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Tex2002ans · 10-13-2022, 10:33 PM

<pre> is disastrous.

On many devices, the text will go flying off the edge of the screen.

Or if you're trying to read on a small/skinny device, like a cellphone, the linebreaks make it impossible to read.

Some of this <pre> discussion happened way back in:

2015: "Text alignment/spacing for Songbook"

but it hasn't been brought up on MobileRead in a very long time...

I remember <pre> used to be discussed often in the olden days, but I can't find those topics now.

Everyone probably collectively agreed how awful it was and hasn't brought it up since.

- - -

Side Note: And I swear I wrote a post on "code blocks" + syntax highlighting in ebooks... maybe that was in a personal email/rant I did to Hitch years ago.

There was this one programming ebook where I argued replacing every block with SVG and/or high-resolution PNGs generated directly from the source code... using something like LaTeX's minted to go from:

raw code
-> custom-sized PDF
-> SVG or PNG.

This would allow you to generate line numbers and have much more complicated layout/breaks, without the need for Javascript or CSS3 overflows or any of that stuff (that wouldn't work on 99% of ereaders).

Not very Accessible, but at least it would be readable on nearly everything.

(Pinch/zoom on PNGs and/or perfectly laid-out+crisp text SVGs.)

(Reminds me of that 2014 topic on SVG Charts/Tables.)

10-13-2022, 10:33 PM	#9
Tex2002ans Wizard Posts: 2,306 Karma: 13057279 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kobo Forma, Nook	<pre> is disastrous. On many devices, the text will go flying off the edge of the screen. Or if you're trying to read on a small/skinny device, like a cellphone, the linebreaks make it impossible to read. Some of this <pre> discussion happened way back in: 2015: "Text alignment/spacing for Songbook" but it hasn't been brought up on MobileRead in a very long time... I remember <pre> used to be discussed often in the olden days, but I can't find those topics now. Everyone probably collectively agreed how awful it was and hasn't brought it up since. - - - Side Note: And I swear I wrote a post on "code blocks" + syntax highlighting in ebooks... maybe that was in a personal email/rant I did to Hitch years ago. There was this one programming ebook where I argued replacing every block with SVG and/or high-resolution PNGs generated directly from the source code... using something like LaTeX's minted to go from: raw code -> custom-sized PDF -> SVG or PNG. This would allow you to generate line numbers and have much more complicated layout/breaks, without the need for Javascript or CSS3 overflows or any of that stuff (that wouldn't work on 99% of ereaders). Not very Accessible, but at least it would be readable on nearly everything. (Pinch/zoom on PNGs and/or perfectly laid-out+crisp text SVGs.) (Reminds me of that 2014 topic on SVG Charts/Tables.) Last edited by Tex2002ans; 10-13-2022 at 10:48 PM.