Here's a few cents worth of blathering on my part. I'm not offering any
guarantees on the accuracy of the statements or opinions found herein.
>A PDF reader would require quite a lot of stuff:
>
> - (the big one) code to support a graphics model FAR richer than
> that provided in QuickDraw. PDF's model is effectively the same
> as PostScript's, including affine transformations over disjoint
> paths, bezier objects, and arbitrary fills.
Wouldn't most of us be happy with a model that handled basic, scrollable
layout sans heavy graphics. The majority of the PDF documents I view and
retain for future reference are 98% text. I realize that one of the major
benefits (and selling points) of PDF is the accurate reproduction of
complex layout and aesthetic nuances. But in reality, most PDF documents
lack both of these things because it's mainly about the data content.
> - font hinting support
Newton-based bitmapped fonts are clearer to read than many anti-aliased
and hand-hinted typefaces used within the Acrobat environment. Hinting
wouldn't necessarily be required if: 1) the aesthetic nuances (as
mentioned above) were not a priority, and 2) a minimum point size using
the native bitmap fonts was used to display the data.
> - limited encryption support
I can't comment on the feasibility or implementation of this, but again
I raise the question: how many PDFs distributed today actually use the
encryption capabilities of PDF? Perhaps not enough to warrant worrying
about it initially.
> - realistically, sufficient bitmap memory to render an entire page
> (unless you want your code to be much more complex)
Maybe displaying a converted (legibly arranged a la Newt's Cape) document
rather than a rendered (accurately reproduced a la Acrobat Reader) is the
solution.
g.
......................................................................
Grant Hutchinson Interface Considerations & Toys
Live video served fresh since 1996. http://www.splorp.com/
Now fortified with daily ramblings. http://www.splorp.com/blog/
Newton. It's the Palm with a brain. http://www.splorp.com/newton/
-- This is the Newtontalk mailinglist - http://www.newtontalk.net To unsubscribe or manage: visit the above link or mailto:newtontalk-request_at_newtontalk.net?Subject=unsubscribe
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Wed Oct 03 2001 - 12:01:36 EDT