PShape 2.08 throws NullPointerException with createShape

Question

I am using Processing 2.08 on mac. I am trying to create a PShape using the createShape function as given in the documentation.

PShape s;

void setup(){
  size(500,500);
  s = createShape();
  s.beginShape(QUADS);
  s.fill(0);
  s.vertex(100,100);
  s.vertex(100,300);
  s.vertex(300,300);
  s.vertex(300,100);
  s.endShape(); 
}

void draw(){
  shape(s);
}

But this program throws NullPointerException. Upon looking up on the Processing.org forum I found a thread saying that the new processing library has problem with this one.

ref: https://forum.processing.org/topic/changes-to-pshape-in-2-08

How do I make this work? Is there any workaround? Thanks

i think the issue here is the documentation in the push to 2.0 was ahead of the release implementation, so the docs weren't always reliable... this should be fixed in 2.0 / 2.1 ? — jesses.co.tt, Feb 16 '14 at 08:11

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered May 17 '13 at 14:01

From the documentation:

Datatype for storing shapes. Processing can currently load and display SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) and OBJ shapes. Before a shape is used, it must be loaded with the loadShape() function. The shape() function is used to draw the shape to the display window. The PShape object contains a group of methods, linked below, that can operate on the shape data. OBJ files can only be opened using the P3D renderer.

You can find the reference here: http://processing.org/reference/PShape.html

In short, for now, you can't use PShape without first creating a shape elsewhere.

You could just create an image independently, save it on file and then load it with PShape. Its a hack but it makes it possible to use PShape at least until they can come up with a more proper fix.

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 18 '13 at 15:08

I addition to nickecarlo's answer, you could use PGraphics:

PGraphics s;

void setup(){
  size(500,500);
  s = createGraphics(width,height);
  s.beginDraw();
    s.beginShape(QUADS);
    s.fill(0);
    s.vertex(100,100);
    s.vertex(100,300);
    s.vertex(300,300);
    s.vertex(300,100);
    s.endShape(); 
  s.endDraw();
}

void draw(){
  image(s,0,0);
}

or implement your own Shape class. Here's a very crude example:

Shape s = new Shape();
Shape s2 = new Shape();

void setup(){
  size(500,500);
  s.addVertex(100,100);
  s.addVertex(100,300);
  s.addVertex(300,300);
  s.addVertex(300,100);

  s2.addVertex(350,100);
  s2.addVertex(450,100);
  s2.addVertex(450,200);
  s2.addVertex(350,200);
}

void draw(){
  s.draw();
  s2.draw();
}
class Shape{
  ArrayList<PVector> vertices = new ArrayList<PVector>();
  void addVertex(float x,float y){
    vertices.add(new PVector(x,y));
  }
  void draw(){
    pushStyle();
    beginShape(QUADS);
    fill(0);
    for(PVector v : vertices) vertex(v.x,v.y);
    endShape();
    popStyle();
  }
}

PShape 2.08 throws NullPointerException with createShape

2 Answers2

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