[Blindmath] First attempt at an SWT/SVG based drawing program

Tue Aug 30 18:45:07 UTC 2011

Lloyd - Thanks for the off-list feedback on the location of the output file.
Here is the answer to your question for everyone to see:

When you run from the jar file and specify the name of the output file, you
must also provide a path such as the following:

c:\jnk\6\testfile

Otherwise, the output file ends up in an unidentified location. At least, I
don't know where it would end up on your computer, which is configured
differently from mine. Actually, it would probably be a good idea to always
specify the path to the file to eliminate any possible confusion whether
running from a jar file or running from a locally compiled version of the
program.

Thanks,
Dick Baldwin

On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 1:26 PM, Rasmussen, Lloyd <lras at loc.gov> wrote:

> Replying off-list.
>
> Under Windows 7 32-bit, I ran the JAR file from the Downloads folder in my
> user account (I have admin rights).  Using Window-Eyes 7.5.1.  I was able to
> read the program and edit values.  I thought I created a drawing with two
> line segments and a circle.  Saved the file under the name test1.  Pressing
> Enter at the bottom item closed the program.  But I was unable to find a
> test1.svg anywhere.  Where is it likely to be created?  In a temporary
> directory which is destroyed when java.exe closes?
>
>
> Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Project Engineer
> National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
> Library of Congress   202-707-0535
> http://www.loc.gov/nls
> The preceding opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of
> the Library of Congress, NLS.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Richard Baldwin
> Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 10:02 PM
> To: BlindMath Mailing List
> Subject: [Blindmath] First attempt at an SWT/SVG based drawing program
>
> For those who may be interested, I have posted my first attempt at putting
> an SWT GUI front end on my SVG graphics library and have posted the
> resulting program in a file named SVGDraw01.jar at the following URL:
>
>  http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/SWT-SVG/SVGDraw01.jar
>
> I would appreciate it if some of you would download the program, try it,
> and provide feedback in several different areas. You will need the Java
> virtual machine installed on your computer to run the program. On Windows,
> you can run the program either by double-clicking on the jar file, or by
> opening a command prompt in the folder containing the jar file and entering
> the following command at the command prompt:
>
> java -jar SVGDraw01.jar
>
> When the program starts running, you should find yourself in an SWT Combo
> object with an item labeled "User Instructions" highlighted. Pressing the
> Enter key at this point will take you to the beginning of a page containing
> user instructions. A screen reader should tell you to press shift-tab to
> return to the combo box or to press the tab key to continue.
>
> Pressing the tab key will cause the screen reader to begin reading the
> instructions. At the end of the instructions, the screen reader should tell
> you to "Press tab to return to the combo box." (Of course, you can press tab
> at any time. You don't need to wait until the screen reader finishes reading
> the instructions.)
>
> You can navigate up and down the list in the combo box using the arrow keys
> and act on an item by pressing the Enter key when that item is selected. The
> combo box currently contains the following items:
>
> User instructions (which is what you should do first) Start a new drawing
> (which is what you should do next) Draw a line Draw a rectangle Draw a
> circle Draw an ellipse Draw a polyline Draw a polygon Write drawing file
> (which is what you should do next to last) Stop program (which is what you
> should do last)
>
> When you press the Enter key on the item labeled "Start a new drawing," an
> empty SVG page of a specified size with optional title and description
> attributes will be created in memory.
>
> When you press the Enter key on the item labeled "Write drawing file", that
> SVG page will be written to an output SVG file with a name of your choosing
> and an extension of .svg.
>
> Between starting a new drawing and writing the drawing file, you can add
> elements for any number of any of the six shapes (which are the SVG basic
> shapes) in any order to the SVG page.
>
> When you press the Enter key on a shape item, you will land on a form that
> allows you to enter the most commonly used attributes for that shape. Fill
> in the blanks, check the check boxes (if any), and finally push the button
> labeled "Push to draw ---" to add the shape element to the SVG page. You can
> navigate up and down the the form with the tab key and shift-tab.
>
> I would appreciate receiving feedback in at least the following areas.
> Feedback in other areas not listed below will be appreciated also.
>
> 1. Will the program be accessible to a blind student? What could be done to
> improve accessibility?
>
> 2. Will the navigation structure of the program be functionally useful to a
> blind student? What could be done to improve the navigational functionality
> and make the program easier to use?
>
> 3. Will the "fill-in-the-blanks" concept for creating technical diagrams
> and drawings, such as vector diagrams and free-body diagrams, be useful to a
> blind student? If so, which of the many additional capabilities of SVG, such
> as arcs, paths, etc., would be appropriate as an upgrade to the program.
> (I'm already planning on adding the ability to create text elements. I just
> haven't resolved all the questions regarding fonts yet.)
>
> 4. To what extent is the output SVG file compatible with graphics embossers
> that can work with SVG files as input? What could be done to improve that
> compatibility?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Dick Baldwin
>
> --
> Richard G. Baldwin (Dick Baldwin)
> Home of Baldwin's on-line Java Tutorials http://www.DickBaldwin.com
>
> Professor of Computer Information Technology Austin Community College
> (512) 223-4758
> mailto:Baldwin at DickBaldwin.com
> http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/
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-- 
Richard G. Baldwin (Dick Baldwin)
Home of Baldwin's on-line Java Tutorials
http://www.DickBaldwin.com

Professor of Computer Information Technology
Austin Community College
(512) 223-4758
mailto:Baldwin at DickBaldwin.com
http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/