Warning: This is preliminary documentation for SVF2. You can find the SVF1 documentation at http://www.softsource.com/svf.

SVF XML

The Simple Vector Format (SVF) was the first vector format designed specifically for the Web. It is simple, compact, streamable, and allows 1 or 2 dimensional hyperlinks on all graphical objects. See the SVF Overview for more information. See the DTD for the complete syntax of the XML version of SVF.

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is "the universal format for structured documents and data on the Web." It is way of defining a text based format that can cooperate with other data formats. See the W3C's XML Specification and XML discussion for more information.

Overview
Attribute types

svf
head
- background
- colors
- datatypes
- extents
- flags
- fonts
- initialview
- layers
- name
- nextid
- notifications
- size
- transform
- transparent
- views
body
- a
- arc
- bezier
- circle
- clipping
- current
- data
- ellipse
- line
- object
- point
- polyline
- rectangle
- stream
- text

Overview

The XML version of SVF contains the same information as the binary version. It has many of the same concepts such as placing information necessary for display in the head and current state. See the SVF Specification for more information.

Attribute types

Coordinates and Distances

Coordinates and distances can be specified as floating point values. As with binary SVF, these values can be integers that are run through a transformation. See the transform element for more information.

Angles

Angles are specified in degrees counterclockwise from the positive x axis. They may be integers or floating point values.

Colors

Colors are always specified as rgb (red/green/blue) triplets in hexadecimal starting with a '#' symbol. Each color value ranges from 0, dark, to #ff (255), brightest. The following examples illustrate.

	<color color="#000000"/>	<!-- black -->
	<color color="#ffffff"/>	<!-- white -->
	<color color="#ff0000"/>	<!-- pure red -->
	<color color="#00ff00"/>	<!-- pure green -->
	<color color="#0000ff"/>	<!-- pure blue -->
	<color color="#909090"/>	<!-- grey -->

Elements

The descriptions of the elements contain a pointer to the relevent portion of the SVF Specification, syntax rules, and sample XML.

svf

<!ELEMENT svf (head?, (body | %bodyobjects;*))>

<svf></svf> surrounds the entire SVF file. It starts with an optional head followed by the body. Note that the <body> wrapper tags are optional.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE svf PUBLIC "-//SVFORG//DTD SVF 2.0//EN"
	"http://www.softsource.com/svf/svf.dtd">
<svf>
	<line point="1,1" point2="4,3"/>
</svf>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE svf PUBLIC "-//SVFORG//DTD SVF 2.0//EN"
	"http://www.softsource.com/svf/svf.dtd">
<svf>
	<head>
		<extents min="0,0" max="5,5"/>
	</head>
	<body>
		<line point="1,1" point2="4,3"/>
	</body>
</svf>

head

<!ELEMENT head (background | colors |
	datatypes | extents | flags | fonts |
	initialview | layers | name | nextid |
	notifications | size | transform |
	transparent | views)*>

There should only be a single <head></head> section in an SVF file. It comes before all other information and contains information necessary for organizing and interpreting the rest of the content of the file.

<svf>
	<head>
		<transform base="20,30" scale="0.00015"/>
		<extents min="0,0" max="62000,50000"/>
		<layers count="2">
			<layer name="a layer"/>
			<layer name="another layer" state="off"/>
		</layers>
	</head>
	<line layer="another layer" point="1,1" point2="4,3"/>
</svf>

background

<!ELEMENT background EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST background
	   color	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See color in the SVF Specification for more information.

<background color="#302a32"/>

colors

<!ELEMENT colors (color+)>
<!ELEMENT color EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST colors
	   count	CDATA #IMPLIED
	   background	CDATA #IMPLIED
	   transparent	CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST color
	   color	CDATA #REQUIRED>

background and transparent are stand-alone elements which can take the place of the corresponding attributes for the colors element.

See color in the SVF Specification for more information.

<colors count="4">
	<color color="#000000"/>
	<color color="#ffffff"/>
	<color color="#f02031"/>
	<color color="#80003f"/>
</colors>

datatypes

<!ELEMENT datatypes (datatype+)>
<!ELEMENT datatype EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST datatypes
	count	CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST datatype
	company	CDATA #IMPLIED
	type	CDATA #REQUIRED
	comments CDATA #IMPLIED
	href	CDATA #IMPLIED>

See custom user data in the SVF Specification for more information.

<datatypes count="3">
	<datatype company="My Company" type="My DataType"
		comments="This is for testing"
		href="http://mycompany.com/MyDataType.html"/>
	<datatype company="My Company" type="My Second DataType"/>
	<datatype company="Another Company" type="Another Type"/>
</datatypes>

extents

<!ELEMENT extents EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST extents
	min	CDATA #IMPLIED
	max	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See extents in the SVF Specification for more information.

