I don't have the mouse problems you describe; This is a normal Interactive Diagram, and it should behave like any other. Except that the URLs for obtaining the piece images point to the rendering script, rather than to a file with a pre-calculated image. This offers more opportunity for it to be slow. But that should really happen only the first time you use a certain piece type; after that the browser should have cached the image as a file on your own computer, no matter what its source was, and access should always be fast.
As to (2), are you talking about the board for setting up the position, or the PNG image that will be delivered? The former should be easy, as it is a standard function of the ID that just has to be switched on. But it does take up space, which especially for a large board is a scarce resource. And it raises the problem of how to number the ranks, possibly requiring extra user input to control that.
The Applet just delivers the image the rendering script provides in response to a FEN. It would be a lot harder to provide coordinates there. The renderer was based on XBoard's code for drawing the board, and XBoard draws coordinates inside the squares. Not everyone might want coordinates, so this also requires extra controls in the applet.
As to (3): Agreed; setting up a position is pretty annoying once you are used to the Play-Test Applet. The ID already supports this possibility, so it would just be a matter of adding an input element in the applet to control that. Perhaps a button that you could press to toggle between mirror symmetry and asymmetric setups, starting with symmetry. (So that you coul press it when you have placed all pieces that need symmetry, and then place the others.)
I am currently wrestling to implement handling of the other SVG sets we have. But so far only Greenwade works properly. (Next to Alfaerie and XBoard, which already worked before.) The others suffer from various ailments: the filenames are partly capitalized, (and not only in their first character), only some of the pieces are available in a black variety, some standard pieces have non-standard names...
Thank you for the feedback.
I don't have the mouse problems you describe; This is a normal Interactive Diagram, and it should behave like any other. Except that the URLs for obtaining the piece images point to the rendering script, rather than to a file with a pre-calculated image. This offers more opportunity for it to be slow. But that should really happen only the first time you use a certain piece type; after that the browser should have cached the image as a file on your own computer, no matter what its source was, and access should always be fast.
As to (2), are you talking about the board for setting up the position, or the PNG image that will be delivered? The former should be easy, as it is a standard function of the ID that just has to be switched on. But it does take up space, which especially for a large board is a scarce resource. And it raises the problem of how to number the ranks, possibly requiring extra user input to control that.
The Applet just delivers the image the rendering script provides in response to a FEN. It would be a lot harder to provide coordinates there. The renderer was based on XBoard's code for drawing the board, and XBoard draws coordinates inside the squares. Not everyone might want coordinates, so this also requires extra controls in the applet.
As to (3): Agreed; setting up a position is pretty annoying once you are used to the Play-Test Applet. The ID already supports this possibility, so it would just be a matter of adding an input element in the applet to control that. Perhaps a button that you could press to toggle between mirror symmetry and asymmetric setups, starting with symmetry. (So that you coul press it when you have placed all pieces that need symmetry, and then place the others.)
I am currently wrestling to implement handling of the other SVG sets we have. But so far only Greenwade works properly. (Next to Alfaerie and XBoard, which already worked before.) The others suffer from various ailments: the filenames are partly capitalized, (and not only in their first character), only some of the pieces are available in a black variety, some standard pieces have non-standard names...