New Update for Xournal

[Mackx]

Given some of the comments in the old-thread I decided to make a new thread for Xournal updates. I will update this message with the binaries and post a mail at the end of this thread. I hope that it will be easier to find the relevant binaries for (new) users of Xournal.

Additions to update 8b:
- updated ipc call: startupComplete to R1.7 version (hope this will not break R1.6)
- Added Options->Toggle Taskbar to toggle the taksbar :-)
- Fixed problem with certain pages that do not have a /Content
-> The generated pdf will give problems on DR and behave strange on desktop!
- Use orientation extracted from the pdf to let poppler rotate

NOTE: Since version 5, you can switch between the 'slow-and-stable'-mode and the 'fast-but-might-crash'-mode with the menu Options->Experimental Update (mark-item to enable the fast-mode).

Installing :
Unzip Xournal-0.4.2.1_V8b.zip to your SD card. The Programs/Install folder will contain a 'Install Xournal V8b' and a 'Upgrade Xournal to V8b' icon (once you started the DR). The first should be used for a clean install of Xournal, it installs all required libaries, xournal and adds the file-extensions to the CTB. This will lead to a restart of the DR, so make sure you saved all your open work! Installation might take 30 seconds! The second version can be used if you already have an older version of xournal installed. It only updates the xournal program and resources. You will need the clean install after an upgrade of the firmware, since xournal is installed on the internal flash of the DR.

[For upgraders from V3/V4: Since there is only one version now, you might need to remove the XournalEx.desktop files (and /Programs/_xournal), which used to start the V4 version.]

Uninstall:
And for those that want to know, there is still no 'proper' uninstall. Best trick is to re-install the firmware, which should wipe the complete internal flash.

Feedback:
Please keep giving me feedback on problems or improvements for the program.

Previous versions:
Additions to update: 8a
- Updated Russian translation from Viacheslav
- Removed shortcuts from menu (english language only!) on advise of Viacheslav
- Removed some useless menu items
- Improve Ghosting behaviour during page-switch
- Replaced first, prev, next and last icons with gtk (like) icons in DR-menu and toolbar.

Additions to update: 8 (not released)
- Allow to insert empty pages, remember setting in config settings. Hope
this implements request of tjdean256.
- Export scribbles in a separate file to be processed by MyScript
software on the PC. On request of curbarthedog.
- Fixed problem that did not allow to select iRex annotations immediately after
import. Detected by jbbebg.

Additions to update: 7b
- Handle tickness of annotations
- BUGFIX: update 7a, was always in 'slow-and-save' mode independent of the menu setting.

Additions to update: 7a
- Merge with latest version of official xournal version
- Import and show iRex annotations for PDFs, extra menu. (Experimental!)
- Import and export to pdf of iRex annotations, extra menu. (usefull for big documents that can not be shown with xournal) (Experimental!)
- The new functions are not fully stable, specialy with big files are many annotations.
- Thickness of annotations is not yet used.

Additions to update: 6a (sorry for the confusing name)
- Annotating multiple PDF was not stable, improved on that
- Last page can now also be annotated (stupid bug )
- The CropBox is now used (when specified in the original document) for calculating the scaling of annotations. This solves the problem that pthwaite found.

Addition to update: 6x (I removed the installation zip)
- On shutdown always write to a tempfile, never to original, might cause corruption.
- React on down/up same as page_down/up (in One Page view only)
- Improved toolbar icons (first/last/next/prev) with iRex script to generate the icons
- Initial version with support to annotate pdfs (using poppler) no caching, no memory management! DO NOT USE FOR LARGE FILES!

Additions to update: 5
- Merged the V3 and V4 into one version, mode is now selectable by the menu and can be stored in the preferences.
- When ruler mode is enabled, switch back to 'label'-mode to get 'quick' updates of the lines.
- Update screen when recogniser is on after recognition.
- Renames Quit to Close to make it more conform other DR-apps.
- In R1.7 it seems that no refresh is triggered anymore after undo/redo, added forced update.
- Added (first version of) multi-language support, with a very ugly dutch translation to verify that it works...
- Added the Russian translation from Viacheslav
- Fixed path to 'temp file' were unsaved documents are stored during shutdown
- Added new icons from Viacheslav in the DR-menu. (+ scaled them to toolbar icons)
- Hidden the print-menu
- Changed the 'Print' item in the DR-menu to 'Export to PDF' so it better tells what is does.
- Included Viacheslav's 'extension installer' in the update
- Created a Help folder in Programs with a shortcut to xournals helpfile (requires midori to be installed)

[Mackx]

I want to use this message to keep a list of the open issues for Xournal:

- When 'Experimental Update' is enabled, the program sometimes crashes.
- Check if files can be highlighted in file dialogs (see here)
- Make behaviour of DR-buttons/keys more 'natural'.

WishList:
- Search engine for text in (background) pdf (jbbebg)
- Run multiple instances/edit multiple documents (tjdean256)
- Import and convert to pdf as a separate linux utility (godel10)
- Install Xournal on SD-card instead of internal flash.

[Mackx]

This message contains the current items for which I need help from others:

- Translations (see attached .po files) same languages as native DR applications

de: German

en: English

es: Spanish

fr: French

it: Italien

nl: Dutch (I translated some words to test if internationalisation works)

ru: Rusian - Available: Translated by Viacheslav (V8)

zh_CN: Chinese

- Icons for DR menu, see this message. Viacheslav already provided some, maybe other icons can also be improved. You only have to create the 'normal'-icon, all the other icons (selected, disabled, toolbar) can be created using the attached (linux) script (modified version of iRex script) with the 'overlay'-icons.

You can send me a PM with your contributions so I can include them in a next update.

[RobbieClarken]

Another great update. Thanks Mackx!

