Elliptical Arc as basic shape

I am working on a drawing made only of circular arcs, and a thought came 
as I rested...

Why there is no <arc/> basic shape?

I thought this question was asked many time, and a search in the 
archives gave some messages on the subject (I found two or three stating 
that explicitely, maybe there are more). Actually, message 
<http://www.w3.org/2002/02/mid/199909070016.RAA26280@mail-345.corp.Adobe.COM;list=www-svg> 
gives a precise answer to the question...

But it dates back to 1999, so I wondered if I may ask again, in case 
position could have changed.

Cons:
- There is already an arc primitive in the path tag (but also polyline 
and polygons can be made with path, and are more redundant, IMO);
- They need too many parameters (stated in the message above, seems to 
be a strange argument...);
- Because (seems to be the main reason).

Pros:
- It would be more consistent (this is still a basic shape, found in 
many graphic libraries);
- Such a primitive would be an opportunity to implement arcs specified 
with center, radii and angles. They are quite missing in the spec. I 
understand the reason why arcs in path are defined the way they are, but 
it would be nice to have an alternative way, more natural in some cases 
(piecharts come to mind, but not only), and defining arc as a basic 
shape would be that opportunity:
- Because (people want it!).

<arc cx="100" cy="100" rx="20" ry="30"
      x-axis-rotation="0" start-angle="30" end-angle="60"/>
Fill if needed, stroke only the arc (perhaps need a flag to stroke radii?)
Doesn't seems overcomplicated...

So, is the answer still the same, or may it be planned for SVG 1.3? (I 
understand 1.2 is almost frozen, feature-wise)
Or should it be definitively put away because stuff like XBL (which I 
don't know yet) would allow this (with or without scripting?)?

-- 
Philippe Lhoste
--  (near) Paris -- France
--  Professional programmer and amateur artist
--  http://Phi.Lho.free.fr
--  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --

Received on Monday, 23 August 2004 08:51:09 UTC