14 January 2003

Appendix G: Conformance Criteria


Contents

This appendix is normative.

G.1 Introduction

In order to ensure that SVG-family documents are maximally portable among SVG-family user agents, this specification rigidly defines conformance requirements for both, as well as for SVG-family document types. While the conformance definitions can be found in this appendix, they necessarily reference normative text within this document and within other related specifications. It is only possible to fully comprehend the conformance requirements of SVG through a complete reading of all normative references.

G.2 Conforming SVG Document Fragments

An SVG document fragment is a Conforming SVG Document Fragment if it adheres to the specification described in this document (Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Specification) including SVG's DTD (see Document Type Definition) and also:

The SVG language or these conformance criteria provide no designated size limits on any aspect of SVG content. There are no maximum values on the number of elements, the amount of character data, or the number of characters in attribute values.

G.3 Conforming SVG Stand-Alone Files

A file is a Conforming SVG Stand-Alone File if:

G.4 Conforming SVG Included Document Fragments

SVG document fragments can be included within parent XML documents using the XML namespace facilities described in Namespaces in XML.

An SVG document fragment that is included within a parent XML document is a Conforming Included SVG Document Fragment if the SVG document fragment, when taken out of the parent XML document, conforms to the SVG Document Type Definitions (DTD).

In particular, note that individual elements from the SVG namespace cannot be used by themselves. Thus, the SVG part of the following document is not conforming:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE SomeParentXMLGrammar PUBLIC "-//SomeParent" 
  "http://SomeParentXMLGrammar.dtd">
<ParentXML>
  <!-- Elements from ParentXML go here -->
  <!-- The following is not conforming -->
  <z:rect xmlns:z="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
            x="0" y="0" width="10" height="10" />
  <!-- More elements from ParentXML go here -->
</ParentXML>

Instead, for the SVG part to become a Conforming Included SVG Document Fragment, the file could be modified as follows (the example below shows the use of Stylable SVG):

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE SomeParentXMLGrammar PUBLIC "-//SomeParent" 
  "http://SomeParentXMLGrammar.dtd">
<ParentXML>
  <!-- Elements from ParentXML go here -->
  <!-- The following is conforming -->
  <z:svg xmlns:z="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
         width="100px" height="100px" >
    <z:rect x="0" y="0" width="10" height="10" />
  </z:svg>
  <!-- More elements from ParentXML go here -->
</ParentXML>

G.5 Conforming SVG Generators

A Conforming SVG Generator is a program which:

Additionally, an authoring tool which is a Conforming SVG Generator conforms to all of the Priority 1 accessibility guidelines from the document "Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [ATAG] that are relevant to generators of SVG content. (Priorities 2 and 3 are encouraged but not required for conformance.)

SVG generators are encouraged to follow W3C developments in the area of internationalization. Of particular interest is the W3C Character Model and the concept of Webwide Early Uniform Normalization, which promises to enhance the interchangability of Unicode character data across users and applications. Future versions of the SVG specification are likely to require support of the W3C Character Model in Conforming SVG Generators.

G.6 Conforming SVG Interpreters

An SVG interpreter is a program which can parse and process SVG document fragments. Examples of SVG interpreters are server-side transcoding tools (e.g., a tool which converts SVG content into modified SVG content) or analysis tools (e.g., a tool which extracts the text content from SVG content). An SVG viewer also satisfies the requirements of an SVG interpreter in that it can parse and process SVG document fragments, where processing consists of rendering the SVG content to the target medium.

In a Conforming SVG Interpreter, the XML parser must be able to parse and process all XML constructs defined within [XML10] and [XML-NS].

There are two sub-categories of Conforming SVG Interpreters:

A Conforming SVG Interpreter must parse any SVG document correctly. It is not required to interpret the semantics of all features correctly.

Note: A transcoder from SVG into another graphics representation, such as an SVG-to-raster transcoder, represents a viewer, and thus viewer conformance criteria apply. (See Conforming SVG Viewers.)

G.7 Conforming SVG Viewers

An SVG viewer is a program which can parse and process an SVG document fragment and render the contents of the document onto some sort of output medium such as a display or printer; thus, an SVG Viewer is also an SVG Interpreter.

There are two sub-categories of Conforming SVG Viewers:

Specific criteria that apply to both Conforming Static SVG Viewers and Conforming Dynamic SVG Viewers:

Although anti-aliasing support is not a strict requirement for a Conforming SVG Viewer, it is highly recommended for display devices. Lack of anti-aliasing support will generally result in poor results on display devices.

Specific criteria that apply to only Conforming Dynamic SVG Viewers:

The Web Accessibility Initiative [WAI] is defining "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" [UAAG]. Viewers are encouraged to conform to the Priority 1 accessibility guidelines defined in this document, and preferably also Priorities 2 and 3. Once the guidelines are completed, a future version of this specification is likely to require conformance to the Priority 1 guidelines in Conforming SVG Viewers.

A higher order concept is that of a Conforming High-Quality SVG Viewer, with sub-categories Conforming High-Quality Static SVG Viewer and Conforming High-Quality Dynamic SVG Viewer.

Both a Conforming High-Quality Static SVG Viewer and a Conforming High-Quality Dynamic SVG Viewer must support the following additional features:

A Conforming High-Quality Dynamic SVG Viewer must support the following additional features:

A Conforming SVG Viewer must be able to apply styling properties to SVG content using presentation attributes.

If the user agent includes a CSS2 capability, a Conforming SVG Viewer must support CSS styling of SVG content and must support all features from CSS2 (Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 CSS2 Specification) that are described in this specification as applying to SVG (see properties shared with CSS and XSL, Styling with CSS and Facilities from CSS and XSL used by SVG). The supported features from CSS2 must be implemented in accordance with the conformance definitions from the CSS2 specification.

If the user agent includes an HTML or XHTML viewing capability or can apply CSS/XSL styling properties to XML documents, then a Conforming SVG Viewer must support resources of MIME type "image/svg+xml" wherever raster image external resources can be used, such as in the HTML or XHTML 'img' element and in CSS/XSL properties that can refer to raster image resources (e.g., 'background-image').