Clipboard content for multiple glyphs

bahman

I have a script that stores the glyphs when users hits copy and it runs on startup, another script runs when the user pastes.

If I attach the glyphs to an object, I need to access that object in the paste script. And if I import the object that has the observer, it will be executed agian, adding up to previous observers. In short I don't know how to create this object you're saying, without adding another observers every time I run the paste script.

frederik

Euhm dont store it in the defaults ;). If it should only be accessible while RF is running, you can store it anywhere in one of your objects.

bahman

I came up with this idea to store the glyphs inside an extension key and when I run the paste script, I will retrieve the glyphs from there. There is a possible drawback here since the content of the extension key can't be saved into disk, it might cause failure and other extension keys will also not get saved. Is there a way to delete the key before RF is about to be closed? I couldn't find an observer for this. This is the observer that stores the glyphs:

from mojo.events import addObserver, removeObserver
from defconAppKit.windows.baseWindow import BaseWindowController
from mojo.extensions import setExtensionDefault, getExtensionDefault, removeExtensionDefault

EXTENSION_KEY = 'design.bahman.specialClipboard'

class ClipboardGlyphs():
	_glyphs = {}

	def start(self):
		addObserver(self, '_fontOverviewCopy', 'fontOverviewCopy')
		addObserver(self, '_copy', 'copy')

	def destroy(self, sender):
		removeObserver(self, 'fontOverviewCopy')
		removeObserver(self, 'copy')

	def _fontOverviewCopy(self, info):
		self._glyphs = {}
		for g in info["glyphs"]:
			self._addGlyphToClipboard(g)
		setExtensionDefault(EXTENSION_KEY, self._glyphs)

	def _copy(self, info):
		self._glyphs = {}
		self._addGlyphToClipboard(info["glyph"])
		setExtensionDefault(EXTENSION_KEY, self._glyphs)

	def _addGlyphToClipboard(self, g):
		if g.unicodes != ():
			for v in g.unicodes:
				self._glyphs[v] = g
		else:
			self._glyphs[g.name] = g

if __name__ == '__main__':
	ClipboardGlyphs = ClipboardGlyphs()
	ClipboardGlyphs.start()
	debug=True
	if debug:
		from vanilla import FloatingWindow

		class DebuggerWindow(BaseWindowController):
			def __init__(self):
				self.w = FloatingWindow((500, 500), f'ClipboardGlyphs debug!')
				self.w.open()
				self.w.bind("close", ClipboardGlyphs.destroy)
		DebuggerWindow()

bahman

Thank you this is much more useful. Now we can access the clipboard content much easier!

gferreira

hello @bahman,

the latest beta includes the new observers fontOverviewCopy and fontOverviewPaste, please give them a try…

thanks!

frederik

Make you own copy paste:

copy:

import AppKit
import json

# get the pasteboard
pasteBoard = AppKit.NSPasteboard.generalPasteboard()
# get the font (maybe check if there is a font)
font = CurrentFont()
# create your pasteboard type
bahmanPasteBoardType = "Bahman.special.copy.paste"
# collect data
data = []
for glyphName in font.selectedGlyphNames:
    glyph = font[glyphName]    
    anchorData = [dict(glyphName=glyph.name, x=anchor.x, y=anchor.y, name=anchor.name) for anchor in glyph.anchors]        
    data.append(anchorData)
# write it to the pastboard
pasteBoard.setString_forType_(json.dumps(data), bahmanPasteBoardType)

paste:

import AppKit
import json
# get the pasteboard
pasteBoard = AppKit.NSPasteboard.generalPasteboard()
# print out all the availabe types
print(pasteBoard.types())
# create your pasteboard type
bahmanPasteBoardType = "Bahman.special.copy.paste"
# get the paste board string for type
data = pasteBoard.stringForType_(bahmanPasteBoardType)
# its None when there no such paste board type
if data:
    data = json.loads(data)
    # do something with this data

good luck!!

bahman

@frederik Yes, it works, I know! And I'm wondering how RF gets the clipboard content for these multiple glyphs because I'm trying to make a paste special script that only would paste anchors or contours when I use it on selected glyphs. The current behavior replaces the whole glyphs on paste. I guess I'm just gonna wait for those notifications you mentioned. Thank you for your patience.

frederik

copy multiple glyphs and pasting in an font overview with the same amount of selected glyphs, already works :) see https://robofont.com/documentation/workspace/font-overview/#actions

Or am I misreading your request...

bahman

Thank you, those notifications will help. I wanted to avoid redoing what RF already does. I thought RF already copies multiple glyph contents to the clipboard. Please consider doing this:

1- Open a font which contains glyphs with outlines.
2- Select some glyphs and hit CMD-C.
3- Open an empty font, select similar glyphs (same glyph names) and hit CMD-V.

Now the glyph contents are also pasted on multiple glyphs. If this data exists and can be accessed easily then I can avoid making it myself.

frederik

in the upcoming release and public beta there is a notification when copy pasting in a collection view:

fontOverviewPaste and fontOverviewCopy which has a key glyphs a list of glyphs.

would this work?

frankrolf

Currently, RF has the following behaviors:

cmd-c with single glyph selected: whole glyph (XML) is copied
cmd-c with multiple glyphs selected: literal characters are copied (based on Unicode value, if they exist. Otherwise it’s glyph names)
cmd-option-c with multiple glyphs selected: glyph names are copied

Probably you’d need to re-think step 1 of your workflow, to copy RGlyphs (or XMLs) for the current selection. You could assign something like cmd-shift-c?

bahman

Thank you Frank. It's for a different purpose. I want to make a paste special for multiple glyphs. For example, I have selected multiple glyphs, then hit copy. Then selected another font then hit paste. Now I want to show a window where the user can choose what type of data is pasted in the new font. Anchors, contours, etc. And I want to do it for multiple glyphs not just one glyph.

frankrolf

What is the reason for using the OS clipboard in this case – why don’t you just create RGlyphs (and drop them where you need them)?
If you really need the XML, you could use g.writeGlyphToString().

SOLVED Clipboard content for multiple glyphs