[windspeedo]

Xournal is the most useful tool for me in iDex DR1000s.

Xournal-0.4.2.1_V5.zip has been installed cleanly successfully. Although the reader freezed during the installation, it is OK after plugged the power supply and reset. It seems a bug of iRex instead of Xournal.

I wonder how do you page up/down in Xournal. It seems that the page up/down button of the DR1000s just move the focus around the option menus. It would be of great convenience if one could page up/down with the touch button of DR1000S instead of the page up/down menu. Or there is something I don't know?

Thanks.

[Mackx]

Originally Posted by windspeedo

Xournal is the most useful tool for me in iDex DR1000s.

Xournal-0.4.2.1_V5.zip has been installed cleanly successfully. Although the reader freezed during the installation, it is OK after plugged the power supply and reset. It seems a bug of iRex instead of Xournal.

I wonder how do you page up/down in Xournal. It seems that the page up/down button of the DR1000s just move the focus around the option menus. It would be of great convenience if one could page up/down with the touch button of DR1000S instead of the page up/down menu. Or there is something I don't know?

Thanks.

Yes the installation procedure is not yet very 'comfortable' I also noticed that sometimes the (full)-install seems to hang. I need to look at this for the future.

W.r.t. the keys. A short tap generates GDK_Up/Down events, a long tap (color of led slightly changes) generates a GDK_Page_Up/Down. So you should already be able to go to the next page with the keys. I will also add 'improving key-handling' on my todo-list, see what I can do.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Mackx]

I already promised a few times that I would post the code of my Xournal-port with all the updates in the forum. So finaly here it is. The code belongs to the update 5 posted a few days ago.

If you want to try for your self (I assume that you have installed Ajunta+poky):
- Unpack the sources (this gives some error, but the files seem to be there?)
- Start the Anjuta project
- Check if Poky plug-in is enabled (Edit->Preferences Installed Plugins, poky should be marked)
I might have removed too many temp files so:
- Build->Run Autogenerate... (no parameters)
- Build-> Run Configure... (use --prefix=/usr/local as parameter)
And then build
- Build->Build Project
and use emulator
- Tools->Start QEMU (this will take some time)
- Tools->Deploy

If you make changes try to keep the structure of the files as they are now, so new updates from the original author can easily be merged.

[Floeee]

i have installed xournal after i got the DR yesterday and also installed the expansion, but writing or scribbling isnt possible, because the input lag of the pen is much higher than with the normal scribbling function and i really cant use it

is this normal or maybe because of the installed extension? do you guys have also this much higher input lag?

[tjdean256]

Originally Posted by Floeee

is this normal or maybe because of the installed extension? do you guys have also this much higher input lag?

I don't use the "experimental" version, which has the 2 s lag in updating. The lag doesn't bother me much. To me, it is offset by the other advantages afforded by the utility.

[Mackx]

There is an menu-option called Options->Experimental Update. By default it is disabled. When disabled, the 'normal' screen refresh from GTK is used. Since the e-ink screen is very slow, iRex build in some changes to accumulate updates and do them not more then one about every 2 seconds. When you enable the Experimental Update, a low-level display driver will be controlled directly, giving the same speed as the native applictions. There is a catch however, using the low-level driver at the same time as a full-screen update seems to hang the DR sometimes. Screen updates are easily triggered by pressing keys so best is to lock all keys (or all except the left onces fi yoou are right handed...). (The native application seems to have a mechanism to prevent simultanious access.)
When you have enabled the option be sure to save Preferences, so it will be enabled next time you start Xournal.
(For the old users: disabled is the old V3 and enabled the old V4.)

[Mackx]

Since it is my Birthday today, an update for Xournal with experimental PDF annotation support. It uses the poppler library, same as used with the native PDF viewer/annotator. The code in Xournal does not implement any caching/memory management functions, so be carefull when using it. It might crash when you view a lot of pdf pages and has a lot of 'ghosting' (refresh problems)!! (to be improved later). Stay with update 5 if you do not need PDF annotation support (or just don't use it ...).

I updated the first message in this thread with the new installation files.



PS: To celebrate the update and my birthday, free beer coming saturday at cafe Willems in Roermond, the Netherlands for everybody carying a DR! (First unoffcial DR1000 owner meeting ? )

[pthwaite]

Mackx,
I've given it a try and I seem to be having a difficulty. I opened a pdf file, zoomed into 100% and wrote.
I then saved it as a pdf file.

When I view the saved pdf, in say preview on the MAC or ADobe on the PC, the annotations are displayed in the centre of the screen, not where they were written.

Do the annotations only work at the default opening resoloution? or what am I doing wrong?

regards, Howard

[Mackx]

Hi Howard,

I quickly tried to preproduce, opened a pdf, wrote something when full screen, zoomed in , wrote something else. Zoomed out (every was still ok) and exported to PDF. Then I used my PC to open the document from the SD-card. But still all was OK. Can you better describe the steps you did? I must be doing different things. It is rather late now (have to get up in 6 hours) so I will look further at it this weekend (not much time tomorrow).

Thanks for the feedback.
Marcel.

[pthwaite]

I could forward you the file if you want me to PM you.

I opened the pdf.
I zoomed in
I wrote a few test scribbles
I saved the file as a pdf (annotate pdf)

It was user manual so it is not an A4 document but rather an approx A5 booklet. The bit I wanted to write on was just the user details, so I zoomed in.

[tjdean256]

I thought I would give V6 a try and grade some 3-4 page student papers printed to pdf from MS Word. Everything seemed to be working fine except when I got to the last page - it was a duplicate of the next to the last page. I tried some others and the last page was missing. The last pages were visible when I opened the files outside Xournal.

Thanks for your efforts.

td