From: Roddy Young (press@zotgroup.com)
Date: Mon Dec 04 2000 - 06:10:17 PST
CONTACT:
Roderic Olvera Young
ZOT Group
+1.617.542.5335 ext/202
press@apache.org
APACHE SOFTWARE FOUNDATION RELEASES SCALABLE VECTOR GRAPHICS TOOLKIT
Future of Web Graphics Available as Open Source, Java Technology-based
Application -- Beta Release of Batik 1.0
http://xml.apache.org/batik/ -- 4 December 2000 -- The Apache Software
Foundation's XML Project today announced the beta release of Batik 1.0, the
first cooperatively developed, open source Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
Toolkit based on the Java™ platform. The SVG 1.0 specification is currently
in the W3C Candidate Recommendation
review period. Over the past few months, contributors from CSIRO Australia,
Eastman
Kodak Company, ILOG, and Sun Microsystems have helped produce the
freely-downloadable toolkit.
"Apache's Batik provides building blocks that allow developers to generate,
parse, view and convert SVG content in their Java Technology applications.
Batik makes it easy for application developers to handle SVG content for
many purposes both client-side and server-side. Applications can use
Batik's pluggable GUI component to easily support SVG viewing capabilities
and even export graphics drawn with the core Java 2D API classes to the SVG
format, as well as convert SVG content into other formats such as JPEG or
PNG," the Batik team stated. "In addition, Batik is designed to be
extensible. Developers can add custom SVG extensions, graphic
implementations and converters, such as their own custom filter elements,
gradient paint implementations or an SVG to PDF converter."
"W3C's Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) will transform the Web as we know it,
by combining the full force of XML with the visual strengths of dynamic,
well-internationalized, and accessible vector graphic capabilities,"
enthused Chris Lilley, W3C Graphics Activity Lead. "We're pleased to see
the arrival of Batik, as the combined efforts of a number of seasoned SVG
implementers will lead towards a fully conforming,
open-source SVG implementation which can then be embedded in other software
solutions."
With Batik's SVG Toolkit, Web developers and designers gain two critical
qualities for graphical representations: precision and quality. Unlike
bitmap representations which represent data with pixels, SVG describes
graphics using shapes, paths and other 2D descriptors. The result is rich,
sophisticated 2D graphic shapes (including expanded fonts, panning,
zooming, and dynamic or interactive drawings) that can download and stream
more quickly. Because SVG is XML-based, searching for text in and about the
graphic becomes much simpler and it can easily integrate older graphic
formats. Batik is built completely with Java technology code, which means
development can be done on any operating system that supports the Java
platform, including Linux, Windows, the Solaris (tm) Operating Environment,
and other UNIX based systems. The Batik project is working within the
software development community to make SVG the standard for Web-based graphics.
The Batik team aims to give developers worldwide an easy-to-use set of
modules that can be used together or individually to support SVG solutions,
including a full-fledged SVG Viewer Implementation, which validates the
various modules and their interoperability.
"Batik 1.0 beta represents a significant milestone in solidifying SVG as
the Web graphics standard," said Jon Ferraiolo, Adobe Systems Senior
Computer Scientist, and editor of the SVG specification. "With the Batik
toolkit developers can now integrate much of SVG's rich feature set into
their offerings and begin empowering professional Web designers with the
tools they need to build more compelling, graphically rich sites that truly
leverage the benefits of XML. We fully endorse SVG and are working
diligently to support it throughout our line of professional Web design and
authoring products including Adobe Photoshop, LiveMotion, GoLive,
Illustrator and the freely downloadable Adobe SVG Viewer."
"We're proud to participate in the Batik project and see this collaborative
initiative as the best way to progress implementations that can exploit the
power of SVG. This will
hopefully encourage other developers to adopt SVG across a diverse range of
applications, as the dominant industry standard for 2D graphics," said Ross
Ackland, Science and Industry Manager, CSIRO Australia.
"IBM continues to participate in evolving the Internet into a much more
dynamic tool for e-business," said Rod Smith, vice president Emerging
Technology, IBM. "The Batik open source implementation of the SVG
specification underscores the importance of bringing emerging technologies
into use at a very rapid pace."
"ILOG believes SVG is the vehicle for creating a richer, more compelling
Web experience. With Batik, Apache and the open source community will be
making an important contribution toward accelerating the adoption of SVG,"
said Jean-François Abramatic, senior vice president, ILOG research and
development. "We're pleased to be an active partner in this effort - a
culmination of our involvement in XML and SVG standardization, both as a
W3C working group member and implementer with the first commercial
graphical user interface toolkit supporting the emerging standard, ILOG
JViews."
"Kodak congratulates the Apache Foundation and the Batik project on the
first release of its SVG toolkit," said Stephen Shaffer, CTO, Print@Kodak,
Eastman Kodak Company. "Batik will significantly advance SVG as an
important element for enabling both graphical and image-intensive creative
web-based applications. Because of its open source nature, ISV's will be
able to leverage the powerful and extensible framework it provides to
develop new classes of creative applications and to deploy SVG in
environments not previously possible. Such applications and systems are
fundamental to delivering new products and services through our Print@Kodak
Internet photofinishing service."
"The Apache Software Foundation has an excellent track record in bringing
to market solid tools and technology implementations required by today's
network-centric developers," stated George Paolini, vice president,
Technology Evangelism, Sun Microsystems. "Sun has been proud to work
closely with this open source group on the Batik project - which is a great
example of the synergies between the Java platform's portable code and
XML's portable data - as well as other Apache initiatives, and we
congratulate everyone involved on so quickly delivering a state-of-the-art
toolkit for SVG-based graphics."
The project's name comes from the famous and highly developed art
traditions of the Indonesian island of Java. The quintessentially
Indonesian textile and its geometric patterns and colorful designs embody
high quality graphics -- the thrust behind the Apache-XML-Batik Project.
The Batik Project encourages participation through its mailing list:
http://xml.apache.org/mail.html
For more information about the Batik project please see
http://xml.apache.org/batik/
About the Apache Software Foundation
The Apache Software Foundation provides organizational, legal and financial
support for the Apache open-source software projects. Formed by members of
the Apache group, the group still exists beyond the participation of
individual volunteers, to enable contributions on intellectual property and
financial support, and to provide a vehicle for limiting legal exposure
while participating in open-source software projects. For more information
on the Apache Software Foundation, please see http://www.apache.org/
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