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Groups > comp.lang.python > #94251 > unrolled thread

Can I copy/paste Python code?

Started byryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com>
First post2015-07-20 19:49 -0700
Last post2015-07-21 13:41 -0400
Articles 20 on this page of 42 — 15 participants

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  Can I copy/paste Python code? ryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com> - 2015-07-20 19:49 -0700
    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-07-21 12:55 +1000
      Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Christian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de> - 2015-07-21 14:29 +0200
        Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-07-22 00:48 +1000
        Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-07-21 17:12 +0100
          Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2015-07-21 20:05 -0400
        Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> - 2015-07-21 19:25 +0200
          Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-21 18:55 +0000
          Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2015-07-22 10:45 +1000
            Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> - 2015-07-22 09:01 +0200
              Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-22 13:54 +0000
                Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> - 2015-07-22 16:37 +0200
                  Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-22 14:53 +0000
                    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> - 2015-07-22 18:53 +0200
                    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Christian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de> - 2015-07-22 23:23 +0200
        Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-07-21 20:58 +0100
          Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-21 20:32 +0000
            Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-07-21 21:54 +0100
            Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Emile van Sebille <emile@fenx.com> - 2015-07-21 14:03 -0700
              Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-21 21:47 +0000
                Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Emile van Sebille <emile@fenx.com> - 2015-07-21 15:35 -0700
                  Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-22 00:10 +0000
                    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Emile van Sebille <emile@fenx.com> - 2015-07-22 09:49 -0700
                      Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-22 19:35 +0000
                        Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Emile van Sebille <emile@fenx.com> - 2015-07-22 14:39 -0700
                        Re: [OT] Can I copy/paste Python code? Michael Torrie <torriem@gmail.com> - 2015-07-22 15:56 -0600
                          Re: [OT] Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-22 22:50 +0000
                          Re: [OT] Can I copy/paste Python code? Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2015-07-23 15:39 +1000
                        Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2015-07-23 15:22 +1000
                      Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-22 20:49 +0000
                Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Michael Torrie <torriem@gmail.com> - 2015-07-21 16:36 -0600
                  Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2015-07-22 00:12 +0000
                    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Michael Torrie <torriem@gmail.com> - 2015-07-21 19:03 -0600
                    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-07-22 11:12 +1000
                Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-07-22 10:04 +1000
                  Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Jussi Piitulainen <jpiitula@ling.helsinki.fi> - 2015-07-22 10:55 +0300
                    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-07-22 18:13 +1000
        Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2015-07-22 08:47 +0100
    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> - 2015-07-21 10:24 +0200
    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? "Peter Heitzer" <peter.heitzer@rz.uni-regensburg.de> - 2015-07-21 08:40 +0000
    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? ryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com> - 2015-07-21 08:18 -0700
    Re: Can I copy/paste Python code? Gene Heskett <gheskett@wdtv.com> - 2015-07-21 13:41 -0400

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#94251 — Can I copy/paste Python code?

Fromryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com>
Date2015-07-20 19:49 -0700
SubjectCan I copy/paste Python code?
Message-ID<0f0c6018-50e7-4e95-a798-313d767ce177@googlegroups.com>
I'm trying to copy some Python code from a PDF book that I'm reading.  I want to test out the code, and I can copy it, but when I paste it into the Shell, everything is all screwed up because of the indentation. Every time I paste in any kind of code, it seems like everything is immediately left-justified, and then nothing works.

Any idea how to make this work easily?  Without re-typing hundreds of lines of code...

Thanks to all.

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#94253

FromChris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Date2015-07-21 12:55 +1000
Message-ID<mailman.796.1437447312.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94251
On Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 12:49 PM, ryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm trying to copy some Python code from a PDF book that I'm reading.  I want to test out the code, and I can copy it, but when I paste it into the Shell, everything is all screwed up because of the indentation. Every time I paste in any kind of code, it seems like everything is immediately left-justified, and then nothing works.
>
> Any idea how to make this work easily?  Without re-typing hundreds of lines of code...

Sounds like a flaw in the PDF - it creates indentation in some way
other than leading spaces/tabs. See if the PDF has a corresponding
file of ready-to-go code, that might save you some trouble.

