, middle, etc.). Examples and files attached.

This extension requires this patch:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/174701
providing the --query-all command line option.

[Rob Antonishen (rob-antonishen)]

I have updated the extension to provide a fifth option, specifying an arbitrary angle.

Zip of extension files attached.

[Rob Antonishen (rob-antonishen)]

One more update to include two more options, radial outward and radial inward. These are relative to the geometric center of the selected shapes, not the average center.

[Alexandre Prokoudine (alexandre-prokoudine)]

Rob, commit 18354 adds your extension to SVN trunk, so Restack will be part of 0.47.

If you have any patches, feel free to send them :-)

I'd like to note though that I'm not keen of using "Modify Path" group. We'll sort it out eventually ;-)

[Rob Antonishen (rob-antonishen)]

Thanks -

I have tried to clarify the interface by splitting up the GUI from the
code, so I could have 3 INX files all calling the same py file and
manually providing a parameter in the inx so the py code knew which
was calling, but have not been able to get it working. I believe
there is a bugtracker request to have hidden parameters in the gui
form so it might have to wait for that.

When (and if) that is done, I would propose a new effect menu "Change
Z-Order" and have a number of sub-items there:
 - Directional restack (0-360 degrees)
 - Orthagonal restack (4 options, l-r, r-l, t-b and b-t. redundant to
the previous one, but clearer for some people)
 - Radial restack (2 options, inward and outward)
 - Reverse Z-Order (new - no options)
 - Randomize Z-Order (new - no options)
 - Rotate Z-Order (new- integer to specify +/- how many elements to
rotate in the stack)

I have the code finished for all of them, but the GUI was geting
really ugly with that many options, hence the desire to break them
out, and also why I never updated.

Thanks for your time.

-Rob A.

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 11:21 AM, Alexandre Prokoudine
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Rob, commit 18354 adds your extension to SVN trunk, so Restack will be
> part of 0.47.
>
> If you have any patches, feel free to send them :-)
>
> I'd like to note though that I'm not keen of using "Modify Path" group.
> We'll sort it out eventually ;-)
>
> ** Changed in: inkscape
> Assignee: (unassigned) => Alexandre Prokoudine (alexandre-prokoudine)
> Status: Confirmed => Fix Released
> Target: None => 0.47
>
>
>
> --
> New Extension: restack z-order
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/182002
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

with respect to the transfer of data from multiple inx files to a single python file, have you tried to use a parameter of the type "description". This is not a hidden parameter but it is essentially read-only, which is close. For an example see measure.py. You would declare it in the different inx files as follows:

<param name="txthelp" type="description">label data here</param>

it would show up in the gui as a read-only label, and then you would need to transfer it to the python file using something like

    self.OptionParser.add_option("-x", "--txthelp", action="store", type="string", dest="Txthelp")

and then in python you would have access to it using the name "Txthelp".
It's been a while since I looked at this, but I could try to develop a working example if this looks interesting...

APP

[Alexandre Prokoudine (alexandre-prokoudine)]

Well, for now I change submenu to "Reorder". Feel free to submit new versions here or, if you already provided 2+ patches like that, we could give you SVN commit access (let us know what's your SourceForge username then). Thanks you for your contribution and have a nice day ;-)

[Rob Antonishen (rob-antonishen)]

Well - I tried it and it doesn't not appear to function. If I define
a default value in the option parser line, the value is the default.
If I do not provide a default, it has a value of None.

Reading the wiki is says:
For the sake of the UI there are also the following two parameters
that do not provide data to the extension but alter the user input
GUI.

    * description
    * notebook

so it might not work.

This wishlist item: https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/171870
might fix the issue.

I guess I could write 4 completely separate extensions, but there
would be a fair bit of duplication in the python code.

Alternately, I could make all of the options in one interface, but it
got real ugly, real fast. I also considered using tabs, but the
active tab does not get passed either.

I do have a sourceforge account, but don't currently have svn access
(changed computers and not installed).

-Rob A>

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 9:49 PM, Alvin Penner <email address hidden> wrote:
> with respect to the transfer of data from multiple inx files to a single
> python file, have you tried to use a parameter of the type
> "description". This is not a hidden parameter but it is essentially
> read-only, which is close. For an example see measure.py. You would
> declare it in the different inx files as follows:
>
> <param name="txthelp" type="description">label data here</param>
>
> it would show up in the gui as a read-only label, and then you would
> need to transfer it to the python file using something like
>
> self.OptionParser.add_option("-x", "--txthelp", action="store",
> type="string", dest="Txthelp")
>
> and then in python you would have access to it using the name "Txthelp".
> It's been a while since I looked at this, but I could try to develop a working example if this looks interesting...
>
> APP
>
>
>
> --
> New Extension: restack z-order
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/182002
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

Well, this is very embarrassing, but the description parameter didn't work for me either, I apologize for the confusion.
    I believe I got it confused with the notebook parameter. If you use a notebook parameter then each page has a title or name, and that name gets transmitted to the python file. Unfortunately that's not what you need.
   Anyways, sorry for the misdirection, I look forward to experimenting with the z-order.

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

   Decided to try to get some communication going using a notebook parameter, so here is an experimental version. This will show up on the Modify Path menu as two new items, Run Parent 1 & 2. The python file will just report an error message indicating its parent.
  Not very elegant, but thought I would send it anyways...

[Rob Antonishen (rob-antonishen)]

That works well. I'm incorporating it into this extension.

The only trick I found was having to add a
   self.options.tab = self.options.tab.strip('\'"')
at the start, as the name parameter cones through wrapped in double quotes.

-Rob A>

On Sat, Apr 19, 2008 at 9:04 AM, Alvin Penner wrote:
> Decided to try to get some communication going using a notebook parameter, so here is an experimental version. This will show up on the Modify Path menu as two new items, Run Parent 1 & 2. The python file will just report an error message indicating its parent.
> Not very elegant, but thought I would send it anyways...
>
> ** Attachment added: "C:\WINDOWS\Temp\parent.zip"
> http://launchpadlibrarian.net/13577148/C%3A%5CWINDOWS%5CTemp%5Cparent.zip
>
>
>
> --
> New Extension: restack z-order
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/182002
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>