Questions about Altbrowser and SVG

Bob Warren warren at howsoft.com
Wed Aug 18 23:14:04 EDT 2004


Dear JB,

I was the one who posted the message. I'll try to answer your questions as
best I can. However, a person more qualified than myself to answer your
questions about the altBrowser is one of the co-creators, Chipp Walters. So
I will ask Chipp to correct me if I am wrong.

< Not so long ago, someone posted a message about
< the use of Altbrowser and SVG in a Rev stack
< (sorry if I don't remember who it was, I just kept
< this link : http://www.howsoft.com/runrev/svg.htm)

< I have to make a decision (and have very little time
< before I can give an answer to my client) about the
< possible use of vector graphics made with SVG in
< a Rev app (actually the project is to refurbish some
< app I wrote about 2 years ago with MC 2.4.1, and
< I might consider re-using that version of MC).

< I am familiar with SVG. The questions I have are
< mostly related to the best way to embed Altbrowser,
< the SVG plugin and an MC standalone, and to the
< best way to distribute it on a CD-Rom :

THE altBrowser and the SVG plugin are not connected. The altBrowser simply
shows in a stack whatever you might show in the Internet Explorer. So if IE
has the SVG plugin, then it is possible to show the SVG in the stack. But if
IE has no plugin, then of course it is not possible to show the SVG in the
stack.

You will note on the same page at howsoft.com that I also showed an example
of a Rebol plugin. The same logic applies. If IE is enabled, then so is the
altBrowser, but if not, not.

< 1) according to what I read on the above mentioned
< HTML page, the SVG graphics display inside an img
< control (which is what I do when interfacing Rev with
< openGL), and therefore can be mixed with other controls
< (graphics, fields, other imgs...), right ?

RIGHT.

< 2) the window in which the SVG stuff displays is a regular
< stack window, right ? Which means that I can use it as a
< splashscreen, or as my default stack, and set the decorations
< of that window like any other stack ?

YES.
What I did in my example, though, was to simply modify the example stack
that came with the altBrowser when I bought the license. Chipp will correct
me if I am wrong by affirming that there is absolutely nothing special about
this stack, and you can build a new one from scratch with all the other
bells and whistles you want.

< 3) how fast does the SVG stuff refresh ? can I expect to do
< animated vector graphics by rendering successive SVG scripts
< several times per second ?

NOT VERY FAST. This is not a limitation of the altBrowser, but happens just
the same in the Internet Explorer. But of course this depends to some degree
on the size and complexity of the SVG scripts. If they are simple scripts,
you might well get the speed you need, but please note that I have not run
any tests along the lines you mention.

< 4) how can the whole thing be distributed ? The ideal situation
< for me would be to have all required elements (the standalone,
< the SVG plugin and the Altbrowser DLL) installed on the CD-Rom,
< with no installation of anything on the end-user HD...

THE Adobe SVG plugin is for the Internet Explorer, and can be downloaded
from Adobe (it is free). However, I don't know how they would feel about
your distributing it on your CD-Rom. You can visit their site to find out
(the address is my site http://www.howsoft.com/runrev/svg.htm that you have
already visited.) If the result of this is not favourable in terms of
distribution, you might consider using the Batik SVG plugin, which can
probably be distributed more freely (but please check this).

< And last but not least, what about copyright ? does the Altwrowser
< licence fee allow that ?

That's for Chipp to answer.


< I would really apreciate if anyone familiar with the subject could
< answer the above questions, and give me any detailed infos that
< could help me make a decision. As said before, time is critical...
< Basically, the final decision will consist in a choice between SVG
< and Flash... And to tell the truth, I have the feeling that I could get
< more realtime control on the displays with SVG... I have used Flash
< anims in Rev projects before, but haven't really been satisfied with
< the results...





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