SVG:Specification Issues

This page tracks some of the specification issues we've encountered more recently while implementing SVG.

When we discovered SVG specification issues in the past we simply reported them to the SVG working group via their mailing list, believing they would be tracked and (eventually) fixed. However, it has become clear that this system of reporting issues is an utter farce. Any reasonable issue tracking system would at the very least make it possible to:

• search through existing issues without returning non-issue mailing list chatter
• know whether your reports are even actually being treated as issues
• unambiguously mark the status of each issue so everyone can easily and clearly see when an issue has been closed/dropped (thus people can ask for further clarification if the solution is unsatisfactory or unstated, instead of believing that the issue is still open and being worked on)
• make sure the resolution is visible to all when an issue is closed

Unfortunately, using a mailing list for issue reporting fails to provide even these most basic of requirements. This has resulted in countless hours wasted and much hair pulling and resentment on our part. While we may not be able to force the W3C to use a reasonable, public, issue tracking system, we can at least try to publicly track any new issues we find (and maybe even go back and dig up the old issues we've reported at some point). Hence this page.

Ideally issues should be tracked using issue tracking software, but that's often less accessible to "outsiders", and it can take time and many iterations to hash out a good clear description for an issue. In that respect, wiki pages (with their version history and the ability to revert changes) are very useful.

• Embedding by Inclusion
• SVG Fonts:
  • (SVG1.2T) <font-face> ascent/descent definitions incorrect
  • (SVG1.1/SVG1.2T) <font-face> {underline,strikethrough,overline}-{position,thickness} defaults
  • (SVG1.1/SVG1.2T) multiple <missing-glyph>
  • (SVG1.1/SVG1.2T) multiple <font-face> elements
  • (SVG1.1) circular definition of SVG font vert-origin-y, ascent if neither set
• SVG Filters:
  • (SVG1.1) SVGFESpecularLighting missing kernelUnitLength?
  • (SVG1.1) FillPaint and StrokePaint inputs for filters poorly defined for container elements
  • (SVG1.1) effect of filter primitive subregion on feGaussianBlur
  • (SVG1.2) filter margins useless
  • (SVG1.1) bad viewport text for backgroundImage
  • (SVG1.1) filter primitive subregion too vague
• SVG Script
  • (SVG1.1) script should have a type attributes so that local scripts work
• SVG Text:
  • (SVG1.1) insufficient detail to implement text-decoration
  • (SVG1.1) xml:space="default" underspecified
• image-rendering
  • (SVG1.1) additional crispEdges value for image-rendering

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Resolved in errata

• SVG Filters:
  • (SVG1.1) feDiffuseLighting calculation does not define I(x,y)
  • (SVG1.1) feSpotLight's limitingConeAngle not mentioned in lighting equations