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Gsoc 2011 proposal - Implement KML-SVG translation
by David Xiong 05 Apr '11

05 Apr '11

Hi, I am applying to Gsoc 2011. I have submitted the proposal on line at: http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/proposal/review/google/gsoc2011/ywxiong/… The proposal is pasted below too. Would you kindly share any comments? I look forward to talking with the mentors of this project. Thank you. *Proposal:* *Implement KML SVG translation* Both SVG and KML are XML format data which can be used to present marks/paths/polygons/images on map shaped display. They have so many elements in common. SVG format is used on INKSCAPE but KML can be displayed on Google earth. It would be nice to have a tool to convert the two types of data files. Hence it can increase the popularity and generality of INKSCAPE. Since both of them are XML, the best way to transfer the two types of files is to utilize the xsltproc command within the libxslt library. This command reads and converts a defined XSLT transformation template to the desired XML format. The libxslt library has already been implemented and widely used in inkscape. Hence the task in this project is to implement the transformation template of XSLT file. However, there are a few things which need to be brought to our attention before getting started on the XSLT transformation template. 1. Both KML and SVG data can be compressed for saving space. To deal with compressed files, there is an existing library “zlib” in inkscape. It can be used to compress/decompress files to generate a proper format. 2. SVG data displays in 2 dimensions while KML is 3D. SVG data contains graphic effects such as filter, and animation, which is difficult to be represented in KML files. This means only partial information of the source file can be converted to the result file, such as points, images, polygons and lines, etc. 3. The speed of the xsltproc command is relatively slow when processing large data files. If possible, we need to implement some pre-processing logic to the conversion tool to improve performance. *Background and skills* *1. *Development experiences of GPS product for sail boats. This project was done in C++/MFC in windows and embedded c on a pre-designed portable device. The software on Windows could load KML files which contain the sailing waypoints info and it calculates the best sailing routes based on the waypoint info. The software could also send the KML waypoint info to the device via Bluetooth. This project involves the KML parsing, writing and processing. So, I have strong skills in XML and KML. I have done similar KML parsing in C/C++ before. I used Gzip for unzipping binary KML. This project seems relevant and achievable with my skills and experiences. *2. *Game development I worked as Software Engineer with a local company that is a leading game studio (Top 50 in the world) for over 2 years. They are very large games (e.g. NBA 09 Wii, FIFA 10) uses very similar architecture design with Inkscape. It uses C++ and makefile. After browsing Inscape source code, I found similar points to my experiences: - C++ Many years experience. - CMakeLists Research on digital image processing, using open source libs ITK and VTK which are using CMake and CMakeList. - XML GUI approach Experience from work. The internal build tools I used is a wxWidget application which loads the pre-defined XML format gui data. - Wxwidgets - Knowledge of SVG, a type of XML. Feel comfortable working on SVG, e.g. primitives, different shapes, text and fonts. Knowledge of SVG, KML, and open source development from both work and school. *Project goal* KML SVG translation via XSLT - For use of Inkscape with Google Earth or Maps Implement a XSLT template which could convert some useful info between KML and SVG, my current thought is like this: KML < ---- > SVG Points < ---- > circle/dot Lines < ---- > path Polygons < ---- > path Screenoverlay < ---- > image Implement C++ object to do the pre-processing to get rid of any unused nodes or elements, this could increase the performance of the xsltproc in the later step. Implement GUI for this tool. If I have time left, add the support for KMZ and binary SVG by using zlib. Quoted info form Inkscape wiki: Develop a translation (likely XSLT) between KML and SVG so KML files or icons can easily be created, edited, or viewed in Inkscape and for use in Google Earth or Maps. This becomes another piece in utilizing Inkscape's SVG editing capabilities in the geographical community ("geo" Inkscape). Several of us have discussed this as a potential Google Summer of Code project. I would be happy to serve as a mentor. *Implementation planning:* The general approach is to define a XSLT transformation template to convert between KML and SVG. Tool xlstproc will be used from libxlst which is in Inkscape code base already. Defining the convertible element list is the first thing. Eliminating unused nodes in the pre-processing step will increase processing speed or reduce the time. Design .inx files to create the GUI module. Tasks break-down: 1. define our convertible element list between KML and SVG 2. write the logic to eliminate the unused element --- two way 3. implement the template for each pre-defined elements. --- two way Write an internal extension for translating between KML and SVG Use source code in src/extension/internal/ as examples. Study XSLT, libxml2 and libxslt, and review existing code that currently uses them. Write .xsl templates for XSLT to store KML data and be ready to convert to SVG. Use /src/io/doc2html.xsl as an example. Conversion between .xsl templates and SVG. 4. GUI implementation Review existing input extensions (extension system) Study GTK+ and gtkmm source code. (I have done C and GTK+ before, so it should be quick.) Write .inx files with parameters to create GUI automatically 5. testing and bug fixing. 6. adding support for KMZ or binary SVG if have time *Schedule:* Assuming there are 14 weeks: Week 1-2: Communicate with mentor Learning code base and background Week 3: Define our convertible element list between KML and SVG Week 4-6: 2. write the logic to eliminate the unused element --- two way 3. implement the template for each pre-defined elements. --- two way Week 7-9: 4. GUI implementation Week 10-11: testing and bug fixing. Week 12-13: 6. adding support for KMZ or binary SVG Week 14: Debug and documentation *Inkscape Questions* I knew about Inkscape when I had a couple of SVG files to view. After that, I did lots of designs for better quality printing. It is very useful and free. It does many things that Illustrator can do. *About Yourself* · What is your name, email address, and irc nickname? My name is David Xiong. Email address: yunwxiong@...400... · Describe any plans you have over the summer in addition to GSoC, such as classes, a summer job, vacation plans, master's thesis, etc. No classes. Hope to get this project then I could focus something I am interested in. · What programming projects have you done so far? A lot projects from both school and work. From work, GPS project on the window and embedded system. Console game development, NBA live 09 Wii, Fifa 10 PC/PS2/PSP. · Have you worked on other open source projects before? If so, please list and describe what you did. not contribute, but have a lot experience with open source libs, such as ITK/VTK, zlib, NEMA lib, avrlib, Blackberry SDK, iphone SDK. I just work on my interests and my own small projects, such as developing tool in C# using ITK/VTK, zlib, Nema, libxml for the sailing software. My small games/apps on blackberry or iphone. · Please list other projects you are applying to for GSoC. One more Inkscape project. Best wishes, David.