ChrisA

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#94289

FromChristian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de>
Date2015-07-21 14:29 +0200
Message-ID<moldt9$tmm$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#94253
On 21.07.2015 04:55, Chris Angelico wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 12:49 PM, ryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'm trying to copy some Python code from a PDF book that I'm reading.  I want to test out the code, and I can copy it, but when I paste it into the Shell, everything is all screwed up because of the indentation. Every time I paste in any kind of code, it seems like everything is immediately left-justified, and then nothing works.
>>
>> Any idea how to make this work easily?  Without re-typing hundreds of lines of code...
>
> Sounds like a flaw in the PDF - it creates indentation in some way
> other than leading spaces/tabs.

PDF never uses tabs and spaces for indentation. In a PDF file, typically 
all words are placed using a drawing operator individually, the space is 
made up by your eyes when see the file. While space characters exist in 
fonts, they are practically never used. Often even inside a word there 
are breaks, because of kerning corrections. When copying the data, the 
PDF reader has to guess where the word breaks are and how the strings 
belong together. Acrobat does a good job, but fails in this special 
situation. Sometimes it even fails for a narrow running font and copies 
the string without any word breaks.

Laura's method works, because pdftotext can simulate the PDF appearance 
using spaces in the output. Maybe an OCR program with good layout could 
also be used.

Christian

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#94291

FromChris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Date2015-07-22 00:48 +1000
Message-ID<mailman.816.1437490089.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94289
On Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 10:29 PM, Christian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de> wrote:
> On 21.07.2015 04:55, Chris Angelico wrote:
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 12:49 PM, ryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm trying to copy some Python code from a PDF book that I'm reading.  I
>>> want to test out the code, and I can copy it, but when I paste it into the
>>> Shell, everything is all screwed up because of the indentation. Every time I
>>> paste in any kind of code, it seems like everything is immediately
>>> left-justified, and then nothing works.
>>>
>>> Any idea how to make this work easily?  Without re-typing hundreds of
>>> lines of code...
>>
>>
>> Sounds like a flaw in the PDF - it creates indentation in some way
>> other than leading spaces/tabs.
>
>
> PDF never uses tabs and spaces for indentation. In a PDF file, typically all
> words are placed using a drawing operator individually, the space is made up
> by your eyes when see the file. While space characters exist in fonts, they
> are practically never used. Often even inside a word there are breaks,
> because of kerning corrections. When copying the data, the PDF reader has to
> guess where the word breaks are and how the strings belong together. Acrobat
> does a good job, but fails in this special situation. Sometimes it even
> fails for a narrow running font and copies the string without any word
> breaks.

Ah. I've never dug into PDF's internal details, but the above
explanation completely doesn't surprise me.

Tip, to document publishers: Don't use PDF for anything containing
Python code. Thanks!

Actually, maybe don't use PDF at all. I keep having to help my Mum
deal with stupid problems with PDF documents she gets, and I'm never
sure whether the fault is with the PDF creation software, the human
operating said software, or limitations in the file format itself.

ChrisA

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#94296

FromBen Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk>
Date2015-07-21 17:12 +0100
Message-ID<87si8h5w2q.fsf@bsb.me.uk>
In reply to#94289
Christian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de> writes:

> On 21.07.2015 04:55, Chris Angelico wrote:
>> On Tue, Jul 21, 2015 at 12:49 PM, ryguy7272 <ryanshuell@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> [...]   Every time I paste in any kind of code, it seems
>>> like everything is immediately left-justified, and then nothing
>>> works.
<snip>
>> Sounds like a flaw in the PDF - it creates indentation in some way
>> other than leading spaces/tabs.
>
> PDF never uses tabs and spaces for indentation. In a PDF file,
> typically all words are placed using a drawing operator individually,
> the space is made up by your eyes when see the file.

It's not really a PDF issue.  It's to do with how the document is
produced.  I've just looked at a few PDF files and I have found all
three layout methods used for code: positioning, spaces and tabs.  Of
course those that use spaces may be violating some PDF rule or other,
but such files certainly exist in the wild.

<snip>
-- 
Ben.

