WebCGM 1.0 Second Release

Abstract

CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) has been an ISO standard for vector and composite vector/raster picture definition since 1987. It has been a registered MIME type since 1995. CGM has a significant following in technical illustration, electronic documentation, geophysical data visualization, amongst other application areas. WebCGM is a profile for the effective application of CGM in Web electronic documents. WebCGM has been a joint effort of the CGM Open Consortium, in collaboration with W3C staff and supported by the European Commission Esprit project. It represents an important interoperability agreement amongst major users and implementors of CGM, and thereby unifies current diverse approaches to CGM utilization in Web document applications. WebCGM's clear and unambiguous conformance requirements will enhance interoperability of implementations, and it should be possible to leverage existing CGM validation tools, test suites, and the product certification testing services for application to WebCGM . While WebCGM is a binary file format and is not "stylable", nevertheless WebCGM follows published W3C requirements for a scalable graphics format where such are applicable. The design criteria for the graphical content of WebCGM aimed at a balance between graphical expressive power on the one hand, and simplicity and implementability on the other. A small but powerful set of metadata elements is standardized in WebCGM, to support the functionalities of: hyperlinking and document navigation; picture structuring and layering; and, search and query on WebCGM picture content.

Status of This Document

This document has been reviewed by W3C Members and other interested parties and has been endorsed by the Director as a W3C Recommendation. It is a stable document and may be used as reference material or cited as a normative reference from another document. W3C's role in making the Recommendation is to draw attention to the specification and to promote its widespread deployment. This enhances the functionality and interoperability of the Web.

This second release is not a new version of WebCGM (first published 21 January 1999); it merely incorporates the changes dictated by the first release errata (available at http://www.w3.org/Graphics/WebCGM-19990121-errata) as a convenience to the readers. The errata list for this second release is available at http://www.w3.org/Graphics/WebCGM-20011217-errata. Please report errors in this specification to the WebCGM document editor.

A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR.

This document was produced as part of the W3C Graphics Activity.

The English version of this specification is the only normative version. There are no known translations, and none are known to be in progress.

Contents

Detailed Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction to WebCGM
• 2. WebCGM Concepts
• 3. WebCGM Intelligent Content
• 4. WebCGM Profile