Applescript first steps. Joining shapes with a curvy line??

[Wim Lewis]

On Nov 7, 2007, at 12:01 AM, <christian.sodl at orf.at> wrote:
> Hi,
> There is a connect command in the OG Applescript Directory.
>
[...]
> Also you can add with properties {line type:curved,....} to specify  
> some parameters of the generated lines.

In addition, the "connect" command (like most of the commands that  
create objects) returns the newly-created object, so it's possible to  
write a script like this:

    set A to (connect the first solid to the last solid)   -- A is  
now a reference to the line
    set the thickness of A to 3.0
    set the stroke color of A to {1.0, 0.0, 0.0}

It's also possible to make connections without using the "connect"  
command:

    tell the first canvas of the first document
       set A to (make new line with properties {thickness:3.0, stroke  
color:{1.0, 0.0, 0.0}, line type:curved})
       set the point list of A to {{0, 0}, {200, 200}, {0, 0}
       set the source of A to (the first solid) -- modifies the first  
point as a side-effect
       set the destination of A to (the last solid) -- modifies the  
last point as a side-effect
       return (the point list of A as list)  -- to show you the  
points of the line
    end tell


On Oct 31, 2007, at 4:10 AM, Ivan Rostas wrote:
> Could anyone give me a gentle push-off the pier by describing the  
> Applescript required to have a curvy line link a number of  
> highlighted objects?  Say I multiple select some objects on screen,  
> I would like to have a 'button' in the bottom corner of the page  
> with an Action that runs a little Applescript to have a curvy (sine- 
> like?) line link the objects - however not link back to the first  
> object.  That will be done manually, so I stay alert.

The hard part is making the lines curvy, since the script will need  
to choose coordinates for the midpoints of the curvy lines. To choose  
a midpoint for a curvy line, you could, for example, get the center  
of the each "source" graphic and "destination" graphic, average their  
coordinates to get a point in between the two graphics, and add  
something to the Y-coordinate to make the line curve upwards a bit.  
Here's a quick try at doing that:

    tell the first window
       set Things to (get the selection as list)
       tell the canvas of it
          repeat with Ix from 1 to (the (count of Things) - 1)
             set FromGraphic to item Ix of Things
             set ToGraphic to item (Ix + 1) of Things
             set FromXY to the origin of FromGraphic
             set ToXY to the origin of ToGraphic
             set MidXY to {(the (first item of FromXY) + the (first  
item of ToXY)) / 2.0, (the (second item of FromXY) + the (second item  
of ToXY)) / 2.0 + 20.0}
             connect FromGraphic to ToGraphic with properties {line  
type:curved, stroke color:{0.0, 0.0, 1.0}, point list:{{0, 0}, MidXY,  
{0, 0}}}
          end repeat
       end tell
    end tell

The midpoints aren't quite in the right place because I'm using the  
"origin" (upper-left corner) of each graphic instead of the center  
(where the line will connect). But this should give you the general  
idea. You could instead get the first and last points of the line  
*after* connecting it and average those, instead of getting the  
locations of the graphics, for example.