Re: [Inkscape-devel] Backwards compatibility issues of using a new SVGattribute for representing guides
---- Samuel Chase <samebchase@...400...> wrote:
Hello Everyone,
I'm working on improving the usability of guides as a GSoC project.
My mentor (Johan), suggested that henceforth "inkscape:guide" be used
instead of "sodipodi:guide" as the SVG attribute for representing guides.
In my branch one of the things we worked on was to change the co-ordinate
system used by guides from desktop co-ordinates to document co-ordinates.
Snapping, general guide operations etc. seem to be working properly after
the co-ordinate change in my branch.
A problem arises when a user opens an SVG that has "sodipodi:guide" using a
build of Inkscape that uses "inkscape:guide" as the attribute.
What should (ideally) happen in this situation?
Johan suggested the idea of creating an extension script that transforms
between new and old guides. The user will be made aware of this extension
when an incompatibility is detected.
Another option is to automatically convert old-style to new-style. Which means you will no
longer be able to see/use your old guides in older versions of Inkscape. This is how
old-style grids are handled. Perhaps not too much of a problem (I don't mind).
So again, the Inkscape file versioning discussion pops up. I think it would be good to
have a proper "upgrading" system in place, that converts any old-style stuff to
new-style before fully loading a file, because we are likely to run into this again and
again. And of course, notify the user of it all.
Regards,
Johan