Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
Some people use plain text. Some people using pen and paper.
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I'll use plain text on Jota (Android), KATE (Linux), Notepad++ (Windows) and Nebo (Kobo Sage Advanced notebooks). The Sage finally replaced paper notes, though Jota on phone was close.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
I've seen some not bad HTML editors in specialist applications
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Specialist, yes. Otherwise a decent text editor or wordprocessor is better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
For years I've had a design in mind, just no time to implement it, but I do already have the base component software available my language of choice, so the really hard part is already done, the rest is just wrapping some interface details around it.
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That might have been worthwhile in 1989 (when HTML spec came out), if it did outlining, styles, dictionaries, formatting & styles of pages etc and could export doc, later docx, odt, PDF. Otherwise it's simply a better editor for Web pages.
I've written and worked on editors and implemented both programming languages and translation tools for wordprocessor formats and programming languages as part of the "day job" in the past. I even did a DOS text editor with Windows style menus, icons, foot pedal for sound file control (dictation files) not limited to RAM for file size and with hyperlinks, offering to create one if not found (pure text screen). It later worked well enough even in Win 3.1 and later NT 4.0 in a window. But it never had styles or formatting.
You'd be re-inventing the wheel. Also users don't really care ahout how the Wordprocessor stores the file (and true human readible XML is only an export option; xml was invented to allow a human to write a new import to native format function). There are plenty of alternates to MS Word and LO Writer, but all are either paid programs or pointless. MS Word is the corporate standard and it and Excel were two of MS's best programs from the beginning and on Mac before MS Windows was viable and LO Writer is the best free alternative. I've used the earlier not so good predecessors such as Star Office and Open Office. I used to have to teach Wordstar, then Wordperfect then MS Word.
I could write more about HTML, CSS and epub and why it was a mistake that the epub org was wrapped into the HTML one. HTML & CSS isn't perfect. Unlike some native format you don't control it and it has done crazy stuff and U-turns. Now dominated by Google which is bad for HTML and browsers and the Web.
Local programs and files are best except for sharing/collaboration and even then you must be able to download and edit off line.
*Nebo is also available on iOS and Android (Digitizer based stylus/pen/pencil needed); also in some fashion on MacOS and Windows. The Kobo Sage & Kobo Elipsa implementation is closer to iOS paid version than iOS free version (Grandson has Nebo on iOS iPad with 3rd party cheap "pencil").