John, This is perfectly fine to do. All that the Simile loaders do is extract data from a data source (JSON, XML, SPARQL) create new Event objects and push into an EventSource object. It's really easy to write your own function to do the same.
With a little extra work, creating/editing/removing timeline elements is also straightforward to do. You don't need to wipe out the entire timeline, just manipulate the Events inside an EventSource and call .paint() when you're ready to update the timeline display. You can create new events, edit existing ones and remove old ones. This can be done with a little UI for the user inside the browser, or you could be fetching updates from a server (e.g. an RSS feed of events) for a dynamic display. --Mike On Jun 10, 2011, at 11:15 AM, John S wrote: > I'm just getting started with SIMILE, and I have to express that I'm > very impressed with this. I'm currently working on a project that > initially took me to the TIMEMAP project, but after looking at how it > integrates with google maps, I decided this is where I should be > working from directly. > > I wanted to just get a bit of conversation moving on how feasible this > sounds.. My project at the moment is a google maps wizard using v3 of > their api. The wizard does a bit of everything, clustering, category > filters, 2d sortable arrays of all visible markers, and a slew of > other smaller features. I initially looked into TIMEMAP because it's > built to use SIMILE, but after looking closer, they create a timemap, > and create the map inside of it, which doesn't work for the additional > functionality that I have in place already. > > What I'd like to do.. I'd like to be create a custom loader that > doesn't use xml, instead I'd like to send it an array of map markers. > All of the same data from the xml can be inside the markers, and I'd > just create my own loader. > > The extended functionality I'd need would be the ability to load, > modify, and remove items in the timeline on an individual basis - > dynamically. As a worst case, I could wipe the timeline and have it > reload the new info, though I'd rather not go that route. > > I wanted to see what you guys thought about this, and if it's very > possible? I know SIMILE is a pretty impressive tool, but I haven't > been able to dig through it enough yet to see if some of these > features already exist or not. What does everyone think about this? Do > you see a lot of issues with something like this or does this sound > like something pretty feasible? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SIMILE Widgets" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/simile-widgets?hl=en.
