Inkscape Wiki - User contributions [en]

SpecSVGAnimation

2009-02-01T13:54:57Z

Rben13: /* User Interface: Added description of 3 basic interfaces needed. */

specification for an initial implementation of SVG animation features.

launchpad [https://blueprints.launchpad.net/inkscape/+spec/svg-animation blueprint]

inkscape-devel [http://www.nabble.com/Animation-%28was%3A-Re%3A-Inkscape---GSoC-%2708-proposal%29-td15791409.html discussion]

== Summary ==

== Rationale ==

== Design ==

=== Document Handling ===

=== User Interface ===

There are three possible approaches to crafting an interface for animation. It would be best if all three were developed to some extent.
* At the lowest level, animation elements can already be added using the XML editor, but the process is awkward, and there is no visible indication of the animation elements. Some scripting interface support is required, though, because one of the most important ways to control animations is via ECMA script embedded in the SVG file.
* At the next layer, we'll have to provide graphical widgets in the form of a side panel/tool bar for all of the animation options. This will take some time, but it isn't a particularly difficult task, since much of the code can be modeled on existing interface panels. At the same time, someone needs to develop some visual cues that will appear in the editor window that will indicate that animations are present.
* Finally, the most professional interface would abstract away as much of the SVG specific parts of the problem as possible and provide an interface that conforms to the more popular Flash animation packages. This will make it a lot easier for current Flash artists to move to SVG.

== Deliverables ==

== Discussion ==

* Is the Inkscape canvas fast enough for fast animation ?
* A complex UI like the timeline widget could benefit from a canvas API (e.g. goocanvas). But hey Inkscape already sports a canvas ! So does the Inkscape canvas could also be used for a custom GtkWidget ?
* Keep in mind the coming [[0.47_Refactoring_Plan |refactoring effort]]

PureSVG

2008-11-26T20:59:03Z

Rben13: /* '''Pure SVG''' */

== '''Pure SVG''' ==
PureSVG - is a bit of a misnomer, but the idea is to either change the way that Inkscape saves SVG data or provide a save option that saves in a SVG format that is easier to use for humans and other programs.

While the format Inkscape uses right now is great for static displays, it isn't so great if the file is going to be edited by a person who is adding animation or just tweaking things.

SVG provides several ways to do animation:
* One is declarative. You simply set up a series of transforms that will be performed on the various elements of the document at specified times. It's kind of static, but perfectly adequate for many applications that currently require Flash.
* Another choice is to animate the document using ECMAScript, also called JavaScript. (It would be very nice if Inkscape provided support for building scripts to animate the drawings. That is probably under development in the SMIL Animation area.)
* You can also use bridge routines from any language to interact with the Animation API that is provided.

There are several things that Inkscape does that make it a bit harder to work with Inkscape files:
* Records all shapes as paths - high level information is lost. While using paths is very efficient space-wise, it's no longer obvious that a particular path is a circle or ellipse.
* Provides no way to change the coordinate space. Changing the coordinate space
is actually quite easy, but there needs to be a user interface element to do it.
* Puts many parameters into ''Style'' statements. (e.g.: style="color:red;font:times new roman ...") Most of these parameters should be actual SVGParameters. This might not seem important, when you are creating a single document, but SVG allows for reuse of elements, and provides a hierarchy for formatting elements. The Style elements are at the top. If Inkscape use actual parameters instead, it would provide more flexibility for document authors.
* There is limited support for the <use .../> statement, which allows an author to reuse elements in the document and even pull in elements from other external documents. It appears to me, that the ''use'' element might be utilized in a number of ways to reduce the saved file size.
***COMMENT: clones in inkscape are the way inkscape creates <use .../> elements, although Inkscape cannot currently handle external refrances 16:58, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
* Inkscape needs to provide a much better user interface for editing SVG in it's source form. There are lots of examples of excellent SVG editors out there like XMLSpy by Altova.

I'm still learning about SVG, so I'm sure there are things that I'm missing. I'm also aware that some of these suggestions may be very costly int terms of development resources.

PureSVG

2008-11-19T19:40:47Z

Rben13: Suggestions on improvements in the Inkscape file format

== '''Pure SVG''' ==
PureSVG - is a bit of a misnomer, but the idea is to either change the way that Inkscape saves SVG data or provide a save option that saves in a SVG format that is easier to use for humans and other programs.

While the format Inkscape uses right now is great for static displays, it isn't so great if the file is going to be edited by a person who is adding animation or just tweaking things.

