RE: new feature request

 

 

From: Jelle Mulder [mailto:jelle.mulder2@outlook.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2015 6:47 PM
To: www-svg@w3.org
Subject: Re: new feature request

 

I wholeheartedly second this idea as it would open up the less than social media platforms for useful purposes. However, is that a SVG feature or does this belong to the HTML standard recommendation? The patent troll sitting on .gif has kept quiet all these years, .apng is not widely supported, but indeed, it's all non interactive. Having SMIL in IMG tags would be a great alternative for total opening up and a good reason for MS to finally implement this standard. MS playing the standards card these days anyway, I would wonder whether Sparta's oligarchs would consider it again, but shouting it loud should help.

 

This feature would be the thing that would make SMIL a must implement and a great asset for the web and SVG.

 

Cheers

Jelle

 

On Thu, 05 Mar 2015 06:52:32 +0800, David Dailey <ddailey@zoominternet.net> wrote:

 

When SVG is used as the src of an HTML <img> tag, all event handling is shut off. I don’t remember if this is where this is specified, but I saw it somewhere in one of the many places that one might expect to find such a thing being specified. 

 

Now, it does make sense that one might not want the source of one’s image tags calling scripts and the like. We expect images to be relatively benign.

 

On the other hand, SVG is used a lot as the src of HTML img’s. If I had access to Google’s data I could demonstrate such with charts and figures and animations that would light up your occipital lobes and bring water to the dessert! One word: Wikipedia. 

 

Now, one of the things SVG is used for is teaching. It is quite useful for that. Not just computer science, and math, but other disciplines as well: mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, even anthropology!

 

And for teaching, one of the most important things is interaction.

 

Well, one of the cool things about SVG (that sometimes people forget) is SMIL. It is, in fact, one of the very coolest parts of SVG. It is a declarative technology and as such allows non programmers to do animations. That non programmers can create content that is shared over the internet… one could call such novelty the fundamental principle of the WWW! 

 

It turns out that without a lick of script, one can use events to trigger animations. One can make interactive animations without script. One can even upload and display nonscripted SVG at social media sites (the current bastion and breeding ground for the animated GIF). Animated GIFs, if you haven’t noticed are not very accessible. They are a blobs of bits aggregated in the least accessible of ways. They border on bad taste if not outright immorality! And they are intrinsically, not interactive!

 

Anyhow, if the prohibition on SVG inside the image tag listening to events (SMIL events) were lifted then a) education prospers in all those parts of the world that education is valued b) accessibility is increased c) uptake of W3C standards is promoted d) the world is a better place.

 

I will call a,b,c and d the use cases.

 

Cheers

David

 

Hi Jelle,

I don’t know whether HTML or SVG is the proper way, though it seems like I did see a reference to this within the SVG spec itself recently. 

The patent on GIF has (mercifully) now expired, so it joins W3C standards and Khronos standards as a de facto standard for web graphics. It is actually gaining traction, I am pretty sure, because of its popularity on social media. There are apps being developed that make it easier to author animated GIF. 

Regards

David