MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - PDFRead - reading PDFs on the 1100/1150/1200 eBook Readers

alex_d · 04-09-2007, 11:13 AM

"(don't want to add too many options to PDFRead)"

aww.... come on. Don't let your windows software get bogged down by the shortcomings of the command line. (I know this is the reason because you've mentioned it elsewhere.) The whole point of a GUI is that it allows you to effectively support and present many more features. If you don't want to add them to the linux version, that's fine.

"That's going to be a bit tough, as the Windows GUI isn't really a GUI. I've actually hijacked an installer (based on NSIS) to provide GUI-like features. Main reason: small code (~60kB) which works on all Windows versions with zero dependencies."

Oh.

"I don't really want to get into the GUI thing for now, I want to focus on features"

It's kind of hard to separate the two, seeing as it's hard to add features to the command line (and you're already claiming to have hit the ceiling).

I know the real reason you don't want to do a gui. It's because you're unfamiliar with how to do it and it does take quite a bit of work. (I know, because that's the exact same reason pdfrasterfarian stayed text-based.)

"(If someone does write a GUI, I'd be happy to include it -- all the current GUI does is build a command line and then execute it)."

Yeah, we need that person.

"You're right, some of the options will not make sense unless you know what is actually happening during all the various stages. I'll make a document about it and post it on the website sometime tomorrow."

Eh... a document isn't really the right solution. No one reads those things. A program should be its own document. I understand that your installer approach presents big limitations, but on the other hand it should have strong facilities to create a "wizard" to ask questions next to explanations similar to pdfrasterfarian.

"The best way I can think of is to allow a page spec for conversion and convert for those pages only. ie. that way, you can convert a single page and see how it looks finally. Don't know how it will integrate with the windows GUI, though."

It shouldn't be a problem if you can just call a command in the middle rather than the end.

04-09-2007, 11:13 AM	#63
alex_d Addict Posts: 303 Karma: 187 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: Sony Reader	"(don't want to add too many options to PDFRead)" aww.... come on. Don't let your windows software get bogged down by the shortcomings of the command line. (I know this is the reason because you've mentioned it elsewhere.) The whole point of a GUI is that it allows you to effectively support and present many more features. If you don't want to add them to the linux version, that's fine. "That's going to be a bit tough, as the Windows GUI isn't really a GUI. I've actually hijacked an installer (based on NSIS) to provide GUI-like features. Main reason: small code (~60kB) which works on all Windows versions with zero dependencies." Oh. "I don't really want to get into the GUI thing for now, I want to focus on features" It's kind of hard to separate the two, seeing as it's hard to add features to the command line (and you're already claiming to have hit the ceiling). I know the real reason you don't want to do a gui. It's because you're unfamiliar with how to do it and it does take quite a bit of work. (I know, because that's the exact same reason pdfrasterfarian stayed text-based.) "(If someone does write a GUI, I'd be happy to include it -- all the current GUI does is build a command line and then execute it)." Yeah, we need that person. "You're right, some of the options will not make sense unless you know what is actually happening during all the various stages. I'll make a document about it and post it on the website sometime tomorrow." Eh... a document isn't really the right solution. No one reads those things. A program should be its own document. I understand that your installer approach presents big limitations, but on the other hand it should have strong facilities to create a "wizard" to ask questions next to explanations similar to pdfrasterfarian. "The best way I can think of is to allow a page spec for conversion and convert for those pages only. ie. that way, you can convert a single page and see how it looks finally. Don't know how it will integrate with the windows GUI, though." It shouldn't be a problem if you can just call a command in the middle rather than the end. Last edited by alex_d; 04-09-2007 at 12:08 PM.