Question

Is there a way to use image maps within TWiki topics?
What I would like to do: display process chains

• one topic containing the main process chain
• define sensitive areas within this mainchain.gif (using the <map> and <area> -tags)
• linking to various topics containing the sub chains

My approach was to use the plain html tags for a client side image map (see http://de.selfhtml.org/html/grafiken/verweis_sensitive.htm for a german description). But the linking did not work. This was not due to me getting the path to the topic wrong. It did neither work for plain http-links.

So may be with TWiki I can only use server-side image maps? (http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/objects.html#h-13.6.2) If so, what would I need to do to my server? Or is there any other way to manage this (besides using text anchors)?

(I'm not sure if "missing functionality" is the right category for this topic, but it seemed to be the closest. Might need to be changed.)

Environment

-- JuditMays - 13 Apr 2005

Answer

Would the image maps of TWikiDrawPlugin provide the functionality you need?

-- PeterThoeny - 14 Apr 2005

Strange that client side maps didn't work for you. I did attach images with maps, produced and exported to HTML with MS Visio, successfully, by just adding the exported source to the topic. Note: I did change all HTML-tags to lower-case and checked the links. See the simple example below.

Doesn't this work for you?

Of course Peter is right: Use TWikiDrawPlugin for this kind of diagrams!

Edit

-- FranzJosefSilli - 14 Apr 2005

If you would like to use photos and draw sensitive areas over them, you could use mapedit, a $10 soft, and hack the result code as you need.

-- BenoitFauvel - 15 Apr 2005

Thanks for all your answers! I installed the TWikiDrawPlugin and it seems to be working all right. And I understand the example given by Franz. But I havn't figured out yet, how to use it for my purpose.

I have an existing gif file which I would like to edit with the plugin.

But if I attach the image (with a link in the topic) and write %DRAWING% into the topic as well, the two are not combined or connected in any way.

So how do I add the sensitive parts of the map to an image that I did not create with the plugin?

-- JuditMays - 15 Apr 2005

Sorry Judit, that's not possible with the TWikiDrawPlugin cause you can't 'convert' pixel-graphics (.gif) easily into equivalent vector-graphics (.draw). Maybe some day this distinction won't matter any more cause there are only .svg images or pictures in some other text-based graphics-format around, but I fear that won't happen in my lifetime. Till then we will have to use the workaround of using some external vector-graphics editor to 'draw' image-maps.

-- FranzJosefSilli - 15 Apr 2005

If someone added gif image support to TWikiDrawPlugin it could be done. And before you ask, no, I wasn't planning to.

-- CrawfordCurrie - 16 Apr 2005