By Karen A. Vagts
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a recommendation from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for expressing 2D graphics in XML.
The current standard is SVG 1.1; 1.2 is in draft mode. There are also recommendations for print applications and mobile devices.
The DTD consists of six basic entities plus filters, symbols, groups, and IDs. These can be modified or extended.
The primary intent of this SVG illustration is show the scope of features and effects that SVG offers. In addition to basic shapes, lines, and fills, you can apply gradients, transform (duplicate, stretch, scale, etc.) objects, and employ many of the techniques you would in a regular graphics software package. You can also embed bitmaps and URLs.
The following links are to web sites that use the SVG format to present graphics, frequently with links to statistics and other text-based information. Except where indicated, all work most reliably in Microsoft Explorer versions 6.0+ (Firefox 1.5 has partial support and more is promised in future versions) and require a SVG view plug in, such as the Adobe SVG viewer.
French Canada Archives Project
County Library of Clare Internet Geographical Information System project
Brassica/Arabidopsis Comparative Genome Viewer
Google Web Authoring Statistics (View in Firefox)
Back to TopW3C SVG Web site: The W3C's Basic Information Page on SVG
The W3C's Formal Specification for SVG Version 1.1
Adobe SVG Zone: This Adobe site offers SVG examples, tutorials, and, of course, the downloadable SVG viewer.
Carto Net: This European web site offers nifty examples of SVG applied to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications.
SVG Introduction and Tutorial: From the XML web site of O'Reilly Press, a major publisher of technology books.
SVG.org: Web site, blog, and wiki of a major online SVG community.
SVG Mobile Phones: Updated list of the many mobile phones that use the SVG mobile specification for their visual interfaces (perhaps one of the models is yours!).
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