Re: [pdfmod] the one true evince/pdfmod merge or not thread (was requesting your input on releases, etc)

[Sandy Armstrong <sanfordarmstrong gmail com>]

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 7:10 PM, Gabriel Burt<gabriel burt gmail com> wrote:
> I've split this off into it's own thread, so it's easier to find in
> the archives etc.
>
> On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Brett Alton<brett jr alton gmail com> wrote:
>>> == Other ==
>>> Any opinions on proposing pdfmod for inclusion in the GNOME desktop?
>>> Sandy, I'd be especially interested in your input on this.
>>>
>>> Any other advice, input, or questions?
>>
>> I haven't been on this mailing list for long, so please excuse my
>> ignorance if I raise such dialogue, but what are the possibilities of
>> making pdf-mod a plugin _of_ Evince?
>
<snip>
>
> What it comes down to:  I do not plan to merge them.  PDF Mod is as it
> was intended to be: a simple, standalone tool for modifying PDFs.
> Though you are welcome to work on merging them if you're so inclined.

Andres filed a bug in Evince about some integration between the two
applications; something as simple as being able to click an edit
button or menu item, and having the PDF open in pdfmod.  I think the
Evince developer comments on this bug also put an end to this
discussion:

http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=589661

<quote>
> Which leads me to think: maybe the easiest integration is the way to go: just
> an Edit submenu on Evince that launches pdfmod if it's available.

Editing capabilities are actually out of scope in evince, see bug #314683.
However, I think integretion in the other direction would make more sense, that
is, PDFMod might use evince (actually libevview) to show or preview the PDF
files that are being edited.
</quote>

<quote>
> Does evince have a plugin API, such that PdfMod developers could distribute a
> plugin that adds such an option in Evince's UI?
>

No
</quote>


So to summarize:
* Evince developers do not want to add editing capabilities to their app.
* Evince developers do not want to add integration with pdfmod into
their app (though the bug has not yet been closed, so maybe this is
still up for discussion).
* Evince has no plug-in API, so pdfmod cannot ship an Evince plug-in
that gives integration with pdfmod.
* If you look at bug #314683, you'll see that Evince developers have
been encouraging others to create an app like pdfmod: "Agree, let's
write a simple pdf editor then! :-)".

I think that it would be nice to add a feature to pdfmod to "preview"
the current PDF (which may be unsaved, etc, so you'd be opening a tmp
file) in Evince or whatever the default PDF viewer is.  If there was a
one-click way to view your PDF in Evince, I don't think adding viewer
features to pdfmod would be as popular a request.  I have filed a bug
for this enhancement:

http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=591152

Lastly, Gabriel, I think it might be a good idea when blogging the
next pdfmod release to explicitly state that the existence of two
separate apps is what both you and the Evince developers prefer
(assuming that is still your stance).  You can cite the Evince bugs
mentioned above, and hopefully put the repeated comments/requests to
rest.

Sandy