General information

The National Institute for Environmental eScience is hosting two different SVG events back to back. Individuals are welcome to attend either or both events.

Day 1: Hands on Introduction

Graphics on the Web until recently was raster graphics images (GIF, PNG, JPEG etc) which suffer from a number of limitations (large size, inability to zoom without losing detail, binary format, no inherent hyperlinking etc). Non-proprietary vector graphics is now possible using W3C's Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a standard with many implementations available.

Day 2: XML to Web Graphics: a one-day workshop

XML is fast becoming the standard language for the representation of data in many disciplines, thereby facilitating interoperability between applications. XML can also be used to describe 2D and 3D vector graphics using technology such as W3C's Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), a 2D standard and X3D an ISO/IEC standard for 3D vector graphics. W3C have also standardized XSLT, a language (expressed in an XML conforming syntax) which can be used to transform documents in one XML language into another. These three ingredients: XML representations of data, XML representations for vector graphics and XSLT transformations provide a powerful framework for creating visualizations of data sets.

Both courses are organized under the auspices of VizNET, a JISC-funded collaboration between a number of visualisation centres in the UK, in order to create a UK National Visualisation Support Network. The objectives are to consolidate the strengths of major visualisation centres and groups across the UK to share knowledge, communicate best practice between application domains, provide training and support to researchers in visualisation, and provide access to major visualisation resources at a National and Regional level.

Aims of the course

Day 1:

This short course will give an introduction to the key concepts and functionality in SVG. The course includes hands-on sessions which will give attendees an opportunity to construct simple SVG graphics with animated behaviour. The course will assume no previous knowledge of SVG, but some familiarity with the basic notions of XML will be assumed, also some familiarity with computer graphics (for example the general concepts of coordinate systems and primitives). For the practical sessions, familiarity with any text editor will suffice. The course will be run by David Duce and Bob Hopgood (Oxford Brookes University).

Day 2:

There is mounting interest in the use of web portals to provide an easy-to-use, web-based, interface for access to resources. Web-based interfaces need to be able to support a rich variety of media types and interaction styles if they are to match the power of more traditional approaches. One very important issue is how to represent visualizations in a portal and how to generate visualizations from data sources, for example from a live simulation producing a sequence of snapshots represented using XML markup. Web technology such as SVG and X3D provide answers to the representation problem; and XSLT has the capability to express transformations between different XML markup languages. This is relatively new technology and so the reason for organising this workshop is to give an opportunity to explore how this technology is being used now and, hopefully, to spark ideas for new applications of the technology.
The workshop has several aims:

• give a brief introduction to the key technologies: SVG, X3D and XSLT. In the limited time available, this will focus on the key concepts in each technology, sufficient to appreciate the case studies that will follow. The emphasis from a graphics perspective will be on 2D (SVG) rather than 3D (X3D) for reasons of time.
• to explore how XSLT is being used as a transformation tool in graphics and visualization applications
• to explore how this technology is being used in practice in e-Science applications
• to explore the potential for future applications of the technology

The workshop will be led by Martin Dove (Cambridge), David Duce and Bob Hopgood (Oxford Brookes University).

Target audiences

Day 1:

The course is aimed at anyone interested in the use of SVG. The course will not have a focus in any particular scientific discipline, but will aim to cover the principles of SVG which are of wide applicability.

Day 2:

The workshop is aimed at anyone interested in the ways in which SVG, X3D and XSLT can be used in the construction of web-based applications. It isn’t essential for participants to know the three technologies in advance of the workshop, but a general appreciation of XML is desirable. The introductory sessions will cover the basic concepts in each of these technologies for those unfamiliar with any of them, but this will be done at a level that will enable participants to follow the case studies.

Programme

Day 1:

Computing environment: The course will be held in a laboratory equipped with Apple computers. You may, if you wish, use your own laptop for the practical sessions. Course materials will be provided on CD in order to eliminate potential networking issues. If you are using a Windows environment, it would be helpful to install the Adobe SVG plugin for Internet Explorer first. This is available at http://www.adobe.com/svg/.

Time	Topic
10.00	Registration and coffee
10.30-10.45	Introduction to course and infrastructure
10.45-11.15	Primitives and the <object> tag
11.15-11.45	Practical session
11.45-12.30	Main Attributes
12.30-13.00	Practical session
13.00-14.00	Lunch
14.00-14.30	Grouping and transformations
14.30-15.00	Practical session
15.00-15.30	Animation functionality
15.30-15.45	Coffee
15.45-16.15	Practical session
16.15-16.30	Further functionality and future developments
16.30-17.00	Closing discussion
19.00	Evening drinks
19.30	Evening meal

Day 2:

Call for contributions for Day 2

Two sessions of the workshop will be open sessions in which participants are invited to present their own experiences with this technology, or applications to which they think it might be applicable. In order to organise this session, potential speakers are asked to send a one-paragraph abstract to David Duce by Friday 27th May. Talks will be selected in order to achieve a balanced programme, both in terms of ideas and application domains. All appropriate abstracts will be made available to attendees. It is anticipated that speakers will be allocated 20 minute slots.

Location

Day 1: Registration is in the Earth Science common room, before going across to the Computer Service's Balfour Room, where the tutorial will take place.

Day 1 will end with a college wine reception and evening meal, which all attendees are welcome to attend. Time and location will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Day 2: Registration and meeting are all within the Earth Sciences Department.
Directions for getting to Earth Sciences and map can be found here.

Follow-on

It is anticipated that the workshop may generate interest in some follow-on activities. We will discuss the sort of follow-on activities that can be arranged, such as visits to NIEeS to demonstrate some of the escience/grid technologies and to provide help with installation and usage.

Anyone requiring accommodation will need to book their own through the Cambridge Tourist Centre.

Registration

There is no registration charge and you are welcome to sign up for either just one day or for both days. Registration is essential and must be done using our on-line form. Registration includes catering and college evening meal on the night of the 15th. Number of attendees will be limited on Day 1 due to number of computers available in the computing room. Therefore please book early to ensure that you are able to obtain a place. The NIEeS will refund sensible travel and accommodation expenses within the UK.

Contact and further information

For information about registration, and all other types of queries, please contact the NIEeS office in the first instance.