Note: this is cross-posted from https://inkscape.org/forums/beyond/embedded-svg-does-not-display-markers/ - I have cross-posted it here because 1) this may be a bug in 0.92, <strike>and 2) when I try to open `foo.svg` in Inkscape 1.0 beta, Inkscape crashes (which is definitely a bug)</strike> Edit: crash fixed, bug in 0.92 still occurs in 1.0 It was also reported in https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/1777984 #### Steps to replicate 1. Open [foo.svg](https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inbox/uploads/3c57ab2c85058a26271250de1c3a64ad/foo.svg) in inkscape (contains a `<use>` that references the root element of `bar.svg` 2. Compare to [bar.svg](https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inbox/uploads/b49a05219c82a7b6c0bde1365764a3ae/bar.svg) in Inkscape (contains elements that have markers. These markers are defined in the `<defs>` of `bar.svg`) #### What happened? - the marker don't display in `foo.svg`, but do when `bar.svg` is opened directly. Generally, what is happening is that - If your document has a `<use>` element that references an element from a separate document, use directives or markers (basically just links) in that external document will not function properly (except for further external <use> elements). - The links in the external document will match the original document instead (if there is a matching id) - Even if the xlink:hrefs in the external document refer to elements that are nested within the <use>'d entity, those will not function correctly. #### What should have happened? - the marker should have displaced - more generally, `<use>` elements should deeply clone the contents of the referenced element (see https://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/struct.html#UseElement). Thus links inside the referenced elements should still work. #### Attachments [foo.svg](https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inbox/uploads/3c57ab2c85058a26271250de1c3a64ad/foo.svg) and [bar.svg](https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inbox/uploads/b49a05219c82a7b6c0bde1365764a3ae/bar.svg) from this case and from the launchpad issue (shows example where the referenced document links to a gradient and a shape, rather than a marker) snippet from [file.svg](/uploads/6243e9fed13d6b269a4b4053a72e5399/file.svg) ```xml <use xlink:href="external.svg#use-me" /> ``` snippet from [external.svg](/uploads/a9c131471dc438be583f5dcfe86f4966/external.svg) ```xml <g id="use-me"> <circle id="path815" cx="32" cy="32" r="24" style="fill:url(#linearGradient1758);fill-opacity:1" /> <use xlink:href="#path815" transform="translate(64)" style="stroke:#800000" /> </g> ``` and another minimal case from the comments below: [ink-linker.svg](/uploads/90bedcc82483153005c880267c7f594d/ink-linker.svg) ```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?> <svg viewBox="0 0 50 50" height="50" width="50" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <use xlink:href="ink-linked.svg#root" /> </svg> ``` [ink-linked.svg](https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inbox/uploads/7682ea1fe0900a3700b413dc862df57b/ink-linked.svg) ```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?> <svg id="root" viewBox="0 0 50 50" height="50" width="50" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <rect x="0" y="0" width="50" height="50" id="original_object" /> <use xlink:href="#original_object" id="clone" fill="blue" /> </svg> ``` We expect the blue clone to be visible, as it is if we explicitly reference the document the reference is from for all links. So ink-linked.svg is changed to ```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?> <svg id="root" viewBox="0 0 50 50" height="50" width="50" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <rect x="0" y="0" width="50" height="50" id="original_object" /> <use xlink:href="ink-linked.svg#original_object" id="clone" fill="blue" /> </svg> ``` This doesn't work with markers afaik. #### Version info 1.0beta and 0.92 and 0.92.2 2405546, 2018-03-11 Search terms: (launchpad, gitlab: inkscape/inkscape, gitlab: inkscape/inbox) "external reference" "external link" "reference file" "link file"