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#94327

FromDennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com>
Date2015-07-21 20:05 -0400
Message-ID<mailman.841.1437523558.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94296
On Tue, 21 Jul 2015 17:02:16 +0000, Oscar Benjamin
<oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> declaimed the following:

>
>They're not violating any PDF rule. PDF as a format was not designed with
>this kind of usage in mind. The idea of a PDF is that contains as much
>information as is required to unambiguously represent the *appearance* of a
>document. It's really a vectorised image format (like SVG) but with a few
>extra document-like features (e.g. pages).

	I haven't looked an recent versions, but the early PDF language was
essentially a simplified PostScript (abbreviated commands). As with
PostScript, it supports vector drawing (used for font rendering, and may be
used for line drawings -- if the generator is smart enough to actually send
vector commands, and not relying on pre-rendering and sending a bitmap) and
bitmaps (used for images).

	But yes... cut&paste /from/ a PDF document was never intended to
reproduce the visual layout. Python code indentation could easily end up in
PDF as text boxes with different left/right margins -- but all the text is
left justified within its box.
-- 
	Wulfraed                 Dennis Lee Bieber         AF6VN
    wlfraed@ix.netcom.com    HTTP://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

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#94302

FromLaura Creighton <lac@openend.se>
Date2015-07-21 19:25 +0200
Message-ID<mailman.824.1437499543.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94289
In a message of Wed, 22 Jul 2015 00:48:06 +1000, Chris Angelico writes:
>Actually, maybe don't use PDF at all. I keep having to help my Mum
>deal with stupid problems with PDF documents she gets, and I'm never
>sure whether the fault is with the PDF creation software, the human
>operating said software, or limitations in the file format itself.
>
>ChrisA

Lots of the problems are with the free reader, adobe acrobat.  It is
designed so that the user is kept very much in a straight-jacket which
is a problem when your Mum needs, for instance, things to be in 36 point
for her to be able to read things at all because she is nearly blind.

Laura

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#94311

FromGrant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid>
Date2015-07-21 18:55 +0000
Message-ID<mom4j7$h1$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#94302
On 2015-07-21, Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> wrote:

> Lots of the problems are with the free reader, adobe acrobat.  It is
> designed so that the user is kept very much in a straight-jacket which
> is a problem when your Mum needs, for instance, things to be in 36 point
> for her to be able to read things at all because she is nearly blind.

That's not a problem with acrobat. That's not even a "problem" with
PDF itself, it's the whole _intent_ of PDF: to specify _exactly_ what
the document should look like and not allow the reader to muck up the
formatting, fonts, colors, alignment, page size, etc.  It's supposed
to mimic as closely as possible ink on paper: PDF is for when you want
the document to look exactly like you want it to look everwhere and
for everybody.

If you want the reader to be able to change the layout, fonts/sizes,
colors, alignments, page dimensions, etc, then PDF is just plain the
wrong format.  Complaining about a PDF reader not being able to change
the appearance of PDF documents is like complaining that glue is
sticky, oil is slippery, and knives have sharp edges.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! Make me look like
                                  at               LINDA RONSTADT again!!
                              gmail.com            

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#94331

FromSteven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info>
Date2015-07-22 10:45 +1000
Message-ID<55aee7a8$0$1637$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com>
In reply to#94302
On Wed, 22 Jul 2015 03:25 am, Laura Creighton wrote:

> Lots of the problems are with the free reader, adobe acrobat.  It is
> designed so that the user is kept very much in a straight-jacket which
> is a problem when your Mum needs, for instance, things to be in 36 point
> for her to be able to read things at all because she is nearly blind.

Surely Acrobat gives you the ability to set the scaling factor of the
displayed page? E.g. 25%, 50%, 100%, 200%, etc?



-- 
Steven

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#94348

FromLaura Creighton <lac@openend.se>
Date2015-07-22 09:01 +0200
Message-ID<mailman.854.1437548520.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94331
In a message of Wed, 22 Jul 2015 10:45:29 +1000, "Steven D'Aprano" writes:
>On Wed, 22 Jul 2015 03:25 am, Laura Creighton wrote:
>
>> Lots of the problems are with the free reader, adobe acrobat.  It is
>> designed so that the user is kept very much in a straight-jacket which
>> is a problem when your Mum needs, for instance, things to be in 36 point
>> for her to be able to read things at all because she is nearly blind.
>
>Surely Acrobat gives you the ability to set the scaling factor of the
>displayed page? E.g. 25%, 50%, 100%, 200%, etc?
>
>
>
>-- 
>Steven

The version my mother has, which is the most up to date version for
her windows vista system, doesn't, for most of the documents people
send her.  She's absolutely stuck with the font choices somebody
else made for everybody, and they aren't right for her.

