public static Glyph basicClone(Glyph g) 
{
	if (g instanceof Cloneable){return (Glyph)g.clone();}
	else {return null;}
}

returns a (basic) clone of Glyph g, returns null if g belongs to a class that does not implement cloneable. Basic means that it copies the shape, size, orientation and position, nothing more

 public static Shape getJava2DShape(Glyph g) 
{
	if (g instanceof VEllipse){
	    VEllipse el1=(VEllipse)g;
	    return new Ellipse2D.Double(el1.vx-el1.getWidth(),el1.vy-el1.getHeight(),el1.getWidth()*2,el1.getHeight()*2);
	}
	else if (g instanceof VRectangle){
	    VRectangle el1=(VRectangle)g;
	    return new Rectangle2D.Double(el1.vx-el1.getWidth(),el1.vy-el1.getHeight(),el1.getWidth()*2,el1.getHeight()*2);
	}
	else if (g instanceof VRoundRect){
	    VRoundRect el1=(VRoundRect)g;
	    return new RoundRectangle2D.Double(el1.vx-el1.getWidth(),el1.vy-el1.getHeight(),el1.getWidth()*2,el1.getHeight()*2,el1.getArcWidth(),el1.getArcHeight());
	}
	else if (g instanceof VCircle){
	    return new Ellipse2D.Double(g.vx-g.getSize(),g.vy-g.getSize(),g.getSize()*2,g.getSize()*2);
	}
	else if (g instanceof VShape){
	    VShape sh1=(VShape)g;
	    float vertexAngle=sh1.getOrient();
	    float[] vertices=sh1.getVertices();
	    int[] xcoords=new int[vertices.length];
	    int[] ycoords=new int[vertices.length];
	    float size=g.getSize();
	    for (int j=0;j< vertices.length-1;j++){
		xcoords[j]=(int)Math.round(sh1.vx+size*Math.cos(vertexAngle)*vertices[j]);
		ycoords[j]=(int)Math.round(sh1.vy+size*Math.sin(vertexAngle)*vertices[j]);
		vertexAngle+=2*Math.PI/vertices.length;
	    }//last iteration outside to loop to avoid one vertexAngle computation too many
	    xcoords[vertices.length-1]=(int)Math.round(sh1.vx+size*Math.cos(vertexAngle)*vertices[vertices.length-1]);
	    ycoords[vertices.length-1]=(int)Math.round(sh1.vy+size*Math.sin(vertexAngle)*vertices[vertices.length-1]);
	    return new Polygon(xcoords,ycoords,vertices.length);
	}
	else if (g instanceof VPolygon){
	    VPolygon pg1=(VPolygon)g;
	    LongPoint[] vertices=pg1.getVertices();
	    int[] xcoords=new int[vertices.length];
	    int[] ycoords=new int[vertices.length];
	    for (int j=0;j< vertices.length;j++){
		xcoords[j]=(int)Math.round(pg1.vx+vertices[j].x);
		ycoords[j]=(int)Math.round(pg1.vy+vertices[j].y);
	    }
	    return new Polygon(xcoords,ycoords,vertices.length);
	}
	else if (g instanceof VTriangle){
	    int size=Math.round(g.getSize());
	    int halfEdge=Math.round(0.866f*g.getSize());
	    int thirdHeight=Math.round(0.5f*g.getSize());
	    if (g instanceof VTriangleOr){
		float orient=g.getOrient();
		int[] xcoords=new int[3];
		int[] ycoords=new int[3];
		xcoords[0]=(int)Math.round(g.vx-size*Math.sin(orient));
		xcoords[1]=(int)Math.round(g.vx-halfEdge*Math.cos(orient)+thirdHeight*Math.sin(orient));
		xcoords[2]=(int)Math.round(g.vx+halfEdge*Math.cos(orient)+thirdHeight*Math.sin(orient));
		ycoords[0]=(int)Math.round(g.vy+size*Math.cos(orient));
		ycoords[1]=(int)Math.round(g.vy-thirdHeight*Math.cos(orient)+halfEdge*Math.sin(orient));
		ycoords[2]=(int)Math.round(g.vy-thirdHeight*Math.cos(orient)-halfEdge*Math.sin(orient));
		return new Polygon(xcoords,ycoords,3);
	    }
	    else {
		int[] xcoords={(int)g.vx,(int)g.vx-halfEdge,(int)g.vx+halfEdge};
		int[] ycoords={(int)g.vy+size,(int)g.vy-thirdHeight,(int)g.vy-thirdHeight};
		return new Polygon(xcoords,ycoords,3);
	    }
	}
	else if (g instanceof VDiamond){
	    int size=Math.round(g.getSize());
	    int[] xcoords={(int)g.vx+size,(int)g.vx,(int)g.vx-size,(int)g.vx};
	    int[] ycoords={(int)g.vy,(int)g.vy-size,(int)g.vy,(int)g.vy+size};
	    return new Polygon(xcoords,ycoords,4);
	}
	else if (g instanceof VOctagon){
	    int size=Math.round(g.getSize());
	    int halfSize=Math.round(0.5f*g.getSize());
	    int[] xcoords={(int)g.vx+size,(int)g.vx+halfSize,(int)g.vx-halfSize,(int)g.vx-size,(int)g.vx-size,(int)g.vx-halfSize,(int)g.vx+halfSize,(int)g.vx+size};
	    int[] ycoords={(int)g.vy+halfSize,(int)g.vy+size,(int)g.vy+size,(int)g.vy+halfSize,(int)g.vy-halfSize,(int)g.vy-size,(int)g.vy-size,(int)g.vy-halfSize};
	    return new Polygon(xcoords,ycoords,8);
	}
	else if (g instanceof VImage){
	    VImage im1=(VImage)g;
	    return new Rectangle2D.Double(im1.vx-im1.getWidth(),im1.vy-im1.getHeight(),im1.getWidth()*2,im1.getHeight()*2);	    
	}
	else return new Rectangle2D.Double(g.vx,g.vy,1,1);  //should never happen, just for robustness
}

get a java.awt.Shape instance describing Glyph g (only working for non-Or shapes for now, but could be easily extended to support them)