Matthew Petroff

Current State of Units

Matthew Petroff — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:00:21 +0000

Inkscape’s main unit handling code is in “helper/units.cpp” and “util/units.cpp”. The code in “helper” is originally from libgnomeprint, and the code in “util” is the start of a rewrite; I plan on moving everything to “util.” In addition, there is separate code for handling units within an SVG file, for live effects, and for display, as well as a few other miscellaneous header files related to units. Based on these files, I have developed a list of major unit support requirements.

Listing units
Handling unit names and abbreviations
Unit conversion
Reading units from SVG files

To start, I plan on making the existing code more readable, then moving all unit handling into “util/units.cpp”, starting with the functions in “helper/units.cpp”.

Google Summer of Code 2013: Inkscape Units

Matthew Petroff — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:09:11 +0000

I was accepted into Google Summer of Code 2013 and will be working with the Inkscape project. My project involves two phases: first refactoring Inkscape’s existing unit handling support into one place, then extending said unit support to properly support real world units such as millimeters. More details are in the full project proposal. I plan to document my progress here and post summaries to the inkscape-devel mailing list. I have created a public repository for the first phase of the project. Once the first phase is completed, the branch will be merged back into the trunk, and a new branch will be created for the second phase.

Northern Harrier

Matthew Petroff — Wed, 22 May 2013 05:43:15 +0000

After stepping outside, I heard birds making lots of noise. As I was about to get in the car, I saw what they were concerned about; a Northern Harrier was perched on a street light. I got my camera and telephoto lens instead. The other birds went as far as diving at the raptor, although it didn’t seem to care.

Saguaro National Park

Matthew Petroff — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:40:18 +0000

I was in Tucson, Arizona this past weekend for the AIAA Design Build Fly competition. One can find photos from the competition on Flickr. While there, I visited Saguaro National Park one afternoon after the competition.

Map of Baltimore

Matthew Petroff — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 02:00:51 +0000

Since living in Baltimore, I’ve wanted some sort of map of the city to hang on my wall. Unfortunately, I never found anything I liked. Something I did like is Stamen Design’s Toner maps. However, in its most easily available form, online map tiles, it is not well suited for high-resolution printing nor does it show the city limits. Fortunately, the style is open source. After cloning the repository, adding a rule to make an outline of Baltimore, rendering it to SVG, and clipping and editing the map with Inkscape, I was left with something I liked.

A vector-based PDF version suitable for high-resolution printing is available here. The map data is copyright OpenStreetMap contributors under the ODbL. The map itself is CC BY-SA Stamen Design (and me). Here is a photo of the map on my wall. Feel free to get the PDF printed, or buy a poster print.