!reader 0.92 Beta

[PiNa1971]

I obtained permission form author of !reader Marco Giorgini to share this non-public (till now) beta version of his stunning TXT/RTF/HTM/PDF/PDB text reader for GP32. So here it goes... enjoy!

As you will see, there are three versions of !reader in this archive. They are all the same except used font. The final version will probably support fonts in external files, but that's not for sure yet.

If you have BLU+, then copy !reader.fxe and !reader subdirectory into GPMM directory.
For unknown reason, there is a problem with creating working .cfg file on BLU+ units, therefore you have to use one included in !reader subdirectory. It's probably gonna be fixed in final version.

There seem to be some slight problems with colour of GUI in this beta version. It changes from time to time but overally this version seems to be stable enough for distribution

When reading, you can press L+R for GP32 reset (no need to use pull down menu). Your position in text will be saved and next time you will start from saved position.

During testing I found little but usefull "bug". Open your text, select zoom of 110%, reset GP32, open text again, select zoom of 100%, select zoom back to 110% and now when you press A button, text will scroll up much faster, even faster than max speed selectable by joystick.

Have a nice reading!

 

[evilmind]

First of all - Marco is our GOD! :rolleyes:
Nice release, and thanks a lot for support of czech fonts.

I only found some small bugs till now:
- filesize of textfile only shows when unpacked, not inside archives (i have all .pdb files in one zip)
- in Recent file list some files with long filenames have some strange characters at the end, like "HuHuHu", which is kinda scary btw . But the file opens without problem when selected.
- when i stop scrolling down text, and I start only use joypaddown, right side of screen starts white blinking - that's probably some BLU+ error?

 

[PiNa1971]

- when i stop scrolling down text, and I start only use joypaddown, right side of screen starts white blinking - that's probably some BLU+ error?

​

The same white blinking at the right side appears when the max auto scroll speed is selected by joystick. Around 3 or 4 times joy up helps.

The same problem had Giana Sisters for GP32 on BLU+ units, so it seems to be BLU+ issue IMHO.

 

[Hanz™]

Awesome how soon is the next version coming out?

 

[PiNa1971]

@Hanz

It depends on Marco's spare time. He is currently busy with other projects and that's why he decided to release this beta version in the meantime. As far as I can tell, this version is rock solid and the best GP32 text reader so far.

 

[Ringo]

Was actually wondering if he ever did release the new beta-version. Marco sent a few beta's to me after I reportet a stability issue a while back.

Is this a rescent release?
The last beta I recieved WAS 0.92 Beta... but that was back in november... And there weren't 3 seperate versions.

Nice to hear that it runs okay on BLU+ too.

Incredible that you actually found a bug. I simply wasn't able to find any bugs after the first few beta's I recieved. I ended up only reporting luxury issues like not being able to search for words with special characters (like Æ Ø Å from my language) in texts.

 

[PiNa1971]

@Ringo

The last public version was 0.83 beta.

I wrote him when I got my BLU+ unit and asked for support of czech characters, and reported non working .cfg file on BLU+ units. Marco sent me 0.92beta version, we "fixed" non working .cfg file and the above version is the latest. He finished it during weekend. Actualy it is 0.92beta with russian and eastern fonts added.

 

[Hanz™]

Could you ask him to make another version which does not have a blurry font (just like the old version) as I find it kinda annoying.

 

[PiNa1971]

@Hanz

I already told him, when I got his new beta for the first time. I'd also like to get sharp font, but it seems Marco is focused on this new version with blurry font only. But I somehow got used to it. It's not that bad, it's like reading newspapers And you can set up sharpness of font in menu.

If I got it right, version 0.83 beta has completely diferent handling of fonts and therefore it's not possible to combine sharp and blurry font in one program.

 

[TelcoLou]

Ummm, it doens't read .PDF files, does it?

(Methinks EvilDragon is a bit too eager to have us read his Fenix Tutorials on the gp32_console )

 

[Ringo]

Ummm, it doens't read .PDF files, does it?

(Methinks EvilDragon is a bit too eager to have us read his Fenix Tutorials on the gp32_console )

​

It does!

 

[Hanz™]

@Hanz

I already told him, when I got his new beta for the first time. I'd also like to get sharp font, but it seems Marco is focused on this new version with blurry font only. But I somehow got used to it. It's not that bad, it's like reading newspapers And you can set up sharpness of font in menu.

If I got it right, version 0.83 beta has completely diferent handling of fonts and therefore it's not possible to combine sharp and blurry font in one program.

​

Awww Shame.
Oh well at least GPBook doesn't have this.
(It looks like cleartype - which I could never get used to)

 

[Tidus]

Ummm, it doens't read .PDF files, does it?

(Methinks EvilDragon is a bit too eager to have us read his Fenix Tutorials on the  gp32_console  )

​

It does!

​

WOW really???
I can't try it atm but how great it work with PDF ??
can't wait to try it tonight

 

[EvilDragon]

I tried some PDFs (including my Tutorials ), but it doesn't show them correctly.
Even at maximum Zoom all I can see are tiny little dots instead of the text...

But hey, it's beta, and it READS already PDFs
Next step it will show them correctly, I'm sure

 

[Ringo]

I tried some PDFs (including my Tutorials ), but it doesn't show them correctly.
Even at maximum Zoom all I can see are tiny little dots instead of the text...

​

I remember this problem from back when I was testing in november, but I *think* I recall some PDF's actually working. It only interprets the txt in the PDF, so don't expect viewing the fan-zine on it.

It's able to show picture's in html and that's somewhat cool.

 

[hacox]

Hi!
Awsome program, especially the pictureshowing in html. But please fix the blurry font problem if its possible. The sharpening options in the menue arent working well when you go under 100% zoom, what i prefer. Is there an older beta out there where the font isnt blurry, beside of 0.83?
Hacox

 

[PiNa1971]

@hacox

as far as I know, there is no other beta than 0.83 with sharp fonts out.
But there is a light at the end of tunnel as Marco is aware of "blurry" font and will try to "fix" it ... if it's gonna be possible.

 

[evilmind]

@hacox

as far as I know, there is no other beta than 0.83 with sharp fonts out.
But there is a light at the end of tunnel as Marco is aware of "blurry" font and will try to "fix" it ... if it's gonna be possible.

​

I like blurry fonts in !reader, hope he'll not succeed with that fix... B)

 

[frolik]

I've been using this program since the first release and it is bloody brilliant! I was hoping to see bookmarks working but I guess they aren't implemented yet

As for the blurry fonts, I agree I prefer the old display although it's nice to see the flexibility of the antialiasing. I think I'll be using the old version unless an option is made to switch..

 

[PiNa1971]

@frolik

There is not going to be a swtich option blurry/sharp as it is not possible - it's what Marco told me. But there probably will be two separate versions of !reader. One supporting blurry font, second with sharp font only.