It was a bit more work than I had originally anticipated, but I've made all of the changes discussed in the 1.59.5 forum thread. To that end:
* The document index now also functions as a directory browser. The root of this directory tree will display an entry for "Internal Memory" along with entries for each mounted VFS volume (memory card). Simply tap on a directory to browse it.
* Directly above the index list is a field which shows the current directory/location.
* The category system has been removed.
* The full decompression ability has been removed.
* The non-temporary cache system has been removed.
* The DocInfo database is no longer cleaned automatically. Every 100 executions Weasel will alert the user about this and suggest they pick the appropriate item from the Options menu.
* If upgrading from any version <= 1.59.5 Weasel will delete the existing DocInfo DB due to changes in the internal structure.
* All of the help and alert message text has been updated in the English translation to account for all the changes in the past couple of versions. Strings that are no longer used have been removed.
So, there you have it. And with all the additions and removals the new version of Weasel is roughly 20 kB smaller than 1.59.5. How about that?
Please download and test away. Post any suggestions or comments to this thread unless you'd really like to email me directly.
Some notes on my own testing: I can no longer get the emulator to run any pre-4.0 OS image for some reason, so users with Palm OS 3.0, 3.1, and 3.5 devices take note. I don't expect any major problems, however. I can also not get the emulator to emulate VFS capabilities anymore. All of my VFS testing has been done with the simulator instead. Again, I don't expect this to be a problem.
If this works well I'm tempted to make this the 1.60 release (finally!). All of the non-English translations are now quite out of date, unfortunately. If you are the maintainer of a translation or would like to fix up one of the current ones, please do so. You might want to post a message here so there's no duplication of effort, but that's probably not too likely. Even without the other languages, I'll still make the English release. The others will follow as available.
If you *do* want to work on a translation (and really, who wouldn't?) the easiest way to get started would be to select "SVN Browse" from the Code menu at the top of this page. Get a copy of weasel_english.rcp for all the new information and a copy of any existing translation in the language of your choice.
--John Gruenenfelder
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One thing I have noticed is that it now takes longer to get back to the directory of ebooks when I click on the folder at the bottom left hand of the screen.
It would be nice if the left and right on the 5 way controller could go up and down a directory when in directory mode.
Much appreciated!
Regards.
Terry
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The perceived slowness is due to the fact that "Import from memory card" is now the default. So every time you open/close a book it must be moved to/from internal memory. If you turn that off opening/closing a book should become much faster. I changed the default since it needs to be on if you want to add bookmarks or annotations to any external document, but it does have a small price. If you turn it off documents will be treated as read-only.
I considered adding some sort of "Please wait" or busy icon, but the process is so fast (but not invisible, obviously) that I didn't feel it was worth the effort.
As for the 5-way, I just learned how to have the simulator emulate 5-way events so I can finally test some of that code (my device does not have a 5-way navigator).
--John Gruenenfelder
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I was hoping for a bit more testing, but since people are being so quiet I'm going to take that as a sign that everything is working fairly well.
So, I've gone ahead and made the Weasel Reader 1.60 stable release. Huzzah! The first in far too long. The website has been updated as has the SourceForge information. Even the Freshmeat entry has been dusted off.
My thanks to Javier for updating the Spanish translation. It's available for download now. The others will be released when updated.
--John Gruenenfelder
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Oh dear, that was quite fast. I tried using the english hyphenation file from 1.59.3 (Options->Display Prefs->Hyphenate->check "Use Hyphenation" and select "English"->Ok), and it crashed, requiring a needle reset (MemoryMgr.c, Line:4365, NULL handle). Are the "old" hyphenation files incompatible with the new version? If so, it might be best to explain this on the downloads page.
Also, I noticed that pushing the "menu"-button twice leaves the lower part of the "Book"-menu on the screen, because the text does not redraw.
Both problems were found on my Zire m150, with two different ztxt-files created by txt2palm.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
One thing I'm very sad to see is loss of the category system. I believe that category based approach in applications is (was) one of the strengths of PalmOS which I find unbelievably helpful for user friendliness (I work in IT, used many different OS-es, yet this small gem remains my all-time favorite regarding OS usability.) Anyway, since Palm's FS structure is chaotic (somewhat logical as VFS was added later) and for me it actually feels unnatural to try to use it on it . There is no chance for me to make something out of this mess, especially after my Palm has been cramming all sorts of files into 2-3 dirs, regardless of the filetype or category. Therefore, since I both like Categories better, and also have no way or wish to rearrange files and directories, the last version I'll use on the Palm will remain 1.59.3, so unfortunately I cannot get any other fixes and features :(
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It's time for a Weasel Reader Summer Solstice release. Indeed, Weasel 1.59.6 is now available:
http://bach.as.arizona.edu/~johng/weasel/
It was a bit more work than I had originally anticipated, but I've made all of the changes discussed in the 1.59.5 forum thread. To that end:
* The document index now also functions as a directory browser. The root of this directory tree will display an entry for "Internal Memory" along with entries for each mounted VFS volume (memory card). Simply tap on a directory to browse it.
