[vtk-developers] 2D API, canvas API and other 2D features in VTK

[Marcus D. Hanwell]

Hi,

In the last week or so I have been committing code I have been working on to 
VTK CVS. The majority of this code is focused on 2D rendering in VTK, and is 
the result of a collaboration with Sandia, TITAN and InfoViz folks. This work 
aims to make 2D rendering a first class citizen in VTK.

Initially, this involved adding vtkPoints2D, vtkMatrix3x3 and vtkTransform2D 
to Common in order to facilitate the storage and transformation of 2D points. 
I then created a new VTK Kit called Charts, and have been committing, testing 
and fixing up the code in that module. Some of these classes will move into 
other kits for better integration, others will probably stay.

This API is still very new, and is subject to change. It is settling down, but 
please be warned that the API is not stable, and components in Charts could be 
moved to other parts of VTK. For a quick run down of the 2D API please see,

http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK/2DAPI

After further discussions it became clear that a canvas based API building on 
top of the 2D API would be useful. This API is explained briefly on this wiki 
page, along with similarities to the QGraphicsView framework in Qt.

http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK/CanvasAPI

Finally, the Chart API is explained on a third wiki page that also contains a 
few ideas I am looking into. Most of the code I have written is now in VTK 
CVS, I will be adding more tests and examples as I go. I am currently working 
on integration in ParaView and looking into a proposed marks API build on top 
of the canvas API.

http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK/Charts/ChartAPI

The http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK/Charts page explains some of the broad 
motivations, other tools/libraries out there that do similar things and 
http://www.vtk.org/Wiki/VTK/Marks discusses the Marks API which is building on 
inspiration from Protovis.

We welcome your feedback, and ask you to bear in mind that the API is subject 
to change if you choose to exercise it.

Thanks,

Marcus
-- 
Marcus D. Hanwell, Ph.D.
R&D Engineer, Kitware Inc.
(518) 881-4937