Conference and Exhibition

Opera Widgets are fun Web programs you can run right on your desktop. Access news and weather, play games, follow your favorite sports teams and much more.

Visit widgets.opera.com for downloading and trying out some Widgets.

This course aims to guide content creators in making Opera Widgets.

In this course, the participants will learn how to set up and deploy RIMapperWMS, a light-weight web mapping application that conforms to the Open Geospatial Consortium's Web Map Service specification. It serves interactive web maps from a spatial database back-end. Compared to existing WMS implementations, it stands out firstly because it serves its maps in the Scalable Vector Graphics format. This allows it to offer high-quality vector cartography, specially suitable for mobile devices such as PDA's and smartphones. Secondly, RIMapperWMS includes so-called VendorSpecific Capabilities that the OGC specification allows, in this case enabling it to produce the SVG output with a built-in Graphical User Interface, allowing the data to be disseminated to any SVG-capable application, without the need for a separate WMS client.

RIMapperWMS is an Open Source software suite, that uses a spatial database back-end (PostgreSQL/PostGIS) for storing both the configuration of the Web Map Services as well as the actual spatial and attribute data the maps are derived from. The software itself consists of a set of Java servlets that respond to WMS compliant requests from wireless or wired web clients by providing maps in SVG, with a built in GUI that consequently can be used to generate further request to the WMS, for zooming, panning, information retrieval, etcetera. The maps can then be used in a mobile or desktop web client capable of rendering SVG to view and interact with the maps.

The course will teach you how to set up the application on any standard Java application server (we will use Apache Tomcat) and focusses on building the PostGIS database that forms the heart of the WMS. Loading spatial and attribute data from various sources, setting up the metadata and configuration tables that configure the Webmaps and setting up the various styling options that make the SVG output look good and become interactive.

dojo.gfx is the implementation of a portable graphics API. It is a part of the Dojo Toolkit. Eugene Lazutkin, the designer of dojo.gfx, explains the architecture, the API, available renderers, and works through examples of different web-based graphics applications. The course assumes that you are a developer well versed in the modern JavaScript, and have some basic knowledge of computer graphics.

The Apache Batik project is a Java-based toolkit for processing SVG. While many people just use Batik for Squiggle, the bundled SVG browser application, there is an iceberg hiding under the surface that can help the developer with their client- and server-side SVG processing needs. In this course, Cameron McCormack, a committer on the Batik project, will take you on a tour of the different modules available and work through some examples of using them.

The course will assume you have some basic knowledge of SVG and that you are a competent Java programmer.

This is an technical introductory class for SVG. The goal is to teach people enough that they will understand the rest of the conference. I'll take you through the basics of XML, the structure and elements of SVG, and interactivity. This class assumes no prior knowledge of XML or SVG, but familiarity with HTML, CSS, and basic JavaScript would be helpful.

This class is geared toward hands-on experience, so people with access to a computer with will benefit the most; however, it will also serve as an overview for those who don't have a computer. For those with laptops, I recommend installing Opera 9, Firefox 2, Safari, or IE with ASV3, and a good text editor (I use TextPad, and have a special clip library for those interested). No other software will be needed. A survey of SVG tools, including graphical editors and other utilities, will be discussed at the end of the session.

SMIL, or declarative animation and interaction, will also be treated as time allows; though this is a very useful aspect of SVG, it deserves a course of its own to understand it in depth. Time is better spent in this survey course on scripting, since most presentations at this conference will be based on script.

Finally, a brief overview of the new features of SVG Tiny 1.2 will be offered, including editable text, text wrapping, audio, video, and the microDOM.

The tone of the class is interactive, with questions permitted during the lecture; the syllabus below outlines the planned presentation. Because the pace of the class will depend in part upon the audience, optional topics are also included, as mentioned above. Please note that it is outside the scope of this class to discuss the full range of what advantages SVG offers or the uses to which it may be put; this topic is the goal of the entire conference.

CHARACTERISTICS

Review of the elements of the format and how to use it.

CONVERSION AND CREATION

• Introduction to specialized tools: Font Forge (free) and Font Lab.
• SVG export in Font Forge.
• A survival kit of typography essentials is necessary before attempting porting or creation.
• The desire to design a font face does not make a font designer. Although an artistic background would be a minimum requirement, thorough knowledge of the craft's history and analytical study and reproduction of popular cuts can give a good insight.
• The aspiring font designer must become aware of the craft's tips and tricks as well as the trade's practices.

TRADE MARK AND COPYRIGHT

• Understanding their differences and limits. The trade mark on the name of the font. The copyright of the design.
• The copyright of the digital cut. How a powerful foundry was able to sell to a judge, in a historical court case, the idea that placing a control point on a path with discernment, is art, against the dictionary's definitions of "art" and of "craft".
• Imitation: ethical or not ethical? The attempts of profit oriented jurisprudence to redefine ethics in opposition with traditional scholar practices.
• The notion of common cultural patrimony.
• What are the required minima to stay clear of design copyright infringement.
• Generating profit from SVG fonts, an unlikely probability but not impossible.
• Donations to the Open Source as one argument to obtain authorization.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

• A survey of some of the essentials: the metrics; the width and the bearings of the glyph; the ligatures; the kerning pairs.
• Units-per-em. A higher value allows for more precise details of the design, while adding an extra digit to a good share of the numbers in the paths. We must consider the type of design we are projecting to determine the UPM we need.
• SVG Font provides no hinting. What does it mean?

GLYPH DESCRIPTION

• The outline's description in True Type and Post Script formats, quadratic versus cubic Bezier curves.
• The PostScript flavor of the Open Font format can generate a considerably smaller file.
• Manual optimization, a minimal time investment can save precious Kilobytes. But is it still worthwhile?

ANALYSIS OF TYPE FACES.

• The essentials of the aesthetics of some legendary types.
• The design as a strict correlation between aesthetics and visual ergonomics, an exercise that requires talent, taste and expertise.

HISTORY

Brief history.

Note: contents subject to variations.

Mobile SVG Developers and those interested in learning more about QUALCOMM's SVG mobile solution are invited to join us for a 2-part mobile SVG course:

Part 1: QUALCOMM's SVG Solution

This presentation will introduce developers and other interested parties to Qualcomm's SVG Tiny solution. See SVG demos running on Qualcomm's platform.

Part 2: Developing BREW Applications with SVG Tiny

Learn how to create an SVG-based BREW application from start to finish! Make the most of SVG to provide BREW applicaitons with the interactivity and DOM options SVG offers. Included in this session will be detailed review of the SVG APIs supported in Qualcomm's SVG Tiny solution and how they can be used to enrich BREW games and applications. You'll see how to add interactivity to SVG animations for use in a mapping application, write BREW code to manipulate SVG files using the BREW SDK, make an ARM build and load a game onto a commercial device. Hard copies of Qualcomm's "SVG Developer Guide" will be provided.