How can I set a polygon's path by using the .add() function?

Question

I have been searching the web and this forum and doing plenty of experimenting, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to do this.
I can set other attributes of a polygon inside the add() parentheses, such as the fillColor, but I can't set the polygon's path's pathPoints unless I use a separate line of code after the add(); line.
My script adds a great deal of polygons in a row, so halving the number of operations would greatly help me, and also it seems that some properties such as appliedObjectStyle cannot be set until after a polygon's path is defined. That means I need a third line of code after add() and entirePath=, which slows me down even more.
Help?

Answer 1

Ryan, I think you need to reset and take a moment to understand what it is that is going on here.
The things you've proposed that don't work shouldn't work, and it's all quite simple.
Generally speaking, a .add() function takes an additional parameter, a JavaScript Object, that list properties of the created object that can be set.
A JavaScript Object is a list of key/value pairs, just like an associative array in a language like perl, or a dictionary in a language like Python. It is expressed in curly braces as such:
{ key1: value1, key2: value2, key3: value3}
So, for any such general add function, these
foo = whatever.add();
foo.bar = baz;
are equivalent to this:
foo = whatever.add({bar: baz});
Are you with me? So, for instance, you had originally asked why you could not use pathPoints in polygons.add() and the answer is simpe. You cannot set polygon.pathPoints, because there is no .pathPoints property of a polygon.
So, when you want to try add properties inside properties, you must do as as objects within objects, and follow the strict hierarchy. Marc advises that this works:
app.activeWindow.activePage.polygons.add({
    fillColor:"FireRed",
    transparencySettings: {dropShadowSettings: {angle:120}}
and if indeed that is so, then the extension for setting multiple transparencySettings should be clear. It is not this, that you propose:
app.activeWindow.activePage.polygons.add({
    fillColor:"FireRed",
    transparencySettings: {dropShadowSettings: {angle:120}}
    transparencySettings: {dropShadowSettings: {distance:1}}
Because to do so is to set the transparencySettings key twice in the same Object. And to do that is to replace the first with the second. The above (yours) is wholly equavelent to:
app.activeWindow.activePage.polygons.add({
    fillColor:"FireRed",
    transparencySettings: {dropShadowSettings: {distance:1}}
If you wish to set more than one attribute of dropShadowSettings, you must set transparencySettings to an object containing one and only one dropShadowSettings, and you must do it only once. So it is this:
app.activeWindow.activePage.polygons.add({
    fillColor:"FireRed",
    transparencySettings:
      {dropShadowSettings: {angle:120, distance: 1}}
I am not sure why you thought you should have the name of the key in the Object named properties. That is probably because in some cases you can use:
foo.properties = { a: 1, b: 2};
as a shorthand for
foo.a=1;
foo.b=2;
but you would [probably] never want to mix that with the object notation for setting multiple properties in the .add() function.
Does this help to clarify?
As for your last question:
Also, it doesn't let me use square brackets or parentheses inside the add() parentheses, so the original problem I posted (trying to set a polygon's path) is still a problem.
It's not about the use of brackets or parentheses, but what they mean and where they go. As you have not posted an example of setting the polygon's path the long way, it's hard to show you how to shorten it. Post what you have that works, and we will show you how to shorten it. (I suppose some with more patience than I are willing to go look up what we think it is you are trying to do, and then interpret it. But I would much rather you show me the code you have that works, and then your attempts to transform or shorten it and change its notation. This makes it much much easier to help you, and it should also make the help more effective, by contextualizing it. As an added benefit, when someone else reads your post and tries to learn from it, they will gain more.)
So again, please provide a clear example of the "long way" to do the thing you are attempting, and then your attempt at shortening it.