Axes order

[dberlow]

DJR asks:
2) Right now design spaces are in alphabetical order by filename, and sources are in the same order that they appear in the designspace file. The resulting spreadsheet order is odd, but is the correct approach to change the order in the designspace file?

I’m not sure why the designspace file is in a-z order, but there are two possibilities; it was made that way, or it must be made that way;)

In either case UI for the axes order, and that includes the sheets, should match UI in our applications and Google’s if they develop an order.

Dave Crossland can comment on his,ideas for order, i’d Like To follow the mantra, then direction, then a-z. So, for an arbitrary input axes list;

If Opsz, wght, wdth, ital, slnt exist,
Then they are listed first, and that is their order.
If unregistered,
But called GRAD list it after the axes above.
And the axis label starts with Y or X,
Then list this next, Y axes before X.
Or the axis label starts with any other character,
List by letter in alphabetical order before
Any axis that starts with a number, and those can be listed numerically.

I’m bringing Chris in so you can share coding ideas.

Let me know your thoughts

[djrrb]

I’m not sure why the designspace file is in a-z order, but there are two possibilities; it was made that way, or it must be made that way;)

AFAIK there are no limitations on the order of <source> tags in the designspace spec.

Will wait for others to contribute ideas. I’d prefer see this stuff sorted in the creation of the designspace file rather than in the spreadsheet, but I’ll do whatever makes sense.

I take it this would be in a Python build script? Let me know if you need any help implementing the order.