* Directly above the index list is a field which shows the current directory/location.
* The category system has been removed.
* The full decompression ability has been removed.
* The non-temporary cache system has been removed.
* The DocInfo database is no longer cleaned automatically. Every 100 executions Weasel will alert the user about this and suggest they pick the appropriate item from the Options menu.
* If upgrading from any version <= 1.59.5 Weasel will delete the existing DocInfo DB due to changes in the internal structure.
* All of the help and alert message text has been updated in the English translation to account for all the changes in the past couple of versions. Strings that are no longer used have been removed.
So, there you have it. And with all the additions and removals the new version of Weasel is roughly 20 kB smaller than 1.59.5. How about that?
Please download and test away. Post any suggestions or comments to this thread unless you'd really like to email me directly.
Some notes on my own testing: I can no longer get the emulator to run any pre-4.0 OS image for some reason, so users with Palm OS 3.0, 3.1, and 3.5 devices take note. I don't expect any major problems, however. I can also not get the emulator to emulate VFS capabilities anymore. All of my VFS testing has been done with the simulator instead. Again, I don't expect this to be a problem.
If this works well I'm tempted to make this the 1.60 release (finally!). All of the non-English translations are now quite out of date, unfortunately. If you are the maintainer of a translation or would like to fix up one of the current ones, please do so. You might want to post a message here so there's no duplication of effort, but that's probably not too likely. Even without the other languages, I'll still make the English release. The others will follow as available.
If you *do* want to work on a translation (and really, who wouldn't?) the easiest way to get started would be to select "SVN Browse" from the Code menu at the top of this page. Get a copy of weasel_english.rcp for all the new information and a copy of any existing translation in the language of your choice.
--John Gruenenfelder
The new directory system is superb!
One thing I have noticed is that it now takes longer to get back to the directory of ebooks when I click on the folder at the bottom left hand of the screen.
It would be nice if the left and right on the 5 way controller could go up and down a directory when in directory mode.
Much appreciated!
Regards.
Terry
The perceived slowness is due to the fact that "Import from memory card" is now the default. So every time you open/close a book it must be moved to/from internal memory. If you turn that off opening/closing a book should become much faster. I changed the default since it needs to be on if you want to add bookmarks or annotations to any external document, but it does have a small price. If you turn it off documents will be treated as read-only.
I considered adding some sort of "Please wait" or busy icon, but the process is so fast (but not invisible, obviously) that I didn't feel it was worth the effort.
As for the 5-way, I just learned how to have the simulator emulate 5-way events so I can finally test some of that code (my device does not have a 5-way navigator).
--John Gruenenfelder
I've just commited weasel_spanish.rcp, it has got a good revamp. I've compiled and tested it with the emulator, and it is in very good shape.
Congratulations for the new release and keep working!
I was hoping for a bit more testing, but since people are being so quiet I'm going to take that as a sign that everything is working fairly well.
So, I've gone ahead and made the Weasel Reader 1.60 stable release. Huzzah! The first in far too long. The website has been updated as has the SourceForge information. Even the Freshmeat entry has been dusted off.
My thanks to Javier for updating the Spanish translation. It's available for download now. The others will be released when updated.
--John Gruenenfelder
The 1.60-release seems to work well on my Palm Zire m150, but more testing will be done. I will report here any problems I encounter.
I've read in an earlier discussion that the battery consumption was unexpectedly high with one of the previous versions. Has this issue been adressed?
Simeon Maxein
Oh dear, that was quite fast. I tried using the english hyphenation file from 1.59.3 (Options->Display Prefs->Hyphenate->check "Use Hyphenation" and select "English"->Ok), and it crashed, requiring a needle reset (MemoryMgr.c, Line:4365, NULL handle). Are the "old" hyphenation files incompatible with the new version? If so, it might be best to explain this on the downloads page.
Also, I noticed that pushing the "menu"-button twice leaves the lower part of the "Book"-menu on the screen, because the text does not redraw.
Both problems were found on my Zire m150, with two different ztxt-files created by txt2palm.
Since over two years and a half ( https://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1095915&group_id=9595&atid=359595 ) I am asking to include Catalan in the Weasel release, and to the list at the WS Translation page ( http://gutenpalm.sourceforge.net/translate.php ).
I am happy to see more activity in the ptoject, as this will mean somebody may pay attention to my demands.
One thing I'm very sad to see is loss of the category system. I believe that category based approach in applications is (was) one of the strengths of PalmOS which I find unbelievably helpful for user friendliness (I work in IT, used many different OS-es, yet this small gem remains my all-time favorite regarding OS usability.) Anyway, since Palm's FS structure is chaotic (somewhat logical as VFS was added later) and for me it actually feels unnatural to try to use it on it . There is no chance for me to make something out of this mess, especially after my Palm has been cramming all sorts of files into 2-3 dirs, regardless of the filetype or category. Therefore, since I both like Categories better, and also have no way or wish to rearrange files and directories, the last version I'll use on the Palm will remain 1.59.3, so unfortunately I cannot get any other fixes and features :(