[sugar] Viewing PDFs from Browse

[Eben Eliason]

On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 10:53 AM, Tomeu Vizoso <tomeu at tomeuvizoso.net> wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 4:46 PM, Eben Eliason <eben.eliason at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 4:24 AM, Tomeu Vizoso <tomeu at tomeuvizoso.net> wrote:
>>> On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 1:40 AM, Eben Eliason <eben.eliason at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hey, this looks pretty cool, actually.  One powerful addition which I
>>>> think is necessary in order to adopt this is the addition of a Keep
>>>> button in that toolbar, by which one *could* download the pdf for
>>>> offline reading later if wanted.
>>>>
>>>> In a similar vein, would it be possible to create a supplemental
>>>> toolbar like this for other media types which browse specifically
>>>> supports?  I could see having a similar UI for images, and a perhaps
>>>> for audio and video, too.  The ability to view various formats
>>>> directly, yet also have a one-click means to download the file, sounds
>>>> promising.
>>>
>>> Hmm, shouldn't the act of viewing a PDF create an entry in the journal
>>> that allows you to resume this act? If so, shouldn't the viewer plugin
>>> create an entry in the journal by itself and that entry would contain
>>> the PDF?
>>
>> Well, in this new model, I'd think not, actually.  I can view an image
>> directly within Browse without creating a new Journal entry.
>> Basically, anything Browse handles natively remains a part of my
>> Browse session.  Anything which it cannot, or which I explicitly wish
>> to keep for myself, becomes a new downloaded object.
>
> So Browse would create some kind of entry that would allow resuming
> the reading of that book?

Of course.  Basically, the following would happen:

1. Child clicks on a link to a pdf (or "natively supported media type")
2. Browse displays the pdf directly, with the contextual toolbar
3. Browse does not yet interact with the DS; this is just part of what it does

(Stopping here would result in no Journal entry, apart from the Browse one)

4. Child clicks Keep button in contextual toolbar
5. Browse initiates a download of the pdf, as it does now
6. The resulting object in the Journal is "just a pdf"
7. pdfs open in Read by default; Read opens when the child clicks the book


Does this model make sense?  While within Browse, we're still just
browsing about within the context of the Browse session itself.  When
we keep a media object, we download that object in its "raw" form, and
it can later be opened by any supporting activity, but will always be
opened with the default handler for its mime-type by default. (It
won't be associated with Browse).

- Eben


> Thanks,
>
> Tomeu
>