Baslinux mailing list

[baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org]

On Wed, 19 Mar 2008, baslinux AT lists.ibiblio.org wrote:

> In connection with the laptop I'm planning to set up soon I've looked
> further into pdf-viewing issues under BL3. I do need to have pdf viewing
> capability on the laptop, so I want to be aware in advance of any problems
> I might encounter on that front. My concerns are mainly with viewing--as
> opposed to printing--pdf's since I seem to be able to print them just fine
> using Sindi's gs package.
>
> In preparation for starting this thread, I reviewed some key postings from
> the archive. I searched the archive using the term xpdf, since that's the
> viewing application I have been thinking of using under BL. I'll start off
> by stating what appears to me from posts found in the archive to be the
> official BL policy concerning pdf viewing.
>
> The official position on pdf viewing for BL3 seems to be that the xpdf
> package from Slack4 should be used (it has a dependency--elflibs--that
> must be installed in order for it to work). Have I got the official
> position correct, Steven? It should be mentioned in this connection as
> well that some users (e.g., Sindi) have been unable to use the Slack4
> version of xpdf (version 0.7, I believe) since it does not support newer
> versions of the pdf spec (it supports only up to version 1.4, it seems).
> Have I summarized the state of affairs regarding the Slack4 version of
> xpdf correctly?

pdf is on version 1.6 or later now.

The latest xpdf precompiled uses a glibc X.  The precompiled pdftoppm from 
the latest version does not need X (but I am not sure it handles pdf 1.5 
and later). It does need the fonts in BL3's Abiword (link them to the gs 
fonts directory) for certain pdfs which specify fonts.

People have sent me both pdf 1.5 and JBIG2 pdf formats.

> I should mention that I've installed the Slack4 xpdf on my testbed laptop
> and viewed some random pdf's with it and had no problems. That may
> indicate that a large percentage of pdf's on the 'net have been created
> using the older pdf spec that Slack4's xpdf release can handle. At the
> same time, it can presumed that the number of pdf's avaialble on the web
> using the newer pdf spec (version 1.5 or >) will only increase with time.
> I, for one, would like to have the capability to view pdf's created
> according to the newer pdf spec.

xdpf precompiled is posted at the xdpf website.  It needs libc.so.6 and 
many other things.  pdftoppm needs libz libm libc and ld-linux.  (And 
fonts).

> It looks as though installing xpdf packages from later versions of
> Slackware in order to get the capability of viewing pdf's created
> according to the newer pdf spec is not a viable option for BL3 users. If
> I've understood correctly what I found in the list archive, it is not
> viable because those later versions of xpdf require newer X libraries than
> BL3 has: if the attempt were made to install such libraries to BL3, a
> likely result would be irreparable damage to BL3's gui system. The only

Someone managed to upgrade BL3 X but it would probably break jwm.

> remedy for that damage would be to install a fuller, later, Xwindows
> system, thus negating one of the key advantages of a BL3 installation (a
> small X and gui system that operates more efficiently on and is friendlier
> to older hardware). Have I understood correctly the reasons why later
> Slackware versions of xpdf cannot be installed to BL3?
>
> Thus, if xpdf is to be used on BL3 to view pdf's created using the newer
> spec, it seems someone will need to compile a newer version of xpdf either
> against libc5 or statically against uclibc. To date, no one has been
> willing to step up to the plate to fulfill that need.

Ask Karolis directly.  But there is no need for xpdf.

Use pdftoppm (which may not handle pdf 1.5) and view with zgz (one page at 
a time) or view pdf's with svgalib-based svp, which I have posted at my 
site along with the latest svgalib (make sure to delete 
/usr/local/lib/libvga* if you use the 'default' rather than the 
'new-default' package because my packages installs to /usr/lib, where zgv 
looks for the files, but if there is anything in /usr/local/lib it will 
use that instead, which confused me for over a year) and the latest zgv. 
svp - simple viewer of pdfs (and ps).  bmv will also view ps files - I 
posted two versions (one I think is libc).

> But there do seem to be other options. Sindi has posted quite a bit on
> this topic. She apparently has, for example, suceeded in converting into
> some sort of image files some newer pdf's that could not be viewed with
> Slack4's xpdf, and was then able to view those converted files with some
> other program (BL3's graphics program xli?).

xli would work, or zgv, or even the viewer that comes with netpbm.
Use pbmtolj or pnmtolj to print pbm/ppm/pnm/pgm files directly to 
laserjet.

