Description of problem: On my aside, and obvious to anybody who tried at least once to run both programs, remark in but #149911 that evince is missing tons of functionality present in gv I was asked for an explicit list what is missing. Here we go. The following are provided by gv but nowhere in sight in evince: - A file watch (an automatic reload when changed) - An information about mouse location (in PS points, hence an ability to measure various elements) - Ability to mark pages and save and/or print a subset of a document - Control over antialiasing - Control over how documented is interpreted (EOF comments, structured comments) - Control over an automatic resizing - Control over orientation - Ability to override a paper size - Ability to show enlarged _fragments_ of a document without affecting an overall magnification - Ability to specify a desired scaling factor instead of doing only Ctrl+ and Ctrl- - Ability to override a default bounding box - Ability to change default ghostcript options - Handling Poscript, and PDF, files which evince does not want to touch (see bug #150719 and bug #150722) All of the above in an executable considerably smaller in size than evince (and it is likely that I missed something) If you think that the above is "just a list" then you are deeply mistaken. I used all capabilities above and they were important, some more often and some indeed only occasionally, when _working_ with assorted PostScript files as opposed to just looking at some pictures. Other things which are sorely missing is a possibilty of opening a document in a natural size instead of something scrunched and unreadable and an easy way to randomly navigate between document pages. If I have to switch to page number window, type there a page number without making mistakes and hit <enter> then in comparison with gv this is far from good enough. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): evince-0.1.7-1
(In reply to comment #0) Thanks for the list, I'll let you know what's out there for Evince in terms of similar features. Just fair warning that Evince probably won't be duplicating all the featues of gv as it is not just a rewrite of that program. If you need certain features of gv and Evince does not have those you might want to continue using that program instead. Anytime I ask why you're using a feature here is just so I can get an understanding of what you're doing, I'm not questioning your usage of it. > - A file watch (an automatic reload when changed) We have a reload button, see: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=165119 > - An information about mouse location (in PS points, hence an > ability to measure various elements) This is possible to add to the status bar, please file a separate bug for this. > - Ability to mark pages and save and/or print a subset of a document Filed upstream, please work with this bug: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=169099 > - Control over antialiasing Upstream Evince is working on antialias vector graphics: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=166663 However, we're not going to add a control or preference to turn this on or off. These I'm not sure about either what they are or why you need it: > - Ability to override a default bounding box > - Control over how documented is interpreted (EOF comments, > structured comments) > - Control over an automatic resizing Control the automatic resizing? Is this about choosing the right zoom level like I mention below? > - Ability to override a paper size In printing? Printing yes, it's part of the options. I'm not sure why else you want this unless the document has given the incorrect size. > - Ability to show enlarged _fragments_ of a document without > affecting an overall magnification Interesting, how does this work and what is it used for? > - Control over orientation Upstream is working on a rotation feature: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=168896 > - Ability to specify a desired scaling factor instead of doing > only Ctrl+ and Ctrl- This may be done, I'm looking into a better Zoom control that might allow you to type in the zoom level and provide necessary defaults. Please file this bug separately. > - Ability to change default ghostcript options If the current default gs options are wrong please file a bug on what the right defaults are, however we're probably not going to add controls or preferences for changing this during use. > - Handling Poscript, and PDF, files which evince does not want > to touch (see bug #150719 and bug #150722) This is an on going battle. :-) > All of the above in an executable considerably smaller in size > than evince (and it is likely that I missed something) The size of the Evince executable is not part of it's design. Evince is designed for people to view documents easily and if that makes it a large program then so be it. If you need a smaller Evince you'll have to send patches that shrink it's size without harming it's interaction. > Other things which are sorely missing is a possibilty of opening a > document in a natural size instead of something scrunched and > unreadable What would a naturual size be, how do you determine this? We are working on a Fit Text area mode: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=171066 Also Evince will eventually remember any setting you had applied to a document in terms of size of window, zoom, and page number so when you reopen the document it will look just as you left it. > an easy way to randomly navigate between document > pages. If I have to switch to page number window, type there a page > number without making mistakes and hit <enter> then in comparison with > gv this is far from good enough. Is something like space bar scrolling what you're looking for here? We have an upstream bug for that, which will be merged soon: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=165120
> We have a reload button, Misunderstanding. I was talking about previer adjusting a display "by itself" when an underlying file changed. This is present not only in the current gv-3.6.1 but also gv-3.5.8. See there on "State" menu. > These I'm not sure about either what they are or why you need it: > > - Ability to override a default bounding box A declared bounding box is not always the really desired one. On occasions is not even correct. It is good if one does not have to go with an editor to an underlying file if changes are neede. > > - Control over how documented is interpreted (EOF comments, > > structured comments) PostScript has this nasty notion of "comments" which are sometimes interpreted. On occasions this can screw you badly. > Control the automatic resizing? Is this about choosing the right zoom level > like I mention below? evince always opens documents scrunched to fit some default window. At least for now I do not see a way open a document in a preset magnification. > > > - Ability to override a paper size > In printing? In display too. If I am printing on a paper of "other" size it is good to know in advance how things possibly come out. > > - Ability to show enlarged _fragments_ of a document without > > affecting an overall magnification > Interesting, how does this work Start gv with some, preferably, text file and put a cursor on fragment you would like to see in more detail. Hit middle mouse button. Pick up desired "local magnification" with the first mouse button. Observe effects. > and what is it used for? Sigh! When you are working with a Postscript file, as opposed to looking at a picture, possibly in some typesetting context but not only, then you are often interested in minutiae details which are often not even displayed due to approximations of a regular magnification. Looking on a screen really beats pouring with a magnifying glass over printouts (and saves trees too). > If the current default gs options are wrong It is not that they are wrong per se. It happens sometimes that you may want diffent ones. No, not that often. > Evince is > designed for people to view documents easily So far I would have a problem with guessing that. > > What would a naturual size be, how do you determine this? Zoom scale 1.0? > > an easy way to randomly navigate between document > > Is something like space bar scrolling what you're looking for here? That would be nice too. I had in mind rather picking a desired page with one mouse click instead of first selecting a page number window, then typing in it some page number, correcting mistakes and after that hitting enter. I do not mind typing but switching all the time between a keyboard and a mouse is not that great.
