Notices

We have mozilla-based browser on the N800. Perhaps the GoogleWordprocessor thing?

DOG slow with any document over 1 page.

R.
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And it doesn't work all too well five meters beyond the range of your router...

I still want LyX!

I used word processors all the time. I currently use a Mac and Pages or Nisus Express, but I've also used practically every version of Word from 2.0 onwards, and have also used OpenOffice and played around with Abiword.

Here are my thoughts on what would be the perfect word processor on the 770/800.

First, we need to acknowledge the functions a word processor has to serve on the 770/800. It has to be both a document viewer (ie it must open Word docs, and possibly .odf files), and also an actual word processor (not a text editor; the difference is arbitrary nowadays but text editors tend to save only in .txt format).

Compatibility with other file formats needn't be complex. As long as it can open the file and show the text inside, that's all that's arguably needed. Preserving formatting is a must, but showing complicated layout is impractical and unnecessary, especially considering the 770/800 don't have the usual Windows fonts so will always be limited. In other words, we need to acknowledge the limitations of the 770/800, and work with them, rather than try to ignore them.

In terms of functionality for the word processor, again, we need to acknowledge what the thing will actually be used for. It will probably never be used as the sole editor. It will most likely be used in concert with a desktop editor, or possibly as a tool to generate documents that will eventually be merged into a larger doc on the desktop. I also think that few people in their right mind are going to attempt complicated layout on the 770/800, because it's just impractical with the stylus and small screen. So the toolset available to the user should be simple and centred largely around text entry.

Here are the functions I'd love to see:

* Text formatting including bold, itals, underline, and the ability to choose point size
* Text justification
* The ability to show either document or draft modes, and the ability to set the zoom level in both
* Live spellchecking with the usual range of international dictionaries, and the ability to create custom.dic
* Autocorrection for mistypes like teh (the), and things like smart quotes
* A floating palette with cursor keys on, maybe optimised for thumbs/fingers, to allow quick shuffling through the text without the aid of the keyboard or the scroll bar
* The ability to create indents, bullets and numbered lists
* I'd suggest the default doc format is rtf, which is sophisticated enough for advanced layout and compatible with almost every word processor ever. Of course, the user should also be able to export to Word, HTML and PDF formats.

.... and that's all. Missing from that list is the ability to create tables or insert pictures, which both fall into the category of advanced layout which is impractical on the 770/800 (think about it honestly -- is it realistic? And even if you think it is, will you ever actually do it while editing on the fly in a coffee shop?). Also missing is the ability to insert footnotes but, again, this is advanced stuff better handled by a full desktop word processor.

The interface should be kept very clean with just a toolbar along the bottom, like Notes. More complicated stuff can be dealt with via the program menus or a right-click.

Beautiful message rs-px. Now who do i have to sleep with to make it happen this year?????

My first thought was that LyX isn't really suitable for the small screen of the internet tablet, because it sits on top of LaTeX, which is a heavy duty typesettng/layout package and, as I've said before, nobody's going to do any serious layout on a 4" screen. However, my second thougt was that, precisely because LyX provides a simplified interface for LaTeX, it might work very well.

What I'd really like, though, is a LyX-like front end that produces HTML rather than LaTeX. HTML is more portable and, in my opinon, you only need LaTeX if you're thinking about print publication or layout is important for some other reason. By the way, I haven't noticed a LaTeX distribution for the tablet OSes, but then I haven't been looking.

We do indeed have a LaTeX port for the tablets (whether it's enough for LyX is another question, and you also need GhostScript for LyX to work acceptably), but the biggest benefit of LaTeX/LyX is that they are resolution-independant. Also, LyX has a zoom preset and will linebreak to the window width, both extremely desirable functions for someone coming (a very long time ago!) from the Psion platform.

Another plus: With the renewed efforts in getting print support going for the N800, all you need is a little proggie that takes postscript input (a LyX output file) and sends it to the printer. And allthough I agree that HTML would be a nice bonus option, the whole point of LaTeX/LyX is the layout.

What I need now is a way to compose on my n800 simple documents containing in their header my institution's name address and stuff, *and* my institution's logo. This logo is really a simple png image, but unfortunately abiword 2.2.7 aka maemo word processor has problems in image management, in fact it renders it incorrectly when printing or exporting in postscript format.

One thing which might prove useful is QuickScript, explained at http://www.ericlindsay.com/computer/printing.htm . In short this is a text-based markup language that gets translated to postscript *inside* your postscript printer thanks to a special header. I have still to figure out, though, how to put my fixed institutional header in every page with this tool.

On page 34 of the (postscript) manual, the procedure for placing graphic borders on every page is explained. It is my understanding this procedure can be tweaked to print any graphic.

From page 37 onward, you'll find everything about embedding EPS graphics.

On a sidenote: I'm having serious difficulties getting to the author's (Graham Freeman) ftp site, ftp://ftp.adfa.edu.au/pub/postscript/ . Am I alone in this, or do others experience the same non-access issues?

Another possible advantage of QuickScript: It might be possible to send the postscript files directly to a Bluetooth-enabled PostScript printer, thus foregoing the need for a complete printing system on the N800. I'd very much like to try this, but my bluetooth-to-parallel connector is fried and I'm awaiting a new one.

I can open that ftp site so let me know if you ned any files. Here's the relevant part of index.txt:

PostScript directory contents
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Typesetting and document layout

Quikscript.tar.gz Most recent release of Quikscript, a typesetting program
written in PostScript. See Qs_README.html for more
details. (Quikscript13Dec2002.tar.gz)

Quikscript2Jan01.tar.gz

Quikscript4Nov99.tar.gz

Quikscript7Jul98.tar.gz

Quikscript-15Jan98.tar.gz

qsdirA directory containing the individual files that make
up the Quikscript package.

Qs_README.htmlDescription of the typesetting package Quikscript,
change history, new features.

Qse.exe, smallQse.exe, Qse-install.sh, Qse-smallinstall.sh
Quikscript editor program, written in Java, for
installation under MS Windows or Unix.

Qse_install.htmlInstallation instructions for the Quikscript editor.


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