various properties of cairo `text_extent`
when using cairo with python, the text_extent function call is powerful because it returns coordinate information of the text the user wants to print. However, the information depends on the Context which will be used when calling this function and this context may have different properties.
Effected by order of select_font_face and set_font_size?
import cairocffi as cairo
surface = cairo.ImageSurface(cairo.FORMAT\_RGB24, 100, 100)
context = cairo.Context(surface)
context.set\_font\_size(30)
context.select\_font\_face('times new roman')
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents("hello")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
context = cairo.Context(surface)
context.select\_font\_face('times new roman')
context.set\_font\_size(30)
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents("hello")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
"""
output:
xb=0.0, yb=-21.0, w=58.0, h=21.0, xa=59.0, ya=0.0
xb=0.0, yb=-21.0, w=58.0, h=21.0, xa=59.0, ya=0.0
"""
conclusion: is not affected by order
Effected by rotation?
import cairocffi as cairo, numpy as np
surface = cairo.ImageSurface(cairo.FORMAT\_RGB24, 100, 100)
context = cairo.Context(surface)
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents("hello")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
context.rotate(5/180 \* np.pi) # rotate slightly
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents("hello")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
### output:
### xb=0.0, yb=-7.000000000000001, w=21.0, h=7.000000000000001, xa=21.0, ya=0.0
### xb=0.0, yb=-8.0, w=21.0, h=8.0, xa=21.0, ya=0.0
conclusion: it is affected by rotation
does it return valid results for blank space?
import cairocffi as cairo
surface = cairo.ImageSurface(cairo.FORMAT\_RGB24, 100, 100)
context = cairo.Context(surface)
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents(" ")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents("ab")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents("a b")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents("ab ")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
xb,yb,w,h,xa,ya = context.text\_extents(" ab")
print(f"xb={xb}, yb={yb}, w={w}, h={h}, xa={xa}, ya={ya}")
"""
output:
xb=0.0, yb=0.0, w=0.0, h=0.0, xa=3.0000000000000004, ya=0.0 # " "
xb=0.0, yb=-7.000000000000001, w=11.0, h=7.000000000000001, xa=11.0, ya=0.0 # "ab"
xb=0.0, yb=-7.000000000000001, w=14.0, h=7.000000000000001, xa=14.0, ya=0.0 # "a b"
xb=0.0, yb=-7.000000000000001, w=11.0, h=7.000000000000001, xa=14.0, ya=0.0 # "ab "
xb=3.0000000000000004, yb=-7.000000000000001, w=11.0, h=7.000000000000001, xa=14.0, ya=0.0 # " ab"
"""
conclusion: blank spaces are automatically ignored for bounding box related outputs(‘w’, ‘h’) but it does affect bearings and advancements which are related to cursor positioning.