SVG <rect>

SVG has some predefined shape elements that can be used and manipulated by developers.

SVG Shapes

SVG has some predefined shape elements that can be used and manipulated by developers:

• Rectangle <rect>
• Circle <circle>
• Ellipse <ellipse>
• Line <line>
• Polyline <polyline>
• Polygon <polygon>
• Path <path>

The following chapters will explain each element, starting with the rect element.

The <rect> Tag

The <rect> tag is used to create a rectangle and variations of a rectangle shape.

To understand how this works, copy the following code into Notepad and save the file as "rect1.svg". Place the file in your Web directory:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">

<svg width="100%" height="100%" version="1.1"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">

<rect width="300" height="100"
style="fill:rgb(0,0,255);stroke-width:1;
stroke:rgb(0,0,0)"/>

</svg>

Code explanation:

• The width and height attributes of the rect element define the height and the width of the rectangle
• The style attribute is used to define CSS properties
• The CSS fill property defines the fill color of the rectangle (either an rgb value, a color name, or a hexadecimal value)
• The CSS stroke-width property defines the width of the border of the rectangle
• The CSS stroke property defines the color of the border of the rectangle

View example

Let's look at another example that contains some new attributes:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">

<svg width="100%" height="100%" version="1.1"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">

<rect x="20" y="20" width="250" height="250"
style="fill:blue;stroke:pink;stroke-width:5;
fill-opacity:0.1;stroke-opacity:0.9"/>

</svg>

Code explanation:

• The x attribute defines the left position of the rectangle (e.g. x="0" places the rectangle 0 pixels from the left of the browser window)
• The y attribute defines the top position of the rectangle (e.g. y="0" places the rectangle 0 pixels from the top of the browser window)
• The CSS fill-opacity property defines the opacity of the fill color (legal range: 0 to 1)
• The CSS stroke-opacity property defines the opacity of the stroke color (legal range: 0 to 1)

View example

Define the opacity for the whole element:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">

<svg width="100%" height="100%" version="1.1"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">

<rect x="20" y="20" width="250" height="250"
style="fill:blue;stroke:pink;stroke-width:5;
opacity:0.9"/>

</svg>

Code explanation:

• The CSS opacity property defines the opacity value for the whole element (legal range: 0 to 1)

View example

Last example, create a rectangle with rounded corners:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">

<svg width="100%" height="100%" version="1.1"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">

<rect x="20" y="20" rx="20" ry="20" width="250"
height="100" style="fill:red;stroke:black;
stroke-width:5;opacity:0.5"/>

</svg>

Code explanation:

• The rx and the ry attributes rounds the corners of the rectangle

View example