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Cursor Inkscape
by Fantomas 05 Apr '11

05 Apr '11

http://www.codexion.com/files/sample_crosshair_cursor.png Yes, this is what it seems. the arrow is the cross that extends to the ruler. similar to the guide lines but dynamically linked with the cursor. very sorry for the bad English... >>>>> > > >>> Hello, >>>>> > > >>> Inkscape can be set as the cross cursor in Corel? >>>> > > >> Could you please elaborate on your idea? >>> > > > >>> > > > Can and we do not know how to set the Cross Hair Cursor. >>> > > > With Corel menu Workspace / Toolbox / Pick tool - Cross hair cursor. >> > > >> > > I'm sorry, but you will have to try to explain once again. Please >> > > don't expect everyone to have Corel DRAW. > > > > If I remember correctly - it's been years since I used Corel Draw - it has > > an > > option to draw a cross-hair cursor, meaning two perpendicular lines that > > extend > > to the edges of the canvas. This is a CAD feature, that help you to gauge > > visually where the cursor is relative to some existing canvas object. > > > Hi, > I remember having used that cursor mode before I switched completely to > Inkscape. It looked something like this mockup: > http://www.codexion.com/files/sample_crosshair_cursor.png > > > >

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OpenClipArt importing parse error
by Will Clayton 04 Apr '11

04 Apr '11

Not sure how to go about getting help on this so I am posting here. Inkscape Version: Inkscape 0.48.0 r9654 Problem: Open Clip Art import/search dialogue results do not appear. Error Message: On console, I see the following when searching for "router": % inkscape http://openclipart.org/media/feed/rss/router:1: parser error : StartTag: invalid element name <!doctype html> ^ http://openclipart.org/media/feed/rss/router:1: parser error : Extra content at the end of the document <!doctype html> ^ Suspicion: It would appear that the Open Clip Art web server does not like Inkscape's ":1:" being appended to the query. Reproducibility: Click File > Import from Open Clip Art Library > [Enter search term] > [See no results] Visiting those URLs in a browser show's this error coming back from Open Clip Art's server. Removing the :1: seems to alleviate the problem.. Is this addressed in another release of Inkscape?

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Can't get Flash export running
by unknown＠example.com 04 Apr '11

04 Apr '11

Hello, i updated the swf_output.inx to get the Flash SWF export extension running with Inkscape 0.48.1 on Linux ( http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Extension_repository#SWF_output ): <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <inkscape-extension xmlns="http://www.inkscape.org/namespace/inkscape/extension"> <_name>SWF Output</_name> <id>org.inkscape.output.swf</id> <dependency type="extension">org.inkscape.output.pdf</dependency> <dependency type="executable" location="extensions">pdf2swf.sh</dependency> <dependency type="executable" _description="swftools must be installed to run; see http://www.swftools.org/">pdf2swf</dependency> <output> <extension>.swf</extension> <mimetype>application/x-shockwave-flash</mimetype> <_filetypename>Flash SWF (*.swf)</_filetypename> <_filetypetooltip>Flash movie shape</_filetypetooltip> </output> <script> <command reldir="extensions">pdf2swf.sh</command> <helper_extension>org.inkscape.output.pdf</helper_extension> </script> </inkscape-extension> But it does not appear at the "Save as" dialogue at the filetype box. When i delete these lines at the swf_output.inx: <dependency type="extension">org.inkscape.output.pdf</dependency> <helper_extension>org.inkscape.output.pdf</helper_extension> it appears but it did not work because the exported file is now a SVG and not a PDF. Any hint what's wrong? Cheers Eckhard.

