PenDraw™
Programmable Web Graphics

The Road Ahead

Sockets are built in to PenDraw, but are not tested yet (please do not try them!). This is still (!) currently priority 1. Needs of existing customers have always taken priority, and probably always will. But this is getting much nearer!

XAML is climbing the priority list. It will definitely be there by Vista launch, if not before. It is very straightforward for PenDraw, because although it differs from SVG, it poses no problems.

We are trying to find an effective architecture for producing PNG (or alternatively JPEG), so that PenDraw will be capable of producing SVG, XAML, and PNG/JPEG. That will provide a very strong all-round capability.

Linux version is still high on our list, but priorities are hard to define. Let us know! email us!

This is for mobile computing devices: PDAs mobile phones, etc. There are just a few changes we need to make to output the correct format. Although this is priority 3 it is such a small change that we might just do it when releasing for something else.

SVG offers filters, for special graphics effects, such as shading and softening.

This is not a high priority unless you teel us otherwise.

Gradients allow you to change the colour of fill, when you fill a shape. Shapes can be linearly graded (eg changing from red to blue right to left) or radially graded (eg changing from yellow at a centre point, to green away from the centre, as if filling a circle).

SVG additionally supports patterns, so you can fill a shape in a manner like tiling with small sub-images.

SVG allows animation of picture elements, moving across the picture in straight lines or arcs, in a given time.

A recent addition to SVG, not yet fully ratified by W3C. It offers facilities rather like job control: having multi-page output, specifying paper size and so forth.

Splitting the interpreter into a compiler and a run-time system, to save compiling your PenDraw Apps every time you execute them.

Extending our ODBC implementation to allow more data sources to be used.

Improved compilation error messages: extending the very simplest syntax error messages to provide a more focused statement of the origin of the error.

Adapting the IDE to offer syntax assistance via hints. DONE in v2.0.a.1 !