Object Manager

2006-10-03T18:34:43Z

Shmel:

<h1>The Inkscape Object Manager</h1>

<strong>A hybrid of the XML Editor and Item Properties dialog.. mixed in with a bit of love.</strong>

upload:obman2.png upload:gradients.png

<h2>Brief</h2>
<ul>
<li>An expandable list of the groups and objects within your SVG.<br />

Previews of what is within that group is handy but not essential ( like in the XML editor: when groups are selected , the relative items on the canvas are selected )</li>

<li>Groups can be expanded down to object level and each list item can be renamed.</li>

<li>Each list item has a visibility and sensitive check button.<br /></li>

<li>objects can be dragged from the list to the canvas. <br />

This will initiate a Use function to duplicate that group ( can we do this ? it would do wonders for economising file-size and graphics! )<br/>
--Should be able to. cloning objects does that now, and we are able to clone groups</li>

</ul>

<h2>Better for Semantics</h2>

<p>Many Users will identify this manager as a type of 'Object Library' for their SVG documents.<br />

The benefit here lies in the content. As users rename the objects they see in the manager they will be in-fact renaming the ID's in the XML.<br />

This means the more semantic their documents, the more the user is rewarded with a logical 'object manager'.<br />

Because it's as simple as double clicking your object in the manager to rename it, users will be not only encouraged too name objects for </p>

<h2>Better for Users</h2>

<p>When making objects sensetive and insensetive, users shouldn't have to go deep into the dark pits of the XML editor to make objects sensetive again. </p>

<h2>The Gradient Manager</h2>
<p>currently when an object uses an existing [http://grin-optics.org gradient], inkscape will create a new lineargradientXXXX def id so that the x1y1 x2y2 coords can be changed. <br />This def will then xlink:href to the existing gradient so that it can assume the colours and stops as the users.</p>

<p>The Gradient Manager provides a way to manage the names of both reference type gradient defs and also the gradient defs that contrain colour stop information.<br />
What also makes for a nice feature is you can re-use the reference gradients for exact-gradient positioning based off other objects :)</p>

<h3>Things that happen as you interact with the gradient manager</h3>
<p>
<ul>

<li>Draging and dropping objects above and below eachother changes their order in the xml</li>

<li>clicking on an object after it is selected allows the user to rename the id of that def</li>

<li>selecting a gradient after selecting an object applies that gradient</li>
</ul>

</p>

=== Gradient Dialog Design Ideas ===

* http://www.macromedia.com/software/freehand/productinfo/features/static_tour/07effects.html#3

* http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~horkana/dev/gnome/inkscape/screenshots/references/photoshop/adobephotoshop7_gradient-editor-001.png
* http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~horkana/dev/gnome/inkscape/screenshots/references/photoshop/adobephotoshop7_gradient-editor-002-noise-gradient.png
* http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~horkana/dev/gnome/inkscape/screenshots/references/photoshop/adobephotoshop7_gradient-editor-003-menu.png
* http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~horkana/dev/gnome/inkscape/screenshots/references/photoshop/adobephotoshop7_gradient-editor-004.png
* http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~horkana/dev/gnome/inkscape/screenshots/references/photoshop/adobephotoshop7_gradient-editor-005.png
* http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~horkana/dev/gnome/inkscape/screenshots/references/photoshop/adobephotoshop7_gradient-editor-007.png

And a screenshot of just the tool options bar for gradients:

* http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~horkana/dev/gnome/inkscape/screenshots/references/photoshop/adobephotoshop7_gradient-tooloptions-001.png

* http://turnipspatch.com/misc/inkscape/gradients.html

* http://jozmak.heydo.com/wallpapers/screensavers.htm

If we want a solution that will scale beyond a few dozen gradients I'm
convinced the task of creating or editing new gradients should be seperated
out from the task of selecting and applying a gradient.
Part of the reasion I created a set of gradients for [[OpenClipart]].org was
to have a sample set that made it clear to anyone redesigining the dialog
that it would need to accomodate a whole lot of gradients. -- Alan

The way Xara does it:
http://www.xara.com/products/xarax/flash/fill.htm

Roadmap

2006-10-03T18:17:45Z

Shmel:

== Inkscape Development Roadmap ==

NOTE: This is a working document showing specific near-term tasks needed for achieving milestones. The number in front of the version is in reference to the milestone.

''Milestones 0-9 have been completed since the start of the Inkscape Project. See [[OldRoadmap]]''

=== Milestone 10 - RFE's & Extensions Implementation - Inkscape 0.44 ===

New/Changed Dependencies
* (DONE) Add libcroco

Internals

* Implement extension API
* Implement extension registry
* Complete Extension preferences dialog
* (DONE) Reduce open/total RFE ratio to 55%
* masks/clippaths
** (DONE)Implement creation
** on-canvas editing
* Create an SPObject API for tracking references and avoiding id clashes on import and interdocument copy/paste. What we need are a void SPDocument::importCopies([set of SPObjects]), and an [set of SPObjects] SPObject::dependencies() method.
* Implement [http://grin-optics.org gradient] UI "release" handler to deal with gradient garbage collection (see bug 984854)
* improvement of svg patterns UI - make it similar to gradient-drag, instead of piggybacking knotholder

RFE's
* [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=893812&group_id=93438&atid=604309 hyperlinking]
*(DONE, in .43?) tools: add/remove points on path, bezier drag

Maintenance
* Learn and use autoscan and autoreconf to find out which configure tests are still needed.
* Clean up configure.in
* (PARTIALLY DONE) [http://inkscape.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?DirectoryReorgProposal Directory Reorganization] (rejon)
* When run without installing, make it look for icon image file(s) locally so we don't get garbage icons

Testing
* (DONE) Implement tests of Inkscape against the [[W3C]] test suite [rick beton, bryce]
* Include some rendering tests in `make check'.