(In reply to comment #2) > Misunderstanding. I was talking about previer adjusting a display > "by itself" when an underlying file changed. This is present not > only in the current gv-3.6.1 but also gv-3.5.8. See there on > "State" menu. See the discussion in the bug I metioned, we're not going to do monitoring of the underlying file. > > These I'm not sure about either what they are or why you need it: > > > - Ability to override a default bounding box > > A declared bounding box is not always the really desired one. On > occasions is not even correct. It is good if one does not have to > go with an editor to an underlying file if changes are neede. > > > > - Control over how documented is interpreted (EOF comments, > > > structured comments) > > PostScript has this nasty notion of "comments" which are sometimes > interpreted. On occasions this can screw you badly. I think we would attempt to figure out when you get screwed by these comments and do the right thing in that instance. You should file a bug about this with a test document so it can be done right. > > Control the automatic resizing? Is this about choosing the right zoom level > > like I mention below? > > evince always opens documents scrunched to fit some default window. > At least for now I do not see a way open a document in a preset magnification. Eventually Evince will remember meta-data about the document you were viewing. Saving things like Last Page viewed, Zoom Level, and Window Size. Remember Zoom Level: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=168285 Remember Last Window Size: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=164772 > > > > > - Ability to override a paper size > > In printing? > > In display too. If I am printing on a paper of "other" size it is > good to know in advance how things possibly come out. Seems like a print preview thing. I know we had some ideas about how to use the document view to handle printing by modifying what you're looking at and selecting the visible pages, then clicking print to get exactly what you're seeing. However without some help from other people printing is going to continue to fall by the wayside. > Sigh! When you are working with a Postscript file, as opposed to looking > at a picture, possibly in some typesetting context but not only, then > you are often interested in minutiae details which are often not even > displayed due to approximations of a regular magnification. Looking > on a screen really beats pouring with a magnifying glass over printouts > (and saves trees too). We have some ideas to do Zoom to selected area and give a way to go back in zoom. Perhaps this isn't going to be exactly what you want though. But for authoring Postscript files you should be using something else than Evince. It's not going to be the toolbox that gv was. It might work out well for your needs, but most likely you'll continue to want other things it won't have. > > > an easy way to randomly navigate between document > > > > Is something like space bar scrolling what you're looking for here? > > That would be nice too. I had in mind rather picking a desired page > with one mouse click instead of first selecting a page number window, > then typing in it some page number, correcting mistakes and after > that hitting enter. I do not mind typing but switching all the > time between a keyboard and a mouse is not that great. Ctrl-L is probably going to be used to access the page number area. If you wanted to stay keyboard only you'll press Ctrl-L and type the page number, then Enter. Just like a web browser works.
Why does "bumped out" showed up in a subject and what that is supposed to mean? A comparison is with a "bog standard" gv you can find, for example, in FC3 which happens to be gv-3.5.8. Yes, indeed a new gv-3.6.1 release is available for some time but this is another issue.
Um, that was you who titled this bug, so it's whatever you meant it to be. I'll retitle this to something more appropriate. Also, since gv is in Extras you can take responsibility over the packaging of it create a new build for the new version.
> Um, that was you who titled this bug, Yes, indeed, you are right. I have no idea what I was thinking. > Also, since gv is in Extras Well, sort of as for now. I was specifically _asked_ to write this entry.
Ok, Bryan replied in detail to this. Please file separate bugs if there are remaining issues that was not addressed by Bryan. Marking as upstream because most of these bugs are worked on upstream, hard to find an appropriate resolution for this...