And this is way it is with the bulk of problems I end up having
to deal with from people who get pdfs and have problems reading
them --  what they want to do is outside of the range of what
they are allowed to do.

Laura

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#94365

FromGrant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid>
Date2015-07-22 13:54 +0000
Message-ID<moo7ae$bpn$2@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#94348
On 2015-07-22, Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> wrote:

> She's absolutely stuck with the font choices somebody
> else made for everybody,

Once again, that is the whole _point_ of PDF.

> and they aren't right for her.

> And this is way it is with the bulk of problems I end up having
> to deal with from people who get pdfs and have problems reading
> them --  what they want to do is outside of the range of what
> they are allowed to do.

The entire purpose of PDF is to prevent people from changing the
format and appearance of documents.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! I hope I bought the
                                  at               right relish ... zzzzzzzzz
                              gmail.com            ...

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#94368

FromLaura Creighton <lac@openend.se>
Date2015-07-22 16:37 +0200
Message-ID<mailman.867.1437575851.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94365
In a message of Wed, 22 Jul 2015 13:54:22 -0000, Grant Edwards writes:
>On 2015-07-22, Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> wrote:
>
>> She's absolutely stuck with the font choices somebody
>> else made for everybody,
>
>Once again, that is the whole _point_ of PDF.
>
>> and they aren't right for her.
>
>> And this is way it is with the bulk of problems I end up having
>> to deal with from people who get pdfs and have problems reading
>> them --  what they want to do is outside of the range of what
>> they are allowed to do.
>
>The entire purpose of PDF is to prevent people from changing the
>format and appearance of documents.
>
>-- 
>Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! I hope I bought the
>                                  at               right relish ... zzzzzzzzz
>                              gmail.com            ...
>-- 

My problem isn't that I don't understand this, my problem is that I
think this is, in nearly all cases, morally the wrong thing to do. And
very often not what the document creator wanted in the first place --
they are using 'the Portable Document Format' because they expect it
to be readable by everybody.

And the upshot of this is that people send me PDFs that they cannot
use for some reason, and I get out reportlab and hack the PDF to be
something they can use, and send it back to them -- which I can pretty
much always do, unless the PDF uses a lot of bitmaps.

So this means that producing a reader that could do exactly what I do
is well within the abilities of Adobe.  But people who aren't as
technologically sophisticated as I am, or who don't have access to
such a person have to suffer.  This is not a tehcnical limitation,
but a political one.

Should Adobe get hit with a ton of lawsuits from disabled people
claiming unfair discrimination, they could change this policy
overnight.  Have the possibility of unchanging documents for the
very rare times when that is wanted and indeed needed, and the
rest of the time let the readers look at their docs any way they like.

Laura

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#94370

FromGrant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid>
Date2015-07-22 14:53 +0000
Message-ID<mooapm$es6$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#94368
On 2015-07-22, Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> wrote:

>>The entire purpose of PDF is to prevent people from changing the
>>format and appearance of documents.

> My problem isn't that I don't understand this, my problem is that I
> think this is, in nearly all cases, morally the wrong thing to do.
>
> So this means that producing a reader that could do exactly what I do
> is well within the abilities of Adobe.  But people who aren't as
> technologically sophisticated as I am, or who don't have access to
> such a person have to suffer.  This is not a tehcnical limitation,
> but a political one.

OK, so the problem is that apparently people are using PDF when they
should be using something else (probably one of the e-book formats
that allow the reader to select font and format -- or maybe just
text).

Personally, I've never seen an PDF document/reader combination that
didn't allow magnification, but just magnifying then entire document
is a pretty lousy way to make the letters bigger.

> Should Adobe get hit with a ton of lawsuits from disabled people
> claiming unfair discrimination, they could change this policy
> overnight.

It's not Adobe's fault.  PDF isn't _supposed_ to allow the reader to
change the format.  It's the fault of people who are chosing to
generate PDF documents when they should be using something else.
Asking for PDF to allow the user to change the way the document looks
is like asking for gasoline that isn't flammable.