=== Milestone 11 - Import/Export Feature Enhancements - Inkscape 0.45 ===

* integrate [[Googles_Summer_Of_Code]] 2006 work, i.e. [[Filter_Effects|SVG Filters]] and [[User:Daleharvey|formalising the protocol for inkboard communication]]
* Make printing work more efficiently and reliably
* Enhance file manager
* PDF Export
* Investigate ps2ai, pstoedit and ai2svg conversion options (potential EPS support?)
* Import of native Adobe Illustrator files
* Other RFE's related to Import/Export
* Add extension for use of [[VDX2SVG]] (http://vdxtosvg.sourceforge.net/)
* Add extension for use of [[PDF2SVG]] (http://www.solidcode.net/pdf2svg/ - this doesn't actually link to a useful page)
* [[WebDAV/FTP]] support via GNOME-VFS, Neon, or the like

=== Milestone 12 - Style Refactoring - Inkscape 0.46 ===

* Eliminate use of the style.h types in as much of codebase as possible, particularly display/*.
* Change to use of GQuarks instead of #defines where feasible
* Editable toolbars (libegg)

=== Milestone 13 - Bug Hunt & RFE's - Inkscape 0.47 ===

* Reduce open/total RFE ratio to 40%
* Reduce open/total bug ratio to 5%

=== Milestone 14 - Drawing Feature Enhancements - Inkscape 0.48 ===

* Object-to-object snapping
* (DONE) Markers
* Enhanced grid system
* Inter-application cut-and-paste
* Inter-application drag-and-drop
* Clipart manager GUI
* Hyperlinking (Dupe? This is in milestone 10, too)
* (DONE) Load-from-URL

=== Milestone 15 - Style Rewrite & libcroco - Inkscape 0.49 ===

* Replace style.cpp entirely, with a clearer and cleaner version.
* (DONE) Integrate use of libcroco for handling Cascading Style Sheets.

* Palettes

(suggestion: having custom palletes, like from Gnome )
(suggestion: accuraced palettes from colour norms, like Pantone, Trumatch, Focoltone, Toyo, etc. (since lots of people uses it, specially professionally) - problem: some are patented/copyrighted, which seems each norm company like this must be contacted for authorization (?) - as well, is also an open-source colour norm standard welcome? (which works on both video/printing outputs, like Pantone seems to be?) )

=== Milestone 16 - Cairoification - Inkscape 0.50 ===

* Prereq: Is renderer immune to the same kinds of numerical problems we see with our new renderer, libnr, or libart?
* Create a Cairo-based SVG Canvas library

=== Milestone 17 - Animation Conceptualization - Inkscape 0.51 ===

* Prereq: We need a conceptualization of how it should work
* Currently, part of the concept discussion is at [[Animation-(Timeline)|here]]

=== Milestone 18 - Fonts Revisited - Inkscape 0.52 ===

* Reenable fuzzy font matching [bb]
* (DONE) Bidirectional text in Pango needs attention
* (DONE) [[MakeVertical]] in Pango needs attention

=== Milestone 19 - Palettes - Inkscape 0.53 ===

* Implement [[LittleCMS]] as color management system
* (DONE) Create a swatches dialog

=== Milestone 20 - Full Animation Support - Inkscape 0.54 ===

=== Milestone 21 - RFE's - Inkscape 0.55 ===

* Reduce open/total RFE ratio to 30%

=== Milestone [Future] ===
* Investigate performance measurement testing for Inkscape
* Convert all tabs into spaces (convert tabs to 4 spaces)
* Rename all '[[SPFooBar]]' routines to '[[FooBar]]' and put into namespaces
** (DONE) dialogs folder
* Investigate SVG docs where SVG is not the default namespace used at the root -- e.g. <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://...etc"><svg:rect.../><blah></svg:svg> -- <blah> would end up getting shoehorned into the svg namespace
* Write an Internal DTD subset describing the custom Inkscape XML elements, for validation against SVG DTD
* Ensure Inkscape does not throw away the internal DTD subsets of documents it reads
* Start thinking about 1.0 when major functionality gaps are closed
** (BASICALLY DONE) layers
** (DONE) color palette
** (DONE) gradient tool
** mask tool
** (DONE) patterns
** (DONE) text on path and in shape
** (DONE) text selection
** perspective transforms
** SVG filters
** scripting
** path editing
** shaped strokes
* Implement preliminary support for iso & hex grid [njh]
* Implement perspective transformations via [[PerspectiveObject]]
* Improve freehand curve smoothness [pjrm, paraprax]
* Review X1-1GUITest on SF
* Review usability links at http://openusability.org/docman/?group_id=52
* Review usability links at http://openusability.org/docman/?group_id=57

[[Category:Developer Documentation]]

Inkscape Wiki - User contributions [en]

Object Manager

Roadmap