For Immediate Release
February 20, 2002
For more information, a review copy, cover art or an interview with
the author, contact:
Kathryn Barrett (707) 827-7094 or kathrynb@oreilly.com 


TAP THE POWER AND FLEXIBILITY OF SCALABLE VECTOR GRAPHICS WITH 
O'REILLY'S "SVG ESSENTIALS"


Sebastopol, CA--How can you create a high-res image that scales
perfectly on any monitor, PDA, or cell phone? Or build a web page with
graphics that update automatically if the content is changed? With
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), the new XML-based graphics standard
from the World Wide Web Consortium, all manner of such "intelligent"
graphics are possible.

According to J. David Eisenberg, author of the new O'Reilly book "SVG
Essentials," "SVG is becoming the format of choice for exchanging
vector data because it's open, transportable, and cross-platform. With
SVG, web and XML developers can create Web documents that are small,
quick-loading, and interactive. Plus, because it's an XML application,
you can use all the XML tools on your files."

"It's easy to create XSLT stylesheets that take source XML data and
create SVG," notes Eisenberg. "For example, you can take an XML data
source that lists weather data, run it through an XSLT stylesheet and
produce a series of USA Today-like weather diagrams. You can take the
same data, run it through a different stylesheet, and create a bar
graph of daily temperatures. These easily built tools add a lot of
power above and beyond the normal 'drawing program' features."

"SVG Essentials" takes you through the ins and outs of SVG, beginning
with basics needed to create simple line drawings and then moving
through more complicated features like filters, transformations, and
integration with Java, Perl, and XSLT. The book goes beyond "how to"
and explains the concepts underlying SVG. "SVG Essentials" covers the
gamut of things you can do with SVG, including:

-Creating web graphics that automatically update
-Generating graphs and charts from information stored in a wide variety
of sources 
-Creating diagrams that users can explore by zooming in and panning
around 
-Exchanging detailed drawings, from architectural plans to CAD layouts
to project management diagrams 
-Managing graphics that support multiple languages or translations
-Creating complex animation

The book even delves into the markup at the foundation of SVG,
providing a solid base for creating your own custom tools. It includes
appendices that explain key technical tools like XML, matrix math, and
scripting, along with a reference to the SVG vocabulary. Whether you're
a designer searching for an easier way to handle web graphics or a
programmer building and managing complex data visualizations, you can
get the job done with "SVG Essentials."

Additional Resources:
An article by the author, "An SVG Histogram" can be found at:
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2002/02/07/svghist.html

Chapter 3, "Basic Shapes," is available free online at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/svgess/chapter/ch03.html

For more information about the book, including Table of Contents,
index, author bio, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/svgess/

For a cover graphic in jpeg format, go to:
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/0596002238.jpg

SVG Essentials 
By J. David Eisenberg
February 2002
ISBN 0-596-00223-8, 364 pages, $34.95 (US) $52.95 (CA) 
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
http://www.oreilly.com

About O'Reilly 
O'Reilly & Associates is the premier information source for
leading-edge computer technologies. We communicate the knowledge of
experts through our books, conferences, and web sites. Our books, known
for their animals on the covers, occupy a treasured place on the
shelves of the developers building the next generation of software. Our
conferences and summits bring innovators together to shape the
revolutionary ideas that spark new industries. From the Internet to the
Web, Linux, open source, and now peer-to-peer networking, we put
technologies on the map. For more information: http://www.oreilly.com

# # #

O'Reilly is a registered trademark of O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. All
other trademarks are property of their respective owners.