Pixi js fill shape with a texture from canvas

Question

I am trying to figure out a way I can fill a shape in PIXI.js using a texture created from a canvas. The reason for this is I wanna be able to create a gradient on a normal html canvas, and they make a texture out of it and add it to the pixi stage. Now I can do that, that was the first thing I tested, it works. But the end goal is to create shapes in PIXI.js using the Graphics class and then fill them with my gradient. I do not know how to accomplish this, as the .beginFill() method only accepts a color. How do I fill a shape with a texture? Here is my code. I know the auxillary canvas creation is a little verbose, but that is a problem for later.

$(document).ready(function() {
    var stage = new PIXI.Container();
    var renderer = PIXI.autoDetectRenderer(800, 600);
    document.body.appendChild(renderer.view);

    //Aliases
    var Sprite = PIXI.Sprite;
    var TextureCache = PIXI.utils.TextureCache;
    var resources = PIXI. loader.resources;

    function AuxCanvas(id, w, h, color1, color2) {
        this.id = id;
        this.w = w;
        this.h = h;
        this.color1 = color1;
        this.color2 = color2;
    }
    // create and append the canvas to body
    AuxCanvas.prototype.create = function() {
        $('body').append('<canvas id="'+
            this.id+'"  width="'+
            this.w+'" height="'+
            this.h+'"></canvas>');
    }
    // draw gradient
    AuxCanvas.prototype.drawGradient = function() {
        var canvas = document.getElementById(this.id);
        var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
        var gradient = ctx.createLinearGradient(0, 0, 800, 0);
        gradient.addColorStop(0, this.color1);
        gradient.addColorStop(1, this.color2);
        ctx.fillStyle = gradient;
        ctx.fillRect(0, 0, this.w, this.h);
    }

    function setup() {

        var graphics = new PIXI.Graphics();
        graphics.beginFill(PIXI.Texture.fromCanvas(can1)); //This doesn't work obviously
        graphics.drawCircle(60, 185, 40); 
        graphics.endFill();
        stage.addChild(graphics);
        renderer.render(stage);
    }

    var can1 = new AuxCanvas("can1", 800, 600, "green", "yellow");
    can1.create();
    can1.drawGradient();

    var can2 = new AuxCanvas("can2", 800, 600, "blue", "red");
    can2.create();
    can2.drawGradient();

    setup();
})

Answer 1

Allright I figured out a way, actually it was easy. Just make the Graphics object a mask for the sprite created from the html canvas.

function setup() {
    var can2 = document.getElementById('can2');
    var sprite = new Sprite(PIXI.Texture.fromCanvas(can2))
    var graphics = new PIXI.Graphics();
    graphics.beginFill();
    graphics.drawCircle(300, 300, 200); 
    graphics.endFill();
    sprite.mask = graphics;
    stage.addChild(sprite);
    renderer.render(stage);
}

Moreover, appending the graphic as a child of the sprite is the best way to go, just need to make sure that they are the same dimentions. With this done, I can move the sprite freely, and it's gradient texture doesn't change, or more precisely, it moves with the sprite. Of course everything has to be equal in dimentions.

var graphics = new PIXI.Graphics();
    graphics.beginFill();
    graphics.drawCircle(100, 100, 100); 
    graphics.endFill();
    sprite.addChild(graphics);
    sprite.mask = graphics;