<extents min="0,0" max="62000,50000"/>

flags

<!ELEMENT flags EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST flags
	rearrange (true|false|on|off) "true"
	upperleft (true|false|on|off) "true">

See flags in the SVF Specification for more information.

<flags rearrange="off"/>

fonts

<!ELEMENT fonts (font+)>
<!ELEMENT font EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST fonts
	count	CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST font
	font	CDATA #REQUIRED
	family	(monospaced|sansserif|serif|symbol|cursive|fantasy|other) "serif">

See fonts in the SVF Specification for more information.

<fonts count="5">
	<font font="Some Font" family="other"/>
	<font font="Times New Roman" family="serif"/>
	<font font="Arial" family="sansserif"/>
	<font font="Courier" family="monospaced"/>
	<font font="WingDings" family="symbol"/>
</fonts>

initialview

<!ELEMENT initialview EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST initialview
	min	CDATA #IMPLIED
	max	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See views in the SVF Specification for more information.

<initialview min="40,50" max="2000,5000"/>

layers

<!ELEMENT layers (layer+)>
<!ELEMENT layer EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST layers
	count	CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST layer
	name	CDATA #REQUIRED
	state	(true|false|on|off) "on">

See layers in the SVF Specification for more information.

<layers count="2">
	<layer name="a layer"/>
	<layer name="another layer" state="off"/>
</layers>

name

<!ELEMENT name EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST name
	name	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See name in the SVF Specification for more information.

<name name="some name"/>

nextid

<!ELEMENT nextid EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST nextid
	id	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See object ids in the SVF Specification for more information.

<nextid id="#32ff0042ae"/>

notifications

<!ELEMENT notifications (zoomin?, zoomout?)>
<!ELEMENT zoomin (notify+)>
<!ELEMENT zoomout (notify+)>
<!ELEMENT notify EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST zoomin
	count	CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST zoomout
	count	CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST notify
	width	CDATA #REQUIRED
	href	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See notifications in the SVF Specification for more information.

<notifications>
	<zoomin count="2">
		<notify href="http://whatever.com" width="50000"/>
		<notify href="http://com.com/file.html" width="10000"/>
	</zoomin>
	<zoomout count="1">
		<notify href="layeron=a layer" width="10000"/>
	</zoomout>
</notifications>

size

<!ELEMENT size EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST size
	width	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See size in the SVF Specification for more information.

<size width="4"/>

transform

<!ELEMENT transform EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST transform
	scale	CDATA #IMPLIED
	base	CDATA #IMPLIED>

See transformations in the SVF Specification for more information.

<transform base="20,30" scale="0.00015"/>

transparent

<!ELEMENT transparent EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST transparent
	color	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See color in the SVF Specification for more information.

<transparent color="5">

views

<!ELEMENT views (view+)>
<!ELEMENT view EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST views
	count	CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ATTLIST view
	name	CDATA #IMPLIED
	min	CDATA #REQUIRED
	max	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See view descriptions in the SVF Specification for more information.

<views count="2">
	<view name="a view" min="400,123" max="34567,31762"/>
	<view name="another view" min="100,100" max="200,200"/>
</views>

body

The body follows the optional head and contains the content of the file. Note that wrapping the body with <body></body> is optional.

All the graphic entities can specify general properties. Curves can specify some specific properties. Current properties can also be changed by the non-displaying current tag. With most graphic objects, if you don't specify an initial point, it will assume it starts from the current point.

a

<!ELEMENT a (%bodyobjects;)*>
<!ATTLIST a
	href	CDATA #REQUIRED
	title	CDATA #IMPLIED
	target	CDATA #IMPLIED
	dimension (1|2) "2"
	query	(true|false|on|off) "false"
	shortform (true|false|on|off) "false"
	base	CDATA #IMPLIED
	scale	CDATA #IMPLIED>

If query="true", a query string is tacked on to the href URL string. If addwidth, base, roundoff or scale is specified, query is assumed to be true.

See hyperlinks in the SVF Specification for more information.

<a href="http://whatever.com/file.html" dimension="1">
	<rectangle point="18000,15000" width="1000" height="2000"/>
	<circle point="3000,2000" radius="10000"/>
</a>

<a href="http://whatever.com/file.html" base="-4.3,-7.9" scale="0.0034,-0.0034">
	<rectangle point="18000,15000" width="1000" height="2000"/>
</a>

arc

<!ELEMENT arc EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST arc
	point		CDATA #IMPLIED
	radius		CDATA #REQUIRED
	startangle	CDATA #REQUIRED
	endangle	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See arcs in the SVF Specification for more information.

<arc point="3.21,4.32" radius="3.97" startangle="340" endangle="30">

bezier

<!ELEMENT bezier EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST bezier
	point	CDATA #IMPLIED
	point2	CDATA #REQUIRED
	point3	CDATA #REQUIRED
	point4	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See bezier curves in the SVF Specification for more information.

