Back to home page

DOS ain't dead

Forum index page

Log in | Register

Search:  
Back to the forum
Board view  Mix view

the best way to have and edit your own web page in dos (Announce)

posted by bretjohn Homepage E-mail, Rio Rancho, NM, 09.02.2024, 01:59

> Why do you want PDF at all?
My documentation files are quite large and I think hyperlinks will be a nice feature (it's also been requested by users). Most DOS documentation is pretty sparse and hyperlinks aren't really needed. PDF and HTML seem to be the only widely-accepted standards for documents with hyperlinks. I know there are also options for creating things like on-line help, but that's not really the same thing as documentation.

> What's the name of this converter?
It's called "PDF Version Converter" and is available at nicepdf.com/products. I've asked them about the problems I'm having through the web site with no response (which doesn't surprise me).

> Indeed. Halibut always creates PDF version 1.3 files. (see
> bk_pdf.c#l686)
>
> You can create PDF version 1.0 files with a text editor. Yes, it's
> possible, but no fun. Details can be found in this series of articles:
> ...
I know it's possible, but don't want to go there. It's also possible to create web pages with a text editor, and in fact my web site bretjohnson.us is done that way. It was a little painful, but not too bad (the site is just text and some tables, except for the donation option at the bottom). PDF is more complicated than HTML and I don't want to learn it if I don't have to. There are enough automation tools available today that I think what I'm looking for should already exist.

I've already looked at the PDF standard, and really don't want to go down the road of doing it with a text editor. For a simple, "Hello, World" level of document that may be OK, but not a complicated document. And even if I did that, if I also wanted HTML I would need to do it all over again.

I could also just give up and accept that I can't generate PDF 1.0 documents in today's world, but I really don't want to do that either. Adobe itself is the one who created the Acrobat DOS Reader, even though hardly anybody uses it any more. I know there are other ways of viewing PDF in DOS, but it should be possible to use the original software that was specifically designed to do it.

> Halibut is FOSS. You "just" need to strip the PDF version 1.3 features down
> to version 1.0.
I know it's possible, but it's not something I think I should even need to do. It should already be an option in Halibut. In addition to modifying/forking Halibut I would also need to change my method of creating source documentation which I've already done once (from WordPerfect to Word). I may need to do it again, but really don't want to. I would rather use my time to write programs instead of learning a new method of writing documentation.

> ...
> Further discussion about this idea is probably worth a separate topic.
Possibly, but I think it's also related to creating HTML documents in DOS. At a high level, PDF and HTML are sort of trying to accomplish the same goal -- allow users to view documents and jump around in them.

Post reply
 

Complete thread:

Back to the forum
Board view  Mix view
22049 Postings in 2034 Threads, 396 registered users, 121 users online (0 registered, 121 guests)
DOS ain't dead | Admin contact
RSS Feed
powered by my little forum