def rect2pathd(rect):
    """Converts an SVG-rect element to a Path d-string.
    
    The rectangle will start at the (x,y) coordinate specified by the 
    rectangle object and proceed counter-clockwise."""
    x0, y0 = float(rect.get('x', 0)), float(rect.get('y', 0))
    w, h = float(rect['width']), float(rect['height'])
    x1, y1 = x0 + w, y0
    x2, y2 = x0 + w, y0 + h
    x3, y3 = x0, y0 + h
    d = 'M{} {} L {} {} L {} {} L {} {} z'.format(x0, y0, x1, y1, x2, y2,
        x3, y3)
    return d
