[SVGPathDataAPI] Tracking issue for SVG Path Data API explainer

[viralipurbey]

Summary

Explainer for adding getPathData(), setPathData(), and getPathSegmentAtLength() to SVGPathElement in Chromium.

Explainer: SVG/SVGPathDataAPI/explainer.md

Problem

Chrome removed the old SVGPathSegList API in Chrome 48 (2015). The SVG WG specified a simpler replacement in the SVG Paths spec, but it was never implemented — leaving Chrome with no native segment-level path access for 10+ years. Developers must use polyfills or manual string parsing.

Proposed API

• getPathData(settings) — returns path segments as {type, values} plain objects
• setPathData(pathData) — sets path from an array of {type, values} objects
• getPathSegmentAtLength(distance) — returns the segment at a given path length

Supports normalization ({normalize: true}) to reduce all commands to M, L, C, Z.

Status

• Firefox: Shipped in v137 (Jan 2025)
• Safari: Not yet (still ships old SVGPathSegList)
• Chrome: Not yet — this explainer proposes implementation

Related links

• Chromium bug 40441025 (45 upvotes)
• SVG Paths §7 DOM Interfaces (spec)
• path-data-polyfill (129+ stars)
• Firefox bug 1934525 (implementation)

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