Convert path to polygon

Question

I am trying to figure out if a point is in the SVG path using Python.
The algorithm I will use is the raycasting algorithm .

But for this algorithm I need to have polygonal sides, but all I have is the path for the svg path:

<path d="m 362.26878,978.51017 c 20.15947,-20.15479 23.0826,-25.35876 20.51836,-36.58367 -5.62899,-24.66928 -8.85902,-84.94939 -4.6845,-87.51832 2.29504,-1.43086 25.27371,2.13445 51.0669,7.87678 39.48315,8.80707 50.0611,13.213 66.91495,27.88988 11.39966,9.91685 25.01402,17.41113 31.62525,17.41113 12.91547,0 24.69288,-11.04544 19.95645,-18.71919 -1.68587,-2.73893 4.50508,-38.63785 13.76077,-79.78795 12.41964,-55.21781 16.82552,-85.81829 16.82552,-116.84379 0,-23.12039 … z" /> 

which matches this image:

So, is there a way to get the sides of the path?

Answer 1

You can convert the path to a polygon, as shown in my example here:
http://phrogz.net/svg/convert_path_to_polygon.xhtml

A simpler algorithm from this page (in JavaScript):

 function polygonSampledFromPath(path,samples){ var doc = path.ownerDocument; var poly = doc.createElementNS('http://www.w3.org/2000/svg','polygon'); var points = []; var len = path.getTotalLength(); var step = step=len/samples; for (var i=0;i<=len;i+=step){ var p = path.getPointAtLength(i); points.push( p.x+','+py ); } poly.setAttribute('points',points.join(' ')); return poly; } 

Instead of sampling based on a certain number of points, you can simply try at a certain distance.

This assumes your Python binding has access to the full SVGPathElement DOM Interface .