Kurt Hutchinson:
So basically, in Path along Path, the original is used for styling and content, while the parameter is used for shaping. And in Pattern along Path, the original is used for styling and shaping, and the parameter is used for content.
Well said!
Without knowing how the code is structured, it seems like these two effects could be merged into one by giving options for which of the two paths is used for styling, which is for content, and which is for shaping. As a programmer, I know that the code structure could make it impossible, so the point may be moot, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
Path parameters only contain path data (points), not style or anything. Ofcourse path parameters could be extended to include style data, but then still an LPE can only output points, not style data. The whole LPE system could be much larger better bigger, but I am already putting just about all my Inkscape time in it :-(
About the naming: perhaps I can at least settle on renaming 'path along path' to 'bend'. (the two names are so similar at the moment that even I misread things often...)
Johan