SVG provides several ways to do animation:
* One is declarative. You simply set up a series of transforms that will be performed on the various elements of the document at specified times. It's kind of static, but perfectly adequate for many applications that currently require Flash.
* Another choice is to animate the document using ECMAScript, also called JavaScript. (It would be very nice if Inkscape provided support for building scripts to animate the drawings. That is probably under development in the SMIL Animation area.)
* You can also use bridge routines from any language to interact with the Animation API that is provided.

There are several things that Inkscape does that make it a bit harder to work with Inkscape files:
* Records all shapes as paths - high level information is lost. While using paths is very efficient space-wise, it's no longer obvious that a particular path is a circle or ellipse.
* Provides no way to change the coordinate space. Changing the coordinate space
is actually quite easy, but there needs to be a user interface element to do it.
* Puts many parameters into ''Style'' statements. (e.g.: style="color:red;font:times new roman ...") Most of these parameters should be actual SVGParameters. This might not seem important, when you are creating a single document, but SVG allows for reuse of elements, and provides a hierarchy for formatting elements. The Style elements are at the top. If Inkscape use actual parameters instead, it would provide more flexibility for document authors.
* There is no support for the <use .../> statement which allows an author to reuse elements in the document and even pull in elements from other external documents. It appears to me, that the ''use'' element might be utilized in a number of ways to reduce the saved file size.
* Inkscape needs to provide a much better user interface for editing SVG in it's source form. There are lots of examples of excellent SVG editors out there like XMLSpy by Altova.

I'm still learning about SVG, so I'm sure there are things that I'm missing. I'm also aware that some of these suggestions may be very costly int terms of development resources.

New feature proposals

2008-11-19T19:12:43Z

Rben13: /* Proposals for New Features */

=== Proposals for New Features ===

This page is for links to pages describing concepts, proposals, and specs for new features, major
architectural changes, large scale codebase refactorings, etc. As they are implemented, these
links should be moved to more appropriate areas of the Wiki.
The idea here is to enable everyone to hash out requirements and design of a potential new feature
in detail prior to implementation. See also: [[InkscapeExperimental]] and [[Roadmap]].
* [[User:Bats|A user's list of suggestions/wishes]]: I recently finished a web project using Inkscape (mainly). This is a list of the things I wished it had, the things I liked but wanted to tweak and other observations as I was working. Perhaps it will help the programmers to see what a designer sees. I hope.
* [[InkscapeNeeds]]
* [[FeatureNotePad]]: use this for small notes and enhancement ideas, or for temporarily dumping feature requests (e.g. from mailing lists) before they are thought over, categorized, and put into pages of their own

* [[DirectoryReorgProposal]] [DONE]
* [[NonRecursiveMakefile]] [DONE]
* [[NewTools]]
* [[NetworkedEditing]]
* [[SharingDefs]]: Not exactly new, but need conversion/upgrade
* [[AdvancedFileAccess]]
* [[DocumentLayers]]
* [[PlugIns]]: This could be script ideas as well.
* [[HUD]]: putting head up displays on the sp-canvas
* [[PathOps]]
* [[InfoPalette]]
* [[ColorPalette]]
* [[UnitConversion]]
* [[ScriptingLanguages]] & options for handling extensibility
* [[TestingFramework]]: Creating testing framework
* [[PreferencesDialog]]
* [[BreadthFirstUndo]]
* [[CadInteroperability]]
* [[FontKerning]]
* [[PathfinderPalette]]
* [[PreserveOverTransform]]
* [[GimpInteraktion]]
* [[ClipTemplates]] - svg templates
* [[StockLibraryInterface]]
* [[Cairoification]]: replace svg renderer
* [[OpenPublishingToolsOrganization]]
* [[HelpMenu]]
* [[FormObject]]
* [[AST]]
* [[SpellCheckForTextNodes]]
* [[XML repair]] service for broken or weird files
* [[MoreUsableWorkingFolders]]
* [[SplitPaneUI]] View
* [[Pre-installed gradients]]
* [[rotate group of path points(knots)]]
* [[Searching within Inkscape]]
* [[UsingTheConnectorTool]] (various improvements to the Connector tool)
* [[PureSVG]]: SVG that plays well with others

=== Review Inkscape RFE's and [[SodiPodi]]'s Tasks ===

Please review the following links, extract ideas, and develop them further for inclusion and discussion on this WIKI page.

* [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=93438&atid=604309 Inkscape RFE's]
* [http://www.sodipodi.com/index.php3?section=development/tasks [[SodiPodi]] Task List]

[[Category:Developer Discussion]]