svg-path-properties

Pure Javascript alternative to getPointAtLength(t) and getTotalLength() functions. Works with Canvas objects and when Node

JavaScript can access to path elements properties in a browser, such as its length and the point at a given length. Unfortunately, this can't be achieved using a Canvas element or when working with node. This library can be used to replace this need. It has no dependencies on other JavaScript libraries.

INSTALL

To use with npm, just type

npm install svg-path-properties

The package is lightweight with no dependencies (~20KB gzipped).

You can use it in the browser directly by including svg-path-properties.min.js from the dist directory

<script src="svg-path-properties.min.js"></script>

USAGE

The available methods are:

const path = require("svg-path-properties");
const properties = new path.svgPathProperties("M0,100 Q50,-50 100,100 T200,100");
const length = properties.getTotalLength();
const point = properties.getPointAtLength(200);
const tangent = properties.getTangentAtLength(200);
const allProperties = properties.getPropertiesAtLength(200);
const parts = properties.getParts();

getTotalLength()

Returns the total length of the path.

getPointAtLength(pos)

Returns { x, y } — the coordinates at the given distance along the path.

getTangentAtLength(pos)

Returns { x, y } — the normalized tangent vector at the given distance.

getPropertiesAtLength(pos)

Returns { x, y, tangentX, tangentY } — point and tangent combined.

getParts()

Returns an array of segment objects, one per path command (move commands are skipped). Each object has:

details — segment parameters

Each segment's details is a tuple in SVG notation with the uppercase command letter and all coordinates in absolute form:

Example — parametric interpolation along a cubic Bézier at evenly-spaced t values instead of arc-length:

import { svgPathProperties } from "svg-path-properties";

const parts = new svgPathProperties("M0,0 C10,20 30,40 50,0").getParts();
for (const part of parts) {
  if (part.details[0] === 'C') {
    const [, cp1x, cp1y, cp2x, cp2y, x, y] = part.details;
    // evaluate cubic Bézier at t=0.5
    const t = 0.5;
    const px = Math.pow(1-t,3)*part.start.x + 3*Math.pow(1-t,2)*t*cp1x + 3*(1-t)*t*t*cp2x + t*t*t*x;
    const py = Math.pow(1-t,3)*part.start.y + 3*Math.pow(1-t,2)*t*cp1y + 3*(1-t)*t*t*cp2y + t*t*t*y;
  }
}

Node

const path = require("svg-path-properties");
const properties = new path.svgPathProperties("M0,100 Q50,-50 100,100 T200,100");

Including it from an import

import { svgPathProperties } from "svg-path-properties";
const properties = new svgPathProperties("M0,100 Q50,-50 100,100 T200,100");

Including the script in the browser

Once the script tag has been included,

const properties = new svgPathProperties.svgPathProperties("M0,100 Q50,-50 100,100 T200,100");

Using new

Since svgPathProperties is a class, using new is the correct way to initilize it. For backwards compatibility reasons, the object can be get without it:

const properties = svgPathProperties("M0,100 Q50,-50 100,100 T200,100");

Some usage examples

• Drawing an animated path
• Label positioning
• Drawing stramlines arrows
• Using it to get a length when in node instead of the browser, as in the Flubber library
• SVG animations in React Native

Typescript

The TypeScript declaration file is available too, since version 0.5.0. From version 1.0.0, the whole library has been rewritten using TypeScript, and the types are auto-generated.

All public APIs are fully documented with JSDoc comments for better IDE support.

CREDITS

Some parts of the code are taken from other libraries or questions at StackOverflow:

For Bézier curves:

• example in bl.ocks.org, gist code

• Stack overflow question

• A Primer on Bézier Curves

• Arc elements calculation

• path parsing