I've now nearly completed my project to implement the International Orienteering Federation mapping standards in Inkscape - three mapping standards, one of which has two symbol scales - which has resulted in a large number of extension files.
In order to simplify things, I'd like to be able to have, for a given subset of the symbols, four separate INX files each calling the same PY file where a parameter is passed to the PY file, not user selected, indicating which INX file has made the call. Is this possible? Is it possible to specify a variable in an INX file and ascribe a value to it without presenting the user with some form of parameter input?
Also, I'd like to be able to produce a routine to fill an inkscape closed shape with randomly sized (between a lower and upper size) and positioned dots where the user can alter the density of dots and where dots will not overlap / touch / be closer than a specified distance between them. This raises a number of questions:
1) Is it possible to specify a slider-type input tool in an INX file? 2) Is there a Python command or a routine in one of the Python extension supporting files (simplepath, etc.) to detect whether a point lies within the bounds of a closed shape? 3) Is there an available routine to determine the area of a closed shape? 3) Are there any simple ways to detect collision / distance between dots? I'd like to implement something similar to the 'Remove Overlaps' capability available within the 'Align and Distribute' dialog as part of the routine generating the dots, but with a single (polar - sqrt(x^2 * y^2)) variable related to the user-selected dot density determining how close the dots can be placed to each other. I can see this getting complex when the area, and hence the number of dots, gets large. 4) Getting more complex, would it be possible to have a gradient-filled shape and vary the density of dots dependent on the gradient?
----- Jon