> Have the possibility of unchanging documents for the very rare times
> when that is wanted and indeed needed, and the rest of the time let
> the readers look at their docs any way they like.

That's _exactly_ what HTML was supposed to be.  Now it's been broken
and turned into another PDF by "web designers" who think everybody has
the exact same monitor, OS, browser, eyes and brain that they have.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! I'm a fuschia bowling
                                  at               ball somewhere in Brittany
                              gmail.com            

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#94381

FromLaura Creighton <lac@openend.se>
Date2015-07-22 18:53 +0200
Message-ID<mailman.874.1437584009.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94370
In a message of Wed, 22 Jul 2015 14:53:42 -0000, Grant Edwards writes:
>On 2015-07-22, Laura Creighton <lac@openend.se> wrote:
>
>>>The entire purpose of PDF is to prevent people from changing the
>>>format and appearance of documents.
>
>> My problem isn't that I don't understand this, my problem is that I
>> think this is, in nearly all cases, morally the wrong thing to do.
>>
>> So this means that producing a reader that could do exactly what I do
>> is well within the abilities of Adobe.  But people who aren't as
>> technologically sophisticated as I am, or who don't have access to
>> such a person have to suffer.  This is not a tehcnical limitation,
>> but a political one.
>
>OK, so the problem is that apparently people are using PDF when they
>should be using something else (probably one of the e-book formats
>that allow the reader to select font and format -- or maybe just
>text).

This is the standard way for people writing documents using
libreoffice and microsoft word export them to a readership which
cannot be expected to also have libreoffice and microsoft word.

>It's not Adobe's fault.  PDF isn't _supposed_ to allow the reader to
>change the format.  It's the fault of people who are chosing to
>generate PDF documents when they should be using something else.
>Asking for PDF to allow the user to change the way the document looks
>is like asking for gasoline that isn't flammable.
>
>> Have the possibility of unchanging documents for the very rare times
>> when that is wanted and indeed needed, and the rest of the time let
>> the readers look at their docs any way they like.
>
>That's _exactly_ what HTML was supposed to be.  Now it's been broken
>and turned into another PDF by "web designers" who think everybody has
>the exact same monitor, OS, browser, eyes and brain that they have.

Could not agree more.

Laura

>Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! I'm a fuschia bowling
>                                  at               ball somewhere in Brittany
>                              gmail.com            

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#94400

FromChristian Gollwitzer <auriocus@gmx.de>
Date2015-07-22 23:23 +0200
Message-ID<mop1ih$v8c$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#94370
On 22.07.2015 16:53, Grant Edwards wrote:
> It's not Adobe's fault.  PDF isn't _supposed_ to allow the reader to
> change the format.  It's the fault of people who are chosing to
> generate PDF documents when they should be using something else.

Classic PDF, yes. It is essentially a vector drawing format with 
capabilities for font embedding etc. to ensure the identical rendering 
everywhere.

> Asking for PDF to allow the user to change the way the document looks
> is like asking for gasoline that isn't flammable.

There is an enhancement called "tagged PDF", which allows the text to 
reflow. This was invented by Adobe exactly for that purpose, to display 
text for disabled people etc.

> That's _exactly_ what HTML was supposed to be.

Not a bad choice either.

	Christian

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#94312

FromMark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk>
Date2015-07-21 20:58 +0100
Message-ID<mailman.829.1437508728.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94289
On 21/07/2015 18:25, Laura Creighton wrote:
> In a message of Wed, 22 Jul 2015 00:48:06 +1000, Chris Angelico writes:
>> Actually, maybe don't use PDF at all. I keep having to help my Mum
>> deal with stupid problems with PDF documents she gets, and I'm never
>> sure whether the fault is with the PDF creation software, the human
>> operating said software, or limitations in the file format itself.
>>
>> ChrisA
>
> Lots of the problems are with the free reader, adobe acrobat.  It is
> designed so that the user is kept very much in a straight-jacket which
> is a problem when your Mum needs, for instance, things to be in 36 point
> for her to be able to read things at all because she is nearly blind.
>
> Laura
>

All I know is that I read a review about Foxit Reader 
https://www.foxitsoftware.com/products/pdf-reader/ and I've never looked 
back.

