I was playing around with an effect script I wrote yesterday. http://www.ekips.org/comp/inkscape/koch.php And I found that if I add a path to the document with the following pathdata:

M208.57143 703.79075L174.516731473 751.46188866L239.616096737 756.673375098L208.57143 703.79075ZM414.28571 715.21933L354.791910976 765.893698391L462.153883759 809.766643481L414.28571 715.21933ZL435.919819746 753.935147186L460.519786772 711.050828191L414.28571 715.21933ZM488.57143 578.07647L504.042810705 635.178562182L568.765082358 575.851235234L488.57143 578.07647Z

I see this message on the console:

** (inkscape:5371): CRITICAL **: void gnome_canvas_bpath_def_closepath(GnomeCanvasBpathDef*): assertion `bpd->moveto_idx >= 0' failed

I'm guessing that the sticky part is "ZL435.919819746 753.935147186" because there is a closepath directive that is not followed immediately by a moveto. But I think this is within the bounds of the spec:

'If a "closepath" is followed immediately by a "moveto", then the "moveto" identifies the start point of the next subpath. If a "closepath" is followed immediately by any other command, then the next subpath starts at the same initial point as the current subpath.' http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG/paths.html#PathDataClosePathCommand

So it would seem to me that "g_return_if_fail (bpd->moveto_idx >= 0)" in "src/svg/gnome-canvas-bpath-util.cpp" says "fail if the current subpath doesn't begin with a moveto" when it means to say "fail if the current path doesn't begin with a moveto."

Aaron Spike