Hi,
I just read about Adobe Mars[1] and thought it is interesting for some of the developers here.
[1] http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Mars
Here a copy from the homepage:
"Mars is the code name for technology being developed by Adobe that provides an Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based representation of Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. Adobe(R) PDF is a universal file format for representing documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system used to create them and of the output device on which they are to be displayed or printed. XML is a cross-platform, extensible, and text-based standard for representing data that was created so that richly structured documents could be used over the web.
The Mars Project is an XML friendly representation of PDF documents. Already an open specification, PDF is the global standard for trusted, high fidelity electronic documentation. The Mars file format incorporates additional standards such as SVG, PNG, JPG, JPG2000, OpenType, Xpath and XML into a ZIP-based document container. The Mars plug-ins for Acrobat 8 and Adobe Reader 8 enable creation and recognition of the Mars file format by Adobe Acrobat 8 and Adobe Reader 8 software. For additional Mars information see the documents below and check back for regular updates.
The Mars Project is early release software and we welcome your feedback. Please use the feedback link below to request features, make comments and report problems. Please understand that this is an early release and is not yet feature complete. The file format contained within the Mars plug-ins is subject to change and using this technology for production may require you to make significant changes to your documents at a later date. Content created with this release may not be compatible with the shipping version."
Regards, Tobias
On Tue, Apr 01, 2008 at 01:50:38PM +0200, Tobias Jakobs wrote:
Here a copy from the homepage:
"[...] The Mars file format incorporates additional standards such as SVG, ..."
The above snippet is a bit misleading, in that Mars actually incorporates merely an SVG-like language: it excludes some things from SVG and includes some things from PDF that aren't part of any SVG standard. Thus, existing Inkscape cannot reliably be used for either creating or displaying Mars graphics elements. Of course, Inkscape may nevertheless make a good starting point for software to edit Mars documents, and may even now be useful for editing Mars documents in absence of anything better.
pjrm.
Peter Moulder wrote:
...Mars actually incorporates merely an SVG-like language...
If you look on the FAQ page, it says;
What advantages does SVG bring to a Mars document?
SVG is an abbreviation for Scalable Vector Graphics, an XML-based, W3C standard language for describing graphics. Many applications and tools can create or manipulate SVG page contents. SVG page content can also be converted to PDF graphic operators using Acrobat 8.0 Professional and the Mars plug-in.
Is SVG animation and scripting supported?
PDF defines a model for scripting and interaction and that is used in Mars documents. PDF graphic content represents static documents so features of SVG related to dynamic graphics or interaction are not supported.
How are high-end print features supported in SVG?
Where SVG does not have sufficient function to support capabilities in PDF, private namespace extensions have been added. Over time, it is hoped that these features will be incorporated into the SVG standard.
Interesting that in the above link they want to expand the SVG standard.
There's some extra talk here about SVG vs. XFA; http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Talk:Mars
And here (referenced in above); http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/messageview.cfm?forumid=72&...
Rygle
participants (3)
-
Peter Moulder -
rygle -
Tobias Jakobs