[x3d-public] Removal of Layout component in X3D v4

[Andreas Plesch]

I believe one reason why removal of the Layout component is considered
is because it was not widely implemented and because it duplicates
layouting functionality provided by HTML/DOM. That is why it will not
make a lot sense to add a layout component to x3dom.

Here is Holger's example ported to x3dom:

https://gist.githack.com/andreasplesch/632c8960e0c737cdfb03f6f611d6fe03/raw/3dbcb9a4ef1ec344d9755abe333f6b89f0c823cf/Ax3domIndex.html

This uses the original css based layout from
http://globe.chromeexperiments.com/ directly.

Using css and standard HTML/DOM layouting removes a lot of complexity
from the x3d scene. It does then require tighter integration of HTML
and X3D. Using x_ite-dom would be enough for the example to run in
x_ite while using css layouting and standard HTML text [If there is
interest, I could port the example to x_ite-dom as well]. There is a
lot of technology available, the latest is CSS grid. Web developers
are used to this kind of layout.

Of course, standalone, eg. non-web X3D browsers like Castle or freeWrl
 certainly still benefit from a Layout component.

The question then becomes if there should be an attempt to harmonize
web based layouting and standalone layouting although good ideas would
be needed.

Cheers,

-Andreas

-- 
Andreas Plesch
Waltham, MA 02453