Now that we have good support for retrieving web pages using the HTTP requests, can we have a simple PDF viewer for viewing PDF documents on a website?
I think this would be great for providing virtual libraries, or book publishers - imagine the next novel from your favourite author being only available in SL!
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Tabatha Hegel
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Join date: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 14
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06-21-2006 18:12
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Seronis Zagato
Verified Resident
Join date: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 454
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06-21-2006 19:08
No. The PDF format is bloated and slow to process by its technical requirements. Stick to html its a lot cleaner.
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Phoenix Psaltery
Ninja Wizard
Join date: 25 Feb 2005
Posts: 2,599
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06-21-2006 19:28
No. The PDF format is bloated and slow to process by its technical requirements. Stick to html its a lot cleaner. There's nothing inherently bloated about a PDF file. It's Adobe's reader software that is bloatware. Now, if you wanna talk about a bloated and slow program, let's talk Microsoft Word... hell, anything Microsoft, for that matter. P2 _____________________
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Seronis Zagato
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Join date: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 454
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06-21-2006 20:46
There's nothing inherently bloated about a PDF file. It's Adobe's reader software that is bloatware. Now, if you wanna talk about a bloated and slow program, let's talk Microsoft Word... hell, anything Microsoft, for that matter. P2 AGreed !! But the spec for PDF files themselves is ineffecient. Check out the source code for any of the unix pdf viewers that are OSS. No links off hand but its oogly. _____________________
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Reitsuki Kojima
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Join date: 27 Jan 2004
Posts: 5,328
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06-22-2006 07:20
There's nothing inherently bloated about a PDF file. It's Adobe's reader software that is bloatware. Now, if you wanna talk about a bloated and slow program, let's talk Microsoft Word... hell, anything Microsoft, for that matter. P2 Use Foxit Reader - opens as fast as I can click on a PDF  _____________________
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Tabatha Hegel
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Join date: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 14
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06-22-2006 07:41
I don't want to get into Microsoft-bashing really (although it is fun, I know), but it's the Windows Acrobat Reader program that is big and bloated and can make people think that PDF's are a bad format.
It's not like I'm asking for the entire Acrobat suite of programs, just a simple reader to start with. Nothing fancy, just the ability to flick through a PDF document, rendered as a texture on an object. |
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Siobhan Taylor
Nemesis
Join date: 13 Aug 2003
Posts: 5,476
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06-22-2006 07:54
I don't want to get into Microsoft-bashing really (although it is fun, I know), but it's the Windows Acrobat Reader program that is big and bloated and can make people think that PDF's are a bad format. It's not like I'm asking for the entire Acrobat suite of programs, just a simple reader to start with. Nothing fancy, just the ability to flick through a PDF document, rendered as a texture on an object. _____________________
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Nekokami Dragonfly
猫神
Join date: 29 Aug 2004
Posts: 638
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06-22-2006 09:26
imagine the next novel from your favourite author being only available in SL! I don't see how this would follow. If you're retrieving the PDF using HTTP, it would be available outside SL, wouldn't it? This feature wouldn't bother me, as I don't see the risks inherent with something like, say, javascript parsing, but it's not anywhere near the top of my list of priorities. I don't go in to SL to read lengthy text, formatted or otherwise. (Talk about a bloated PDF reader!) neko _____________________
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Jolt Tank
Registered User
Join date: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 52
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Idea on dealing with PDF
06-22-2006 13:24
Couldnt SL pass off a link to a PDF to the (avalible reader) on the system and open a browser window and just handle it that way... That way one could *see* a PDF that is avalible at say an SL Kiosk or something, or for use for a form or such, but not bog down with processing it inworld?
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Seronis Zagato
Verified Resident
Join date: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 454
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06-22-2006 16:03
Now theres something i support. People use their installed viewer and no client bloat.
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Draco18s Majestic
Registered User
Join date: 19 Sep 2005
Posts: 2,744
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06-22-2006 18:26
I don't see how this would follow. If you're retrieving the PDF using HTTP, it would be available outside SL, wouldn't it? Not nessessarily. I have a flash animation I started following the book Dragoncharm. It can be found on the internet, but if I don't link you to it, you'll never find it. Same thing applies to the pdf. The link to it can only be found in SL (such as paying L$1000 or whatever to a vendor and having the ingame browser pop up with the book--last I checked the URL of those pages wasn't displayed). |