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spaetz · 05-09-2012, 01:57 AM

Hi Peterx, I was a bit sceptical if there is a need for another scribbling app, as the boox already bundles one. But I have now tried yours (scribble_2012-03-04.zip) and the bundled one in 1.7RC and I believe onyx should drop theirs immediately and adopt yours. Let me give reasons and a few suggestions:

What's bad about the bundled one:

1.7RC only ever exports the last page of multi-page scribbles (I expect this to be a fixable bug)
Bundled one exports pages as a low-res .png file, which is hardly readable when opening or printing.
Changing anything in bundled scribble requires the opening of the awkward context menu, e.g. it takes several clicks and waiting for the opening and closing of the dialog to switch between pen and eraser (slow).
I don't see the added value in being able to have different backgrounds (perhaps besides lines and /or grid backgrounds)

Yours is nice because:

It starts fast and is easy to use
Exporting (ie opening via xournal) gives me a *much higher* resolution, that is actually nice to read/print.
I like the toolbar approach, with the button size it has. Switching between pen/eraser is quick and easy (well worth the space it "wastes")
Great to use the xournal file format rather than saving stuff in another home-grown format. Xournal opens the files without any hitch.
It automatically adds new empty pages as needed, making the usability much easier. (can it be that the bundled scribble only allows to insert new pages to the *front* or am I stupid? (No, don't actually answer the last Q ))

Improvement suggestions (filed on github):

The opening file dialog does not update the screen when needed. E.g. click on a directory in the breadcrumb navigation and apparently *nothing* happens (when it has switched into that directory, really). UPDATE: I have tried the 04/18 version now and it seems to behave much better but e.g. the top "breadcrumb" still gets corrupted.
I think a "Back arrow" on the top right to exit the app would be nice for consistency with many other apps and menus. Actually I would prefer it to be a "X" button to indicate it would close the app, but the boox never seems to use that.
The context menu icon in the lower left is still there but seems to do nothing. Not sure if it should disappear or if there is a context menu to be implemented (zoom/close etc).
I would appreciate being able to save under a different name to get multiple scribbles. Also I would appreciate being able to save under a different location (I want my scribbles on the flash card where I don't care about wearing it out by writing too much). Perhaps the default saving location should be the flash card (if one is there) in any case?
Lastly (not filed as issue), it would be great to be able to "delete" a page from the scribbles. This way I could delete earlier scribbles that I don't need anymore easily.

I do appreciate the app even at this early stage and welcome any further development on it. I will try to get the scratchbox env set up soon, so that I can compile current versions myself.

Lastly, is it possible to add the scribble app to the Boox "Application" view by adding some link/entry somewhere?

05-09-2012, 01:57 AM	#85
spaetz Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 30 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Switzerland Device: Boox M92, formerly iRex DR1000 (broke just as they went bankrupt)	Hi Peterx, I was a bit sceptical if there is a need for another scribbling app, as the boox already bundles one. But I have now tried yours (scribble_2012-03-04.zip) and the bundled one in 1.7RC and I believe onyx should drop theirs immediately and adopt yours. Let me give reasons and a few suggestions: What's bad about the bundled one: 1.7RC only ever exports the last page of multi-page scribbles (I expect this to be a fixable bug) Bundled one exports pages as a low-res .png file, which is hardly readable when opening or printing. Changing anything in bundled scribble requires the opening of the awkward context menu, e.g. it takes several clicks and waiting for the opening and closing of the dialog to switch between pen and eraser (slow). I don't see the added value in being able to have different backgrounds (perhaps besides lines and /or grid backgrounds) Yours is nice because: It starts fast and is easy to use Exporting (ie opening via xournal) gives me a much higher resolution, that is actually nice to read/print. I like the toolbar approach, with the button size it has. Switching between pen/eraser is quick and easy (well worth the space it "wastes") Great to use the xournal file format rather than saving stuff in another home-grown format. Xournal opens the files without any hitch. It automatically adds new empty pages as needed, making the usability much easier. (can it be that the bundled scribble only allows to insert new pages to the front or am I stupid? (No, don't actually answer the last Q )) Improvement suggestions (filed on github): The opening file dialog does not update the screen when needed. E.g. click on a directory in the breadcrumb navigation and apparently nothing happens (when it has switched into that directory, really). UPDATE: I have tried the 04/18 version now and it seems to behave much better but e.g. the top "breadcrumb" still gets corrupted. I think a "Back arrow" on the top right to exit the app would be nice for consistency with many other apps and menus. Actually I would prefer it to be a "X" button to indicate it would close the app, but the boox never seems to use that. The context menu icon in the lower left is still there but seems to do nothing. Not sure if it should disappear or if there is a context menu to be implemented (zoom/close etc). I would appreciate being able to save under a different name to get multiple scribbles. Also I would appreciate being able to save under a different location (I want my scribbles on the flash card where I don't care about wearing it out by writing too much). Perhaps the default saving location should be the flash card (if one is there) in any case? Lastly (not filed as issue), it would be great to be able to "delete" a page from the scribbles. This way I could delete earlier scribbles that I don't need anymore easily. I do appreciate the app even at this early stage and welcome any further development on it. I will try to get the scratchbox env set up soon, so that I can compile current versions myself. Lastly, is it possible to add the scribble app to the Boox "Application" view by adding some link/entry somewhere? Last edited by spaetz; 05-11-2012 at 02:57 AM.