On 1/2/07, Daniel Pope <mauve@...1559...> wrote:
You may find that annoyingly difficult. Not all of the cloned/clipped/masked stuff behaves when you move it around the page. Whether that's a bug or not, I have no idea.
Don't shrug it off - discuss it :) In general, any behavior which breaks your intuitive expectations is a bug, by definition. The only exceptions are (1) where your intuitive expectations are wrong :) most often by failing to take into account the larger picture, and (2) where the unintuitive behavior is prescribed by SVG and thus cannot be changed. I don't think any of these applies here.
Specifically, the scattered transparency and the masked floor reflection for the ball can't be moved without breaking. Presumably the docbook build would munge this even further.
You can fix most of such problems by grouping the objects and moving the group. Groups are much more robust. Also, if you create a minimal file which exhibits this and submit it with a bug report, it would be appreciated. As for docbook processing, it does not munge anything, just moves the SVG illustrations down the page as appropriate.
Even then, the descriptions of the various effects would be too complicated for users. Flowcharts would be easier to understand.
Well, if you submit your tutorial as SVG, it would be useful too, and can be just as well linked from the Help menu. The only problems will be with maintaining your file and translating it into other languages - but if you use minimum of text it won't be that bad. (I wrote my tutorials in wordy docbooks because I like to explain every detail verbally, but there exist other approaches to teaching.)