[OLPC library] PDF reader not really user friendly...

[Carol Lerche]

On a related topic, I'd like to mention how beautifully a docbook formatted
document looks (with a simple css) when read in browse.  Given the
prevalence of this format, I think it would be beneficial to special-case a
mapping of the game keys to understand the links that are conventionally
present for these files.  If necessary, some option could be present to
enable/disable this mapping.

As it is, before beginning to read one needs to find the position of "next"
on a rotated screen with the (hidden) touchpad and use the (hidden) mouse
buttons to navigate to the next segment (chapter/etc.) of the document.

Personally, I think that the OLPC library might usefully choose docbook
rather than pdf as the preferred format for texts made available in xol
files.  It enables the layout of the document to match the screen real
estate, including when a reader increases the font size, it is a compact
representation, images can still be integrated into the document, and it is
a standard, open format.

On Jan 26, 2008 9:50 AM, Chas. Owens <chas.owens at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Jan 26, 2008 4:00 AM, Hilaire Fernandes <hilaire at ofset.org> wrote:
> > Not sure it has been reported.
> > I looks to me (from update.1) the PDF reader is not user friendly,
> > especially when one want to read book in portrait format, full screen
> > and navigate from page to page (pressing one button to move
> > next/previous page).
> > I found the operation to achieve to this not obvious and not intuitive.
> snip
>
> Yes, the page-up (O) and page-down (X) buttons should move to the
> start of the next and previous pages not scroll a fixed amount.
>
> snip
> > Probably when the screen is rotated, the PDF reader should be set in a
> > special full screen mode with per-page navigation mode.
> > It is a minimum for a decent eBook reader.
> snip
>
> I can't disagree with this more.  Many of my PDFs have massive margins
> that make the text unreadable if I try to fit the whole page on the
> screen.  I will always need a custom zoom level.  You can get a full
> screen view by pressing alt-enter (alt-enter also brings back the
> menu).
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