EnzoXenon has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

In PowerPoint.pm extension to Win32::OLE I added a routine to create a line in a PowerPoint - like this it works! 
sub add_line {
  my ($self, $options) = @_;

  return unless $self->slide;

  $options = {} unless ref $options eq 'HASH';

  my $new_line = $self->slide->Shapes->AddLine($options->{x1}, $option
+s->{y1}, $options->{x2}, $options->{y2});

  $new_line->{Line}{ForeColor}{RGB}=RGB($options->{forecolor}) if(defi
+ned $options->{forecolor});

  $new_line->{Line}{Weight}=$options->{weight} if(defined $options->{w
+eight});

  $new_line->{Line}{Pattern}=$options->{pattern} if(defined $options->
+{pattern});

  return $new_line;
}

[download]
Now I'm trying to add a routine to make a polyline ... (so I can draw arbitrary and not just mso Shapes) and I coded it like this: 
sub add_polyline {
  my ($self, $options) = @_;

  return unless $self->slide;

  $options = {} unless ref $options eq 'HASH';

  my $new_poly=$self->slide->Shapes->AddPolyline($options->{points});

  $new_poly->{Line}{ForeColor}{RGB}=RGB($options->{forecolor}) if(defi
+ned $options->{forecolor});

  $new_poly->{Line}{Weight}=$options->{weight} if(defined $options->{w
+eight});

  $new_poly->{Line}{Pattern}=$options->{pattern} if(defined $options->
+{pattern});

  if(defined $options->{fillcolor})
  {
    $new_poly->{Fill}{ForeColor}{RGB}=RGB($options->{fillcolor});
  }
  else
  {
    $new_poly->{Fill}{Transparency}=1;
  }

  return $new_poly;
}

[download]
Which does not work. The argument needed by the microsoft routine AddPolyline is something called a "SafeArrayOfPoints" in the docos.

https://documentation.help/Microsoft-PowerPoint-Visual-Basic/ppmthAddPolyline1.htm

I've tried an array, a two-dimensional array, and array reference ... nothing works.

Can anyone help?

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: PowerPoint.pm extension for AddPolyline not working
by Corion (Patriarch) on Jun 14, 2023 at 07:33 UTC

    According to the Microsoft documentation for AddPolyline, the method takes a Variant datatype. Without testing, you should be able to create a (2-dimensional) Variant that contains an array (of integers) like this:

    use Win32::OLE;
use Win32::OLE::Variant;


my $pointcount = 4; # 4 points
my $point_dimensions = 2;

# The arrayrefs mean we use 1-based indices, like the VBA examples do:
# my $pointlist = Variant(VT_ARRAY | VT_R4 , [1,$pointcount], [1,$poin
+t_dimensions]);
# Alternatively, use 0-based indices, like Perl does:
my $pointlist = Variant(VT_ARRAY | VT_R4 , $pointcount, $point_dimensi
+ons);

$pointlist->Put( 0,0, 25 );
$pointlist->Put( 0,1, 100 );
...

$slide->Shapes->AddPolyline($pointlist);

    [download]

    The MS documentation suggests that the SafeArryOfPoints should be a 2-dimensional array.

[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
      Corion ... thank you very much!

      Here's what I put into the PowerPoint module per your guidance on Win32::OLE::Variant (which I looked up on CPAN afterward ... because I should learn how to read) 

        # Get the points
  my @points=@{ $options->{points} };

  # Create the Win32::OLE::Variant
  my $pointlist = Win32::OLE::Variant->new(VT_ARRAY | VT_R4 , 4, 2);

  # Convert points to Win32::OLE::Variant
  for my $index (0 .. 3)
  {
    # Add x
    $pointlist->Put( $index, 0, shift(@points) );

    # Add y
    $pointlist->Put( $index, 1, shift(@points) );
  }

  my $new_poly=$self->slide->Shapes->AddPolyline($pointlist);

      [download]
      So I could make the call into the function simple ... 
            # Add filled Triangle
      $PPT->add_polyline( {'points'    => [$pptpoints[0], $pptpoints[1
+], $pptpoints[2], $pptpoints[3], $pptpoints[4], $pptpoints[5], $pptpo
+ints[0], $pptpoints[1]],
                           'fillcolor' => &convert2RGBvalues($fill),
                           'weight'    => $weight/px2pt,
                           'forecolor' => &convert2RGBvalues($color) }
+);

      [download]
      Meaning the user will only have to define a list of three coordinate pairs in perl to make a triangle in PowerPoint.

      EXCELLENT!

[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
Re: PowerPoint.pm extension for AddPolyline not working
by EnzoXenon (Acolyte) on Jun 14, 2023 at 02:34 UTC
    And the call to use add_poly is like this ... 
          # Add filled Triangle
      $PPT->add_polyline( {'points'    => [[$pptpoints[0], $pptpoints[
+1]], [$pptpoints[2], $pptpoints[3]], [$pptpoints[4], $pptpoints[5]], 
+[$pptpoints[0], $pptpoints[1]]],
                           'fillcolor' => &convert2RGBvalues($fill),
                           'weight'    => $weight/px2pt,
                           'forecolor' => &convert2RGBvalues($color) }
+);

    [download]
    Although, as I've said I've tried multiple variations of the list for 'points'

    The net result is that my $new_poly never gets set and the next line that uses $new_poly says "Use of uninitialized value $new_poly" yet no errors are thrown.

[reply]
[d/l]

Back to Seekers of Perl Wisdom