I was a little confused after
> reading her postings about exactly what solutions are available in this
> regard, what packages need to be installed, and how to configure the
> system to view the converted pdf's. The matter was confusing because she
> seemed either to be implementing at least 2 different solutions (one
> involving svp and another bmv) and converting to various formats,
> or--owing to her well-known aversion to gui's--because she was using an
> alternate graphics system she's installed (vgalib/svgalib) instead of
> BL3's native Xvesa display system for viewing the converted pdf's.

To view directly without converting to ppm, use bmv or svp, both of which 
require ghostscript AND svgalib.
bmv views only ps not pdf.  Use pdf2ps first (from gs).
svp views both ps and pdf.
bmv lets you zoom, rotate, switch page numbers, set resolution, move 
around in the page and even display pbm
svp lets you view in black and white or 256 colors, zoom to fit page or 
width, choose resolution (but not rotate, or zoom after loading a file).
They are both about 25K.  They are both much much faster than xpdf but 
have fewer features (cannot search for strings).

I have svgalib working with EVERY video card I tried it on, often in more 
resolutions than Xvesa.  I also use it with mplayer (mplayer -vo svga) to 
use less memory than X or vesa modes.  And with the links2 graphical from 
delilinux in BL2.


(SVGALIB was not working properly because the program kept installing 
newly compiled versions to /usr/local/lib and I was trying to use 
single-card libvga.so.1.9.25 versions in /usr/lib. It had nothing to do 
with loadlin.)

The most recent version of svgalib no longer requires that you setuid 
root, if you use kernel 2.4.31 and a module for it.  Which makes it 
simpler to run as user.  You need 2.4.31 for USB storage

pdftoppm (from xpdf) is a different approach, followed by a ppm viewer of 
your choice.  It makes very large files and takes longer.  pdftoppm is 
1.7MB (probably even stripped).

There is also ghostview, a graphical front end for gs.  I did not compile 
X support into my gs 8.54.

> So, for purposes of providing the current summary on pdf viewing under Bl3
> that I allude to in this thread's subject line, I'd like to ask Sindi to
> summarize her solutions to pdf viewing for us. I personally would like to
> know about all options, including those that use vgalib/svgalib. But focus
> really should be on any alternate pdf-viewing options that utilize BL3's
> out-of-the-box graphical system (Xvesa and, e.g., xli). Sindi, could you

pdftoppm, if you have 1.7MB free space, plus free space for the huge ppm 
files it will generate, and patience.

svp just loaded a large pdf file and is using 0.2% of cpu and 0.1% of 
memory (I have 512MB).  A ps file is 0.0% cpu and 0.4% memory with svp.
If I try to view the same file with bmv, I get blue instead of black and I 
cannot switch terminals.  I have been using svp to view both ps and pdf.

xpdf on the large pdf file uses 1.9% of memory, then you have Xvesa and 
window manager.  It takes much longer to load on a slow system, and much 
longer to go between pages.  pdftoppm is also slow, and viewing a large 
ppm is slow.

xli probably uses as much memory as svp to view.

> please explain in this thread what your alternate pdf-viewing solutions
> for BL3 are, what packages they require, and any pertinent instructions
> for implementing them? Please focus on solutions that use Xvesa, but also
> feel free describe any svgalib options you've developed as well. This will
> be to the benefit of future BL3 users who may need to view pdf's created
> according to the more modern spec.

Xvesa won't work with the latest precompiled xpdf.  If you insist on not 
using svgalib, pdftoppm then xli.  Use Abiword fonts links to gs fonts 
directory.

> Further input on this matter will be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> James
>
> PS The proposal to compile a new xpdf that will be compatible with BL3 and
> its graphical system still stands. Anyone brave and/or stubborn enough to
> step up and answer it can obviate the need for any further extrapolation
> of this thread.

Since the precompiled version  already works with BL2 and upgraded glibc, 
a libc5 version would make more sense for BL3 (smaller than uclibc).
I am not set up to compile for BL3 libc, only uclibc (which often produces 
unusable results, such as for nano static).

Source code is at http://www.foolabs.com/xdpf/ - 670K without extra font 
capabilities.  Precompiled binaries require glibc 2.2.  The download is 
about 7MB.  Latest version 3.02 Feb 27 2007.  Two later patches for 
security holes.  Version 3.02 support PDF 1.6 and 1.7..  It supports 
JBIG2.  The binary is about 8MB.  Long list of dependencies (only half of 
which Opera also needs).  It is not ideal for older hardware.

It has been ported to PalmOS 5.x.

The site suggested pdftohtml which is based on xpdf 2.02 (no support for 
later formats) and the latest version appears to be from 2002.

xpdf comes with a pdf to ps convertor, as does gs.

svgalib libraries are 160K (for a single card) plus 54K plus glibc.

If you want to search on strings of text, use pdftotext to extract them 
(but some pdf files won't let you extract anything).

Sindi