XML 3D - BTS530/630 Project

Canvas Object

History

Canvas elements simplify the drawing of custom pixels to the screen as well as the modification of these pixels in real-time. There have been numerous requests for a canvas tag inside HTML documents which provided cusom drawability inside XUL (A Cross-Platform drawing management library). Unfortunately, XUL is client side based which only allows the modification of webpages from the users endpoint. The Canvas Tag was originally developed in order to create modifications to the browser from the server end. An on-screen Canvas object is basically a wrapper around the XUL engine that allows the visual manipulation of pixels on the webpage.

Objective

The objective of Canvas was to provide a drawing interface inside the HTML document which website designers could use to create interactive content. It also allows the designers of the webpage to change the Canvas object on the fly using JavaScript or Python. The Canvas tag exposes the functionality of XUL with added security and safeguards to prevent damage to the client's computer.

XML 3D Addition to Canvas

Rationale

The basis of the Canvas tag is to provide immediate drawing to the screen. The drawing can consist of regular 2D pixel manipulations as well as a proposed 3D model manipulations. In addition, it will provide a safe and simple application programming interface (API) to the OpenGL Layer. The OpenGL Layer is a library that handles the math required for 3D transformations. Unfortunately, OpenGL has the power to talk directly to the hardware therefore allowing direct manipulation of the hardware or possibly potential damage. Consequently, the OpenGL Layer will not be included in this project due to its complex nature and constant upkeep. In addition, the OpenGL API is extremely low-level and may be confusing when exposed to the internet.

However, the first step in creating a 3D Canvas element is to use a custom XML tag to specify the 3D objects on the screen as well as the drawing area available. In this case, the developer will be able to create 3D objects on the client's screen as well as provide logic to modify these objects in real-time.