<bezier point="2.703,2.2545" point2="4.62,8.45" point3="9.33,4.44" point4="5.42,7.91"/>

circle

<!ELEMENT circle EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST circle
	point	CDATA #IMPLIED
	radius	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See circles in the SVF Specification for more information.

<circle point="21380,28770" radius="10000"/>

clipping

<!ELEMENT clipping (%bodyobjects;)*>
<!ATTLIST clipping
	count	CDATA #IMPLIED>

See clipping in the SVF Specification for more information.

<clipping count="1">
	<rectangle point="10,10" width="1000" height="2000"/>
</clipping>

current

<!ELEMENT current EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST current
	<!-- general properties -->
	color		CDATA #IMPLIED
	id		CDATA #IMPLIED
	layer		CDATA #IMPLIED
	transform	(true|false|on|off) "on"
	visibility	(true|false|on|off) "on"
	<!-- curve properties -->
	fill		(true|false|on|off) "off"
	fixedwidth	CDATA #IMPLIED
	linetype	(solid|dash|dot|dashdot|dashdotdot) "solid"
	penwidth	CDATA #IMPLIED
	point		CDATA #IMPLIED
	<!-- text properties -->
	text-angle	CDATA #IMPLIED
	text-font	CDATA #IMPLIED
	text-height	CDATA #IMPLIED
	text-bold	(true|false|on|off) "false"
	text-italics	(true|false|on|off) "false"
	text-base-method	(baseline|bottom) "baseline"
	text-height-method	(M|cell) "M"
	text-underline	(true|false|on|off) "false">

See object properties in the SVF Specification for more information.

<current color="#ff00ff" layer="a layer" id="#4e39"
	visibility="off" transform="on" penwidth="4.23"
	fill="off" linetype="dashdot"/>
<current fixedwidth="100"/>

data

<!ELEMENT data (#PCDATA)*>
<!ATTLIST data
	format	CDATA 'binary'
	type	CDATA #IMPLIED
	company	CDATA #IMPLIED>

In general, the type attribute should be specified and will correspond to an entry in the datatypes table in the head. It is optional to retain compatibility with SVF1.1 which didn't allow for a type to be specified.

See custom user data in the SVF Specification for more information.

<data>
	32ff0042ae
</data>
<data type="My Second DataType">
	32ff0042ae
</data>

ellipse

<!ELEMENT ellipse EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST ellipse
	point		CDATA #IMPLIED
	width		CDATA #REQUIRED
	height		CDATA #REQUIRED
	angle		CDATA #IMPLIED
	startangle	CDATA #IMPLIED
	endangle	CDATA #IMPLIED>

See ellipses in the SVF Specification for more information.

<ellipse point="36113,52703" width="10000" height="5000"/>
<ellipse point="5.42,7.91" width="3.21" height="6.77" angle="314"/>
<ellipse point="5.42,7.91" width="5.43" height="2.718"
	angle="45" startangle="96" endangle="97"/>

line

<!ELEMENT line EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST line
	point	CDATA #IMPLIED
	point2	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See lines in the SVF Specification for more information.

<line point="4000,5000" point2="20000,21000"/>
<line point2="19790,28459"/>

object

<!ELEMENT object (#PCDATA)*>
<!ATTLIST object
	point	CDATA #IMPLIED
	width	CDATA #REQUIRED
	height	CDATA #IMPLIED
	data	CDATA #REQUIRED
	type	CDATA #IMPLIED>

See bitmaps and other objects in the SVF Specification for more information.

<object data="http://somewhere.com/picture.jpg" point="5000,4000" width="4444">
	appears if bitmap can't be displayed
</object>
<object data="index.html" point="2,3" width="1.5" type="text/html"></object>

point

<!ELEMENT point EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST point
	point	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See points in the SVF Specification for more information.

<point point="1.41421,1.73205"/>

polyline

<!ELEMENT polyline EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST polyline
	points	CDATA #REQUIRED
	count	CDATA #IMPLIED>

See polylines in the SVF Specification for more information.

<polyline points="7.09995,0.915 5.77995,5.475 9.28995,-0.045"/>

rectangle

<!ELEMENT rectangle EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST rectangle
	point	CDATA #IMPLIED
	width	CDATA #REQUIRED
	height	CDATA #REQUIRED>

See rectangles in the SVF Specification for more information.

<rectangle point="36113,52703" width="1000" height="2000"/>

stream

<!ELEMENT stream EMPTY>
<!ATTLIST stream
	status (end|reset) #REQUIRED>

See Stream Status in the SVF Specification for more information.

<stream status="end"/>

text

<!ELEMENT text (#PCDATA)*>
<!ATTLIST text
	point	CDATA #IMPLIED
	width	CDATA #IMPLIED>

See text in the SVF Specification for more information.

<current text-height="4000"/>
<text point="36113,52703">this is text</text>

<current text-angle="45" text-font="Arial"/>
<text point="31113,52703" width="15000">more text</text>