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A Constraint Extension to Scalable Vector Graphics Greg J. Badros Jojada J. Tirtowidjojo
Kim Marriott
Bernd Meyer
Will Portnoy  Alan Borning  InfoSpace, Inc., 2801 Alaskan Way, Suite 200 Seattle, WA 98121, USA greg.badros@
School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia  jojada, marriott, berndm  @.au  Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Box 352350, Seattle, WA 98195-2350, USA  will,borning  @ Abstract Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a language that describes two-dimensional vector graphics for storage and distribution on the Web. Unlike raster image formats, SVG-based im- ages scale nicely to arbitrary resolutions and sizes. However, the current SVG standard provides little flexibility for tak- ing into account varying viewing conditions, such as differ- ent screen formats, and there is little support for interactive exploration of a diagram. We introduce an extension to SVG called Constraint Scalable Vector Graphics (CSVG) that per- mits a more flexible description of figures. With CSVG, an image can contain objects whose positions and other proper- ties are specified in relation to other objects using constraints, rather than being specified in absolute terms. For example, a box can be specified to remain inside another box, without be- ing given an absolute position. The precise layout can then be left to the browser, which can adapt it dynamically to changing viewing conditions on the client side. Further extensions add support for alternate layouts, interaction, and declarative ani- mation. Leveraging well-established methods for linear con- straint solving, we implemented a prototype viewer for CSVG by embedding our Cassowary constraint solver into an existing SVG renderer. Keywords: constraints, differential scaling, semantic zoom- ing, interaction, CSVG, SVG, Scalable Vector Graphics. 1. INTRODUCTION The Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) language [16