[open-beos-printing] Re: Updates?

Julun wrote:
I intended more to have a separate "Save as PDF" menu item, which indeed uses the hopefully existing printing code, to write out the file directly based on the applications stored BPrinter.
Why create a separate menu item for a specific file format? What happens when the user wants to save to PNG, or DOC, or XML, will the file menu have "Save as <FIlE TYPE>" for each FILE TYPE menu item in the File menu? Of course not, and the reason is one of dependency. Creating a "Save as PDF" creates a hard dependency between the GUI and the function of saving various file types. That's why translators were invented, so that this dependency can be broken and allow system-wide functionality that essentially comes free with every program.
Although technically difficult to do, and perhaps all the more reason to do it, creating a PDF translator is not impossible. The issue, from what I can understand from the conversations here, is one of pagination. So, assume that this translator needs to display a dialog allowing the user to select a page size and various other properties once they click the Save As button in the file output dialog. Problem solved.
Technically selecting a PDF drop down menu in the "Save As..." dialog for a translator should be no more complex than making a "Save as PDF" menu item, but it makes a lot of difference to the users, and to the quality of the software engineering used in the OS.
However, I tend to agree that this is an R2 issue and that there are more pressing items to be solved for R1. 

Simon

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