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Cursor Inkscape
by Fantomas 04 Apr '11

04 Apr '11

Can and we do not know how to set the Cross Hair Cursor. With Corel menu Workspace / Toolbox / Pick tool - Cross hair cursor. >> Hello, >> Inkscape can be set as the cross cursor in Corel? > Could you please elaborate on your idea? > > Alexandre Prokoudine > http://libregraphicsworld.org

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Regarding GSOC 2011 - Project Continuing C++ification
by Abhishek Sharma 03 Apr '11

03 Apr '11

Hi everybody, It feels pretty nostalgic to be back to coding for inkscape after the last gsoc year. Last year along with Jon Cruz, we achieved some of object oriented build up in the codebase. This GSOC as well I would wish to continue on the same. I'll be glad to have community's views over this years milestone. As in what code customizations and cleanup and further enhancements are supposed to be done this year. I will be delighted to have responses over this. -- Regards, Abhishek Sharma

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Setting margins in "Resize page to drawing or selection"
by Martin Sucha 02 Apr '11

02 Apr '11

Hi, I needed to add a margin around my drawing and noticed that setting the margin in Document Properties/Resize page didn't work, so I went ahead and looked into the code. I just commited a fix (r10145). Another weird behaviour is that when using the "Resize page to drawing or selection" for the second and subsequent times, only one margin is updated after clicking the button even though I change values in all four (the others are reverted to their remembered values). Any ideas what may cause this? Thanks. Regards, Martin Sucha

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Multipage support as a GSoC project?
by gespertino＠...400... 02 Apr '11

02 Apr '11

> So, yes, we could implement a "simple" fix that lets users specify a > font size in points. We could even just use the SVG unit pt, as that is > also defined as an "appropriate" multiple of px. And perhaps we should > do this if people find it useful. But I think it would give the wrong > impression (that you were actually using an absolute unit) and it could > lead to weird issues once Inkscape will let the user specify the > coordinate system (do we then stick to the somewhat arbitrary scaling > factor or do we want true points?). I admit that it's a slightly > academic debate, but still, what's the point if you're not really using > points? As I see it, we already have real world units in inkscape UI everywhere, all of them assuming a resolution of 90dpi. People is using those "real world units" based on that: the default document is A4, if inches or centimeters are selected as default units for the document, that's what the user gets in inkscape. Of course it's a problem when you want to take the artwork created in Inkscape to other applications (for instance Scribus, which apparently uses 72 dpi for imported SVGs) I'm aware that adding that option (real world units in the type dialog assuming 90dpi) won't be a good long-term solution, but I'm sure it will be well received by a lot of people as an acceptable interim solution. Type size in pixels was reported as a bug several times. Probably people working for web don't care, but designers creating brochures, posters and things that have to end up printed, are more used to DTP points than to any other unit for type. With that change things will be better for that part of the userbase, and won't be worse for anybody, since the real units confusion is already installed with the current implementation in most of the tools.

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Multipage support as a GSoC project?
by Jason Creighton 02 Apr '11

02 Apr '11

Hi All, I'm a student considering applying to GSoC for Inkscape, and I'm wondering how you guys feel about multipage support as a project. I asked about this on the IRC channel and it was pointed out to me that multipage support was dropped from SVG 1.2, so the state of this in the SVG standard is kind of up in the air. Is the lack of an official standard a show-stopper? If not, is this even something you'd like to see worked on at this time? Or are there other, more pressing, features or issues that you'd prefer to see applications on? Thanks, Jason

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[PATCH] Setting grid origin has no effect (bug #561503)
by Jason Creighton 01 Apr '11

01 Apr '11

Hi, I've been looking into the cause of this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/561503 As far as I can tell, the bug is exposed when the spinboxes are initialized in CanvasXYGrid::newSpecificWidget(). (display/canvas-grid.cpp). Starting on line 732 or so, there is a series of calls to setValue() on the origin x/y and the spacing x/y RegisteredScalarUnit instances. These calls to setValue() end up setting the setProgrammatically flag to "true", which is supposed to be immediately cleared in the on_value_changed callback, *BUT* for the origin boxes, the on_value_changed callback is never called, and the flag never gets cleared. The initial value of the spinboxes is "0", and we're setting them to their default of "0", so my guess is that GTK doesn't bother to call on_value_changed in the case that the value hasn't actually changed. So then when the user changes the widget for the first time, it has no effect because the first call to the on_value_changed callback only clears setProgrammatically instead of actually doing anything. I wasn't totally sure about the best way to fix this. It's not clear to me why Scalar::setValue() doesn't just do a "setProgrammatically = false" after the call to the widget's set_value(). It seems like it would be simpler and more robust than clearing it in each callback. However, I assumed that there was some sort of reason I couldn't see for leaving it up to the callbacks to reset it, so my (attached) fix is to make Scalar::setValue() not do anything at all if the new value is the same as the old value. This fixes the issue at hand, however, as su-v pointed out to me on the IRC channel, it seems odd that this isn't a more widespread problem. What about all the other spinboxes that default to zero? I'm not familiar enough with the codebase to know why the bug was only exercised in that particular area. As an aside, what do you guys use to debug Inkscape? I tried just using gdb, but I found that setting breakpoints changed the behavior of the program (!), so I ended up just printing to stdout with debugging info, which is quite tedious. Cheers, Jason

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