Terminal emulator for Touch (and Paperwhite?)

[nasser]

Originally Posted by baf

That's clever idea, but the gain will be minimal. Average images folder size is 9 KB plus 10 KB of xml config. Removing two layouts you will save 40 KB.

Neither will it solve flashing problem. As we specify keyboard layout on command line kterm will just start with given config instead of default one. It won't be switched later.

I don't quite get what problems it could solve, but if there is need for kterm.sh script to accept the arguments that will be passed to kterm, the patch is trivial.

#!/bin/sh
EXTENSION=/mnt/us/extensions/kterm
DPI=`cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep DPI | sed -n 's/.*(\([0-9]\+\), [0-9]\+).*/\1/p'`
#use different layouts for high resolution devices
if [ ${DPI} -gt 290 ]; then
  PARAM="-l ${EXTENSION}/layouts/keyboard-300dpi.xml"
elif [ ${DPI} -gt 200 ]; then
  PARAM="-l ${EXTENSION}/layouts/keyboard-200dpi.xml"
fi
${EXTENSION}/bin/kterm ${PARAM} "$@"

Instead of an update_*.bin, we could also have a "install" script. This would check the dpi and extract the appropriate image files. But again, won't be as user friendly as just extracting the kterm folder into /mnt/us/extensions.

baf is right in questioning the gains from removing the unused image files. Maybe just some perfectionism!

The "$@" solution is a simple way to make kterm.sh pass on parameters to the kterm executable.

As regards flashing - maybe i've been seeing too many versions on too many kindles.. but now i'm observing a distinct transition when the shift or function modifier key is pressed. In the case of pressing the shift key, only the labels change. The key borders remain constant. But when the function modifier key is pressed, I see not only the transition between the labels, but also the borders of all the keys change. And the height of the F1, F2... keys seems to be less than the height of the corresponding 1,2,3... keys!

[baf]

Originally Posted by nasser

As regards flashing - maybe i've been seeing too many versions on too many kindles.. but now i'm observing a distinct transition when the shift or function modifier key is pressed. In the case of pressing the shift key, only the labels change. The key borders remain constant. But when the function modifier key is pressed, I see not only the transition between the labels, but also the borders of all the keys change. And the height of the F1, F2... keys seems to be less than the height of the corresponding 1,2,3... keys!

You are right. It is a regression. I spoiled it somewhere between 2.0 and 2.2. Please check whether attached binary solves the problem.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by nasser

Instead of an update_*.bin, we could also have a "install" script. This would check the dpi and extract the appropriate image files. But again, won't be as user friendly as just extracting the kterm folder into /mnt/us/extensions.
- - - -

It would be the same script, regardless of how called.
By within the processing of the update package or by user action.

@baf: I do not follow why it would be required to install files that do not match the devices dpi.

[baf]

Originally Posted by knc1

@baf: I do not follow why it would be required to install files that do not match the devices dpi.

No such requirement. Of course it would be better to install only necessary files.

The only problem with such installer is that it requires maintenance, must be updated with every new device and so on.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by baf

No such requirement. Of course it would be better to install only necessary files.

The only problem with such installer is that it requires maintenance, must be updated with every new device and so on.

I see, the major problem is the maintenance involved.

For instance,
If Amazon introduces a new model before NiLuJe returns, then we are going to have problems.
I do not think anyone has NiLuJe's build system duplicated to maintain the snapshot packages.
Although the key component of that, KindleTool, is in a public repository. That is the "must maintain" component of every package.

The introduction by Amazon of their next model will probably mark the end of this forum's usefulness. (Which only Alex will notice when his ad revenue takes a nose dive.)

With NiLuJe gone this forum is down to zero moderators.
And the single helpdesk regular (the other helpdesk helpers are gone) is running out of time to answer questions.

It may be close to the time for off-site, paid, Kindle support.

[nasser]

Originally Posted by baf

You are right. It is a regression. I spoiled it somewhere between 2.0 and 2.2. Please check whether attached binary solves the problem.

v2.3 fixes the key border flashing! Tested OK on PW1, PW3 and KT3. Thanks, baf!
Slight glitch in KT3 - after I copied over the new version, there was sluggish response when pressing the shift and function modifier keys. A restart fixed this.

One more thing: the layout shows "=" and "+" interchanged. Maybe you could correct this too? keyboard.xml file needs to be edited.

[baf]

Thanks for testing!

Originally Posted by nasser

v2.3 fixes the key border flashing! Tested OK on PW1, PW3 and KT3. Thanks, baf!
Slight glitch in KT3 - after I copied over the new version, there was sluggish response when pressing the shift and function modifier keys. A restart fixed this.

I hope the KT3 problem was something temporary.

Originally Posted by nasser

One more thing: the layout shows "=" and "+" interchanged. Maybe you could correct this too? keyboard.xml file needs to be edited.

I will fix that.

[knc1]

(Only tested on PW-3, 5.6.1.1)
There was a problem running 2.2 from the KUAL Booklet.
The first time, it appeared that the keyboard was not working and no response from the touch screen.
It only **appeared** to be hung - after a 3 or 4 minute delay, the characters previously entered showed up.

Problem cleared before I could get a clue of what was happening.

Note: The main screen of the Kindle is also a Booklet, and in the early days of the paperwhite series, you could input faster via the touchscreen than the Kindle could respond.
So the above might just be a reoccurrence of a previous system problem.

To answer my own question above:
The application start-up and response is noticeably faster under the KUAL booklet than under the KUAL document.
A note on that: You can install both, they do not conflict with each other.

[baf]

Originally Posted by knc1

(Only tested on PW-3, 5.6.1.1)
There was a problem running 2.2 from the KUAL Booklet.
The first time, it appeared that the keyboard was not working and no response from the touch screen.
It only **appeared** to be hung - after a 3 or 4 minute delay, the characters previously entered showed up.

Problem cleared before I could get a clue of what was happening.

Note: The main screen of the Kindle is also a Booklet, and in the early days of the paperwhite series, you could input faster via the touchscreen than the Kindle could respond.
So the above might just be a reoccurrence of a previous system problem.

To answer my own question above:
The application start-up and response is noticeably faster under the KUAL booklet than under the KUAL document.
A note on that: You can install both, they do not conflict with each other.

Thanks! I will have to investigate it.
Does the problem repeat on each launch? Or did it occur only once?
Is it possible to test KUAL Booklet launching on KT?

[knc1]

Originally Posted by baf

Thanks! I will have to investigate it.
Does the problem repeat on each launch? Or did it occur only once?
Is it possible to test KUAL Booklet launching on KT?

Do not bother. It was a one-time thing.
I can not get it to repeat (using 2.3-beta).

If your KT is running firmware version 5.1.2 or more recent, it will run the Booklet.

[baf]

I uploaded new release to github.
It mostly fixes small issues described in previous posts plus some other minor bugs that I discovered.

[encol]

Thanks for sharing
Can you build the kual package?

[baf]

Originally Posted by encol

Thanks for sharing
Can you build the kual package?

KUAL packages are available at github releases page.

[encol]

Thanks, works fine on my PW3!

[baf]

Originally Posted by encol

Thanks, works fine on my PW3!

Great, thanks!