Xournal note taking app ported

[Mackx]

Originally Posted by ericshliao

I guess maybe the hang-up problem is caused by both the modified GTK+ lib and your code trying to re-draw (using e-ink display driver) that GtkWidget in the same time. If my conjecture is correct, making the GtkWidget un-aware of expose-event temporarily can solve the hang-ups problem.

Unfortunately expose events come very often, also while scribbling, most of them do not have immediate effect, because of the 'update-behaviour' of the DR display-driver in sysd. Thanks for thinking with me.

[tjdean256]

Originally Posted by Mackx

I found a hack that allows to start xournal when clicking on .xoj files.

Mackx

I was trying to apply your workaround to be able to open an .xoj by tapping on the filename. But even after doing a full install of v3a, I still have a ? mark for .xoj files. Do I need to do something else?

td

[Mackx]

Originally Posted by tjdean256

Mackx

I was trying to apply your workaround to be able to open an .xoj by tapping on the filename. But even after doing a full install of v3a, I still have a ? mark for .xoj files. Do I need to do something else?

td

From you description it is not clear how you made the changes to dr1000.ini.
The dr1000.ini file is (over-)written with the settings that are present 'in-memory'. So if you used leadpad to edit dr1000.ini, your changes will be lost when you shutdown the DR.
So you need to update the dr1000.ini 'off-line'. During a reboot the dr1000.ini file is read and the new settings will be used. (It is not related to an install of xournal.)

Hope this helps.

[Mackx]

Originally Posted by yingwu

I have a silly question here. Sorry for this. To make notes by the DR, one possible way is by using templates and there is a thread. I think the templates are fine. So what is the Xournal for? I mean whether there are some special functions or benefits we could have by using the Xournal? Sorry for my questions and thanks.

Hi yingwu,

That is indeed a valid question. For me xournal has the following advantages over using templates:
- With xournal you can save your remarks under a name that bests fits its content.
- There are always (just-)enough pages in the document.
- You can convert them to pdf, without using the companion SW.
- You can use 'real-characters' apart from the scribbles

Templates also have their advantages.

[tjdean256]

Thanks.

No I made the changes with VIM on an Windows XP machine. No biggie.

[Mackx]

Originally Posted by tjdean256

Thanks.

No I made the changes with VIM on an Windows XP machine. No biggie.

Maybe it is just a typo or a <cr><lf> problem? I put my editor on Unix line-endings.

[Mackx]

I promissed a new update in some other thread, here it is. The updates are not that big:
- The file dialogs are bigger,
- I added some extra menu-items in the DR-menu (I used some standard icons, so they look kind of funny...help appriciated!),
- some extra full-screen refreshes to make the 'Select Rectangle' and 'Insert Vertical Space' functions more usefull
- colors are removed, they are now from black to white
- I added some extra protection in the V4 version and
- some minor updates to improve usability.
Personally I only use the V4 version, but I make sure that all keys are locked. The crashes seem to be caused by some missing protection in the low-level display driver, so it is important to avoid full-screen updates and scribblings at the same time (for the V4).

Below the installation instructions:

Installing V3c:
Unzip the V3c version to your SD card. The Programs/Install folder will contain a installXournalPdfV3c_full and a installXournalPdfV3c_upgrade icon (once you started the DR). I also added the other two required ipkg files, so the "full"-version will install do a 'full-install' . The "upgrade"-version will only install the xournal-package (so update the xournal-app and some stuff used by the app.) The full takes considerable more time then the upgrade, so be patient. (Note that the full install will copy a xournal.desktop-file (which gives the icon you see to start the app) in the Program-folder and not on the Desktop as the original install does). I only used the full-install on a DR that already had xournal installed, so I please let me know if it does not install on a 'clean'-system.

Installing V4c:
For the V4c version, I took a different approach. Unzip the V4c zip-file to your SD-card. It will copy ONLY the app in Programs/_xournal/ and copy an xournalEX.desktop in the Programs-folder. So you can choose which version you use, the EX(perimental) version will use some of the components installed by the V3-version, so you also need to install that version.
REMEMBER: version 4c is still unstable, after a crash you will loose all your unsaved data!

The files in the Programs/Install and Programs/_install folders can be removed after installation.

Uninstall:
And for those that want to know, there is still no 'proper' uninstall. Best trick is to re-install the firmware, which should wipe the complete internal flash.

Feedback:
Please keep giving me feedback on problems or improvements for the program.

[Mackx]

Please be aware that after installing firmware R1.7 you need to re-install the 'full'-version of Xournal. Xournal installs on internal-flash (including two required libraries), which is erased when installing new firmware.

[Groen]

Originally Posted by Mackx

Please be aware that after installing firmware R1.7 you need to re-install the 'full'-version of Xournal. Xournal installs on internal-flash (including two required libraries), which is erased when installing new firmware.

Xournal appears to work correctly after installing FW 1.7 and reinstalling Xournal (3c).

Groen

[tjdean256]

Originally Posted by tjdean256

Mackx

I was trying to apply your workaround to be able to open an .xoj by tapping on the filename. But even after doing a full install of v3a, I still have a ? mark for .xoj files. Do I need to do something else?

td

Updating to 1.7 fixed the problem. Tapping on .xoj files opens the file in Xournal now with the changes to the .ini file.

[Viacheslav]

Originally Posted by Mackx

I need help from people that are better in creating graphics then me. The xournal documents are now shown as txt-documents in the Content Browser (if you applied the previous patch). This can be improved if new icons are created.

OK. I have made a set of Xournal file icons that would go well with other ctb icons.

[tjdean256]

Originally Posted by Viacheslav

OK. I have made a set of Xournal file icons that would go well with other ctb icons.

Nice work.

[kadbr0]

Mackx, you are a hero!

I was pretty disappointed about the notetaking capability of my new DR1000S, but Xournal made me very happy again! V4 is amazing in the speed it follows the pen, V3 is 3 letters behind all the time. So, it's V4 i will use.

Dik

[Viacheslav]

Originally Posted by Mackx

I promissed a new update in some other thread, here it is.
...
Please keep giving me feedback on problems or improvements for the program.

I installed xournal for the first time and was very pleased with the software itself, especially the Export to PDF function. However, it lacks proper internationalization.

Some parts of menus (standard items) on my screen are in Russian while other remain English. This is quite inconvenient and makes Xournal the only untranslated DR app. There is an i18n patch for Xournal and a Catalan translation at sourceforge. I started making a Russian translation, but I need an "intltoolized" build to test it. Please, add i18n support to the V4 DR build of xournal.

I could try to apply the patch myself, but I failed to find the patched for DR xournal source. It must be online somewhere or it would be a GPL violation

[tjdean256]

Originally Posted by kadbr0

I was pretty disappointed about the notetaking capability of my new DR1000S, but Xournal made me very happy again! V4 is amazing in the speed it follows the pen, V3 is 3 letters behind all the time. So, it's V4 i will use.

Dik

Has V4 locked up on you yet? Mackx has said V4 is still experimental so I am sticking with V3 until he is confident in it.

td