New Firmware: First Impressions

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Laura81

Would this make the page numbering accurate, which I find it never is on the current firmware.

IMHO, CoolReader's page numbering is more "functional", but there really is no way to make page numbering "accurate" since ebook files do not really have page numbers at all. Different font sizes, line spacing, indents, etc. all change how many characters can be displayed in one screen of information, so "page numbers" are always going to be an approximation.

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

IMHO, CoolReader's page numbering is more "functional", but there really is no way to make page numbering "accurate" since ebook files do not really have page numbers at all. Different font sizes, line spacing, indents, etc. all change how many characters can be displayed in one screen of information, so "page numbers" are always going to be an approximation.

Aren't page numbers in epub based upon the physical number of pages in a paperback book? Hence why you may do 2-3 page turns on the ereader yet only increment the page number on the right margin by 1?

You are right, page numbers with Coolreader are more functional. Gives the reader the exact number of page turns on the ereader to the end of the book (taking into consideration font size).

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Aren't page numbers in epub based upon the physical number of pages in a paperback book? Hence why you may do 2-3 page turns on the ereader yet only increment the page number on the right margin by 1?

Page numbers on the right margin? Perhaps you are referring to PDF? I dislike the ADE reader so much that I have only very rarely used it, so I may be mistaken. However, since PDF is a page description language, it is natural for it to have page numbers. There is no such requirement in EPUB that I am aware off. There are certainly a large number of people more aware of the EPUB technical specifications than I am, but I have not seen an EPUB that I have built have any page numbers built into it. Page numbers do not make sense to me in any kind of reflowable document since the number of pages in the document depend on font selection, font size, line spacing, indents, and so on.

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Page numbers on the right margin? Perhaps you are referring to PDF? I dislike the ADE reader so much that I have only very rarely used it, so I may be mistaken. However, since PDF is a page description language, it is natural for it to have page numbers. There is no such requirement in EPUB that I am aware off. There are certainly a large number of people more aware of the EPUB technical specifications than I am, but I have not seen an EPUB that I have built have any page numbers built into it. Page numbers do not make sense to me in any kind of reflowable document since the number of pages in the document depend on font selection, font size, line spacing, indents, and so on.

Adobe's ePub reader puts little page numbers in the RH margin. They are not 'built-in'.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by jusmee

Adobe's ePub reader puts little page numbers in the RH margin. They are not 'built-in'.

Dang it, now you have forced me to run ADE again just to verify.

You, of course, are totally correct.
The page number is in the right margin, but the program does not seem to recalculate the page number when the font size is changed, which makes the page number that it shows a kind of strange metric IMHO?
CoolReader seems to recalculate total screens and the current screen number when you change any of the display characteristics on the current document, so you always know about how many more page flips you need to reach the end. Since it also graphically shows chapter boundaries, you also have an idea of where you are in the current chapter.

[Fincary]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

The page number is in the right margin, but the program does not seem to recalculate the page number when the font size is changed, which makes the page number that it shows a kind of strange metric IMHO?

I think I read somewhere that ADE puts the page numbers in every 1024 characters. That is why it doesn't recalculate on font size.

[tmclough]

Originally Posted by Fincary

I think I read somewhere that ADE puts the page numbers in every 1024 characters. That is why it doesn't recalculate on font size.

That's what I remember reading somewhere, too.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Dang it, now you have forced me to run ADE again just to verify.

You, of course, are totally correct.
The page number is in the right margin, but the program does not seem to recalculate the page number when the font size is changed, which makes the page number that it shows a kind of strange metric IMHO?
CoolReader seems to recalculate total screens and the current screen number when you change any of the display characteristics on the current document, so you always know about how many more page flips you need to reach the end. Since it also graphically shows chapter boundaries, you also have an idea of where you are in the current chapter.

Not a strange metric That is the number used to return to you book later (recently read) . It always returns to the page with the number that was in effect for the top of the view. If you see a number anywhere besides the Top Right, yo return to the previous number

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by theducks

Not a strange metric That is the number used to return to you book later (recently read) . It always returns to the page with the number that was in effect for the top of the view. If you see a number anywhere besides the Top Right, yo return to the previous number

What is strange about the 1024 character method is that it is totally unrelated to your real location in a book as far as the number of screens to read is concerned. The advantage of the 1024 character method is that it is portable across devices, with the disadvantage that it tells you nothing of your real location relative to the total number of screens left to read.

Different strokes for different folks I guess, but I can not tolerate that useless number on the right margin. I much prefer CoolReader's method of showing current screen number and total screen number, with a graphic of chapter locations. Of course, that does require having the status bar present, so I leave the status bar turned on. ADE does not currently even provide that simple choice as an option.

[cancelx]

What program on the PP is used to read PDB ?

thanks

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

What is strange about the 1024 character method is that it is totally unrelated to your real location in a book as far as the number of screens to read is concerned. The advantage of the 1024 character method is that it is portable across devices, with the disadvantage that it tells you nothing of your real location relative to the total number of screens left to read.

Adobe does support an extension to the ePub standard that allows a publisher to include in the ePub a map from paper pages to locations in the ePub. When that map is present, the "little numbers in the margin" represent actual pages in some-paper-edition-or-other of the book. The 1024 character method is ADE's fall-back used when the page map is missing. And since the page map is a non-standard extension, it's almost always missing...

Xenophon

[Xochipilli2012]

Originally Posted by cancelx

What program on the PP is used to read PDB ?

thanks

PDBs are opened with the same software as before (ADE?) and appending a .fb2 to the filename will not open them in CoolReader the way it will for EPUBs.

TXT, FB2, HTML, and RTF files all use CoolReader by default now.

I was a bit surprised by RTF as I didn't think RTF files could be opened by the previous software--but I might not have tested this previously and just assumed it wasn't possible.

DOC files are still read using ADE (or whatever the "before" software is called).

Cheers!

[cancelx]

Thanks X-- ps- did you get the update figured out, what it a problem or a glitch on "your" end?

im holding out on the new fw... havent got my PP yet, and seeing what errors people are getting.

(BTW--double space in paragraphs -- was this an individual problem, someone's book file or a FW issue?)

jim

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by cancelx

Thanks X-- ps- did you get the update figured out, what it a problem or a glitch on "your" end?

im holding out on the new fw... havent got my PP yet, and seeing what errors people are getting.

(BTW--double space in paragraphs -- was this an individual problem, someone's book file or a FW issue?)

jim

People are reporting on using unsupported firmware using coolreader to open ePUB. There is no problem using the supplied firmware with ePUBs in the way they are supposed to be used. Be careful what you read and don't generalize the results and blame the Pocket Pro.

Dale

[cancelx]

Hey Dale... wasn't blaming anything mate... just asking about the firmware.

I saw people said they downloaded the official FW update, and got locked screens, or extra lines in paragraphs, or the TTS is gone.... nothing said that was unsupported firmware ??