[poppler] Should we aim for having utils only using public API, ideally cpp/ ?

[suzuki toshiya]

>> I remember, the reply was something like "you should use cpp-interface".
>> But the coverage of cpp interface is too small to implement yet another
>> OutputDev.
> 
> Yes the cpp interface doesn't provice that.
> 
> Though as mentioned back in 2017 to Even, no one says what they really need, just the classes they hope we did not touch.
> 
> What we need is someone giving us the high level description of their needs so we can try to come up with the API they would need and we could maintain.

If there is some example of "the high level description of their needs"
which made poppler maintainers reconsider to add new feature, please
let me know. I want to learn more.

"We want to have yet another OutputDev, because we have our own page
description language-like API, we want to have a bridge from PDF to our
own PDL-like API, so we want to have yet another OutputDev" might *not*
be "the high level description of their needs". But as you agreed, cpp
(or other interfaces) is not sufficient to develop yet another OutputDev,
so the request by the people trying to develop their own OutputDev would
not be resolved.

> Also, I'll be honest here, lo-end Japanese printer companies are totally at the bottom of my list on "people I'd like to help during my spare time", so even if they gave me the best specification ever i doubt i would decide to work on that over the other 600 bugs we have.

"I have no time to work for that" is the most persuasive comment in OSS,
rather than "there might be no requirement for that", I think :)

Regards,
mpsuzuki

On 2020/01/15 8:03, Albert Astals Cid wrote:
> El dimarts, 14 de gener de 2020, a les 6:28:41 CET, suzuki toshiya va escriure:
>> On 2020/01/14 13:56, Oliver Sander wrote:
>>>>> We have asked third party uses of non public headers to come forward and
>>>>> describe their needs multiple times, we've always got a big silence as
>>>>> answer.
>>>>
>>>> Not completely true ;-)
>>>
>>> Indeed.  As mentioned I have also received descriptions of what the LibreOffice folks do.
>>> In order to import pdf files they subclass OutputDev to 'paint' into a custom internal
>>> format they have. I'll dig out the details on request.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Oliver
>>
>> I agree with "Not completely true".
>>
>> In the past, OpenPrinting consortium members had asked about the usage
>> of APIs in non public headers, to make yet another OutputDev, as the
>> lo-end printers by Japanese companies (note: some lo-end inkjet printers
>> want to interact with the host machines, so, making a fixed printer data
>> by PS or PDF are not sufficient).
>>
>> I remember, the reply was something like "you should use cpp-interface".
>> But the coverage of cpp interface is too small to implement yet another
>> OutputDev.
> 
> Yes the cpp interface doesn't provice that.
> 
> Though as mentioned back in 2017 to Even, no one says what they really need, just the classes they hope we did not touch.
> 
> What we need is someone giving us the high level description of their needs so we can try to come up with the API they would need and we could maintain.
> 
> Also, I'll be honest here, lo-end Japanese printer companies are totally at the bottom of my list on "people I'd like to help during my spare time", so even if they gave me the best specification ever i doubt i would decide to work on that over the other 600 bugs we have.
> 
> But that's just me and we'd be still good to have such specification, once we have that spec maybe they could themselves work on it ;)
> 
> Cheers,
>    Albert
> 
> 
> 
>>
>> Regards,
>> mpsuzuki
>>
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