1. Forum
  2. Usenet
  3. COMP.INFOSYSTEMS.WWW.BROW

  • HTML and PDF for reading large documents (bookmarks)

    From Stefan Ram@21:1/5 to All on Thu May 12 10:02:40 2016
    XPost: comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html

    When HTML was new, I thought that I should prefer it over
    PS/PDF for my own internal usage, because HTML was �open� and
    text-file based, while PS/PDF was �closed� or at least it felt
    this way because it was binary-file based and came from a
    single company.

    But today I observe that I convert more and more larger
    documents into PDF for my own convenience!

    Why?

    A minor reason was that I observed that one browser was
    very slow when it had to display large HTML pages.

    But the major point is, when I read large documents,
    I want to take a note of some bookmark within the document
    to continue to read there after an interruption.

    When a document is split into pages, this is easy. I just
    write down the /page number/. (I do not want to rely on
    in-program bookmarking tools, because I might continue to
    read the same file with a different reader later.)

    But when I have a large HTML file, it is impossible for
    me to find any reference that I could write down as an
    indication of where exactly in this large document I left
    off so that I then can continue to read it at the same
    position later (possibly even with another browser).

    Actually this is not a deficiency of HTML, but of browsers.
    A browser simply could display that the first character
    fully displayed on the screen is at �position 23.3111841427 %�
    of the document (the percent indication should refer to the
    HTML source code so as to be independent of display settings
    and CSS). But browsers usually do /not/ do this.

    Actually HTML makes /more/ sense when one is reading on a
    screen, because an artificial pagination has no use on a
    screen, where on is scrolling the document. But a position
    indicator would still help.

    So it seems that browser manufacturers do not think of
    people who want to use an HTML browser to read a large
    file in more than one sessions and thus need a way to
    later find where they left off in the previous session!

    Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html,comp.infosystems.www.browsers.misc

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From dorayme@21:1/5 to Stefan Ram on Thu May 12 20:58:32 2016
    XPost: comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html

    In article <[email protected]>,
    [email protected] (Stefan Ram) wrote:
    ...

    So it seems that browser manufacturers do not think of
    people who want to use an HTML browser to read a large
    file in more than one sessions and thus need a way to
    later find where they left off in the previous session!

    I am reminded of the convenience of a Kindle, where one is always
    returned after an interruption reading a book to where one left off.
    Even when changing a device on which you are reading (like an iPad
    with a Kindle app), if you are on wifi, you will be invited to go to
    where you last read. All this is coordinated at remote servers.

    Browsers are usually not used in the way you use them. They might
    acquire the capabilities if it was more needed. Certainly an *author*, independently of a browser manufacturer, could put in facilities to
    make this easier for a reader, in all sorts of ways.

    In the meantime how about a simple copy of a phrase or sentence you
    are up to, next time you return to the *very long* document, you
    search for the phrase or sentence. This is where you, not the browser
    or the author, are in control.

    --
    dorayme

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From David E. Ross@21:1/5 to Stefan Ram on Thu May 12 07:39:26 2016
    XPost: comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html

    On 5/12/2016 3:02 AM, Stefan Ram wrote:
    When HTML was new, I thought that I should prefer it over
    PS/PDF for my own internal usage, because HTML was �open� and
    text-file based, while PS/PDF was �closed� or at least it felt
    this way because it was binary-file based and came from a
    single company.

    But today I observe that I convert more and more larger
    documents into PDF for my own convenience!

    Why?

    A minor reason was that I observed that one browser was
    very slow when it had to display large HTML pages.

    But the major point is, when I read large documents,
    I want to take a note of some bookmark within the document
    to continue to read there after an interruption.

    When a document is split into pages, this is easy. I just
    write down the /page number/. (I do not want to rely on
    in-program bookmarking tools, because I might continue to
    read the same file with a different reader later.)

    But when I have a large HTML file, it is impossible for
    me to find any reference that I could write down as an
    indication of where exactly in this large document I left
    off so that I then can continue to read it at the same
    position later (possibly even with another browser).

    Actually this is not a deficiency of HTML, but of browsers.
    A browser simply could display that the first character
    fully displayed on the screen is at �position 23.3111841427 %�
    of the document (the percent indication should refer to the
    HTML source code so as to be independent of display settings
    and CSS). But browsers usually do /not/ do this.

    Actually HTML makes /more/ sense when one is reading on a
    screen, because an artificial pagination has no use on a
    screen, where on is scrolling the document. But a position
    indicator would still help.

    So it seems that browser manufacturers do not think of
    people who want to use an HTML browser to read a large
    file in more than one sessions and thus need a way to
    later find where they left off in the previous session!

    Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html,comp.infosystems.www.browsers.misc


    I often read very large Web pages. If I need to interrupt, I open a new plain-text file (.txt on Windows). I copy the URI from my browser and
    paste it into the file. Then I copy part of a line of text and paste
    that into the file. I save the file, using the title of the Web page as
    the file name. Then I can terminate my browser and shut down my PC.
    The next day, I can return directly to where I left off.

    --
    David E. Ross
    <http://www.rossde.com/>.

    Donald Trump claims everyone likes him. Does that
    include his ex-wives? How about the students who
    discovered that their education at Trump University
    was worthless?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)