-- 
My fellow Pythonistas, ask not what our language can do for you, ask
what you can do for our language.

Mark Lawrence

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#94313

FromGrant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid>
Date2015-07-21 20:32 +0000
Message-ID<moma9p$6dp$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#94312
On 2015-07-21, Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 21/07/2015 18:25, Laura Creighton wrote:
>
>> Lots of the problems are with the free reader, adobe acrobat.  It is
>> designed so that the user is kept very much in a straight-jacket which
>> is a problem when your Mum needs, for instance, things to be in 36 point
>> for her to be able to read things at all because she is nearly blind.

> All I know is that I read a review about Foxit Reader 
> https://www.foxitsoftware.com/products/pdf-reader/ and I've never
> looked back.

I'd have serious doubts about anybody who brags that their product has
a "Microsoft Offic 2013 Style Ribbon Toolbar". ;)

But, it apears foxit reader is Windows-only so it's a moot point for
Linux/Unix/Mac users.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! Hey, wait
                                  at               a minute!!  I want a
                              gmail.com            divorce!! ... you're not
                                                   Clint Eastwood!!

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#94314

FromMark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk>
Date2015-07-21 21:54 +0100
Message-ID<mailman.830.1437512086.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94313
On 21/07/2015 21:32, Grant Edwards wrote:
> On 2015-07-21, Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 21/07/2015 18:25, Laura Creighton wrote:
>>
>>> Lots of the problems are with the free reader, adobe acrobat.  It is
>>> designed so that the user is kept very much in a straight-jacket which
>>> is a problem when your Mum needs, for instance, things to be in 36 point
>>> for her to be able to read things at all because she is nearly blind.
>
>> All I know is that I read a review about Foxit Reader
>> https://www.foxitsoftware.com/products/pdf-reader/ and I've never
>> looked back.
>
> I'd have serious doubts about anybody who brags that their product has
> a "Microsoft Offic 2013 Style Ribbon Toolbar". ;)
>
> But, it apears foxit reader is Windows-only so it's a moot point for
> Linux/Unix/Mac users.
>

Who cares provided you can get a VMS version :)

-- 
My fellow Pythonistas, ask not what our language can do for you, ask
what you can do for our language.

Mark Lawrence

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#94315

FromEmile van Sebille <emile@fenx.com>
Date2015-07-21 14:03 -0700
Message-ID<mailman.831.1437512625.3674.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#94313
On 7/21/2015 1:32 PM, Grant Edwards wrote:

> But, it apears foxit reader is Windows-only so it's a moot point for
> Linux/Unix/Mac users.


I've been happy with https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince on linux.

Emile

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#94320

FromGrant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid>
Date2015-07-21 21:47 +0000
Message-ID<momem6$elp$1@reader1.panix.com>
In reply to#94315
On 2015-07-21, Emile van Sebille <emile@fenx.com> wrote:
> On 7/21/2015 1:32 PM, Grant Edwards wrote:
>
>> But, it apears foxit reader is Windows-only so it's a moot point for
>> Linux/Unix/Mac users.
>
> I've been happy with https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince on linux.

I'm trying to switch from acroread to evince, bit it has a few serious
usability problems for me:

 1) You can't copy/paste text from evince _at_all_.  At least it works
    right most of the time with acroread.  I really like being able
    paste example commands or bits of code or a sentance or three from
    PDF docs into a shell or editor window.  Pasting tables is a bit
    more work, but it can at least be done with acroread.

 2) You can't print the current view.  I find that invaluable for
    printing portions of documents (e.g. I want just a section of a C
    size schematic printed on letter sized paper, or just one table
    table from a manual sized to fill a 8.5x11 page).  If it did have
    'print view' then lack of a marquee zoom would become another
    inconvenience.
    
 3) There's no way to collapse-all in the TOC panel.  When I open a
    1200 page document with 30 sections and several hundred sections
    and subsections, I don't want to see all of them all of the time.
    Closing them one at a time by hand is pretty tedious.

I find that about 20-30% of the time I start up evince, I end up
closing it and re-opening the document in acroread.
    
-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! ... I have read the
                                  at               INSTRUCTIONS ...
                              gmail.com            

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