Much better 2.0 screenshots posted
- Thread starter mikelove
- Start date
Yes, that pretty much describes it. From the fact that you aren't using it I'm guessing you won't object too much if it disappears in 2.0 
Re your bug question, we have indeed figured out a way to fix this: we're circumventing the Windows CE font system altogether. In 2.0, we use our own custom UI controls along with an open-source font library called FreeType to render text, so our fonts are only loaded by that and Windows is never even aware of their existence. Hence there's no longer any way that they can possibly affect pIE. This also lets us finally work around the fonts-not-working-correctly-when-loaded-from-a-memory-card bug, so that's 8-10 MB of internal storage memory that everyone gets back.
Re your bug question, we have indeed figured out a way to fix this: we're circumventing the Windows CE font system altogether. In 2.0, we use our own custom UI controls along with an open-source font library called FreeType to render text, so our fonts are only loaded by that and Windows is never even aware of their existence. Hence there's no longer any way that they can possibly affect pIE. This also lets us finally work around the fonts-not-working-correctly-when-loaded-from-a-memory-card bug, so that's 8-10 MB of internal storage memory that everyone gets back.
thanks mike and gato.
btw, the instant access function would be great, but it doesn't seem to work as gato describes (just tried it). i also have a problem where i'll copy a chinese word from a program (like outlook) and try to paste it into plecodict, but somehow nothing pastes.
so for the record, the instant access function would be useful for me.
btw, the instant access function would be great, but it doesn't seem to work as gato describes (just tried it). i also have a problem where i'll copy a chinese word from a program (like outlook) and try to paste it into plecodict, but somehow nothing pastes.
so for the record, the instant access function would be useful for me.
Mike, I wonder if people weren't sufficiently aware of instant access, or haven't given you enough feedback about how it's used.
I didn't use instant access for a long time. I'd read about it but didn't understand what it was. Actually it was clear, but I couldn't imagine that functionality could be possible, so assumed I'd misunderstood. When I tried to use it, not knowing/believing exactly what it was, I failed. I used to study with two PDAs running, just so that I could look up words without changing program.
Later on the penny dropped, and another new PlecoDict world opened. Now I use it every day. Recently I've moved away from studying words and use sentences and phrases, which I study using a variety of other Palm apps, because that works better for me than isolated words. Instant access gives what I need for a quick check and nothing more, and works anywhere.
Because of instant access I was able to make the big jump from numbered pinyin in everything, to using characters alone, almost overnight. I can always use instant access to check a character's sound, but it turns out that I can understand or guess many more characters than I thought. Most often I reach for the instant access button and then the word pops into my brain, because I'm not obsessed with fear losing it, knowing that help is always a tap away no matter where I am.
Sure, the main study work could be done in the new document reader, but I'm also using another flashcard-like program which lets me import whole sentences from my lessons. I'd like to keep using my standalone diary program, using CJKOS to enter some characters whenever I can cope, with instant access as my safety net. As an elementary student I'm increasingly proud to put a character or two in the addressbook, or a todo item, and as the full popup text of my routine alarms. Here I can stretch myself hard, because I always have instant access to give me a quick answer when I forget or panic.
Moving from pinyin to characters alone is a major milestone at this stage of my learning, and feeling it's safe to use characters outside of the study context is great fun. I couldn't have done that without Pleco's instant access.
I didn't use instant access for a long time. I'd read about it but didn't understand what it was. Actually it was clear, but I couldn't imagine that functionality could be possible, so assumed I'd misunderstood. When I tried to use it, not knowing/believing exactly what it was, I failed. I used to study with two PDAs running, just so that I could look up words without changing program.
Later on the penny dropped, and another new PlecoDict world opened. Now I use it every day. Recently I've moved away from studying words and use sentences and phrases, which I study using a variety of other Palm apps, because that works better for me than isolated words. Instant access gives what I need for a quick check and nothing more, and works anywhere.
Because of instant access I was able to make the big jump from numbered pinyin in everything, to using characters alone, almost overnight. I can always use instant access to check a character's sound, but it turns out that I can understand or guess many more characters than I thought. Most often I reach for the instant access button and then the word pops into my brain, because I'm not obsessed with fear losing it, knowing that help is always a tap away no matter where I am.
Sure, the main study work could be done in the new document reader, but I'm also using another flashcard-like program which lets me import whole sentences from my lessons. I'd like to keep using my standalone diary program, using CJKOS to enter some characters whenever I can cope, with instant access as my safety net. As an elementary student I'm increasingly proud to put a character or two in the addressbook, or a todo item, and as the full popup text of my routine alarms. Here I can stretch myself hard, because I always have instant access to give me a quick answer when I forget or panic.
Moving from pinyin to characters alone is a major milestone at this stage of my learning, and feeling it's safe to use characters outside of the study context is great fun. I couldn't have done that without Pleco's instant access.
Instant Access
Hi Mike, I definitely vote to keep instant access. I use it mostly when I receive SMSs with words I don't know. I can look up individual words without leaving the SMS. Sometimes I will also load a document into my Treo so that I can read it in my spare time and use instant access to look up words. I would really miss it. With more and more people going to smart phones I think the number who will use it will only increase.
Hi Mike, I definitely vote to keep instant access. I use it mostly when I receive SMSs with words I don't know. I can look up individual words without leaving the SMS. Sometimes I will also load a document into my Treo so that I can read it in my spare time and use instant access to look up words. I would really miss it. With more and more people going to smart phones I think the number who will use it will only increase.
Just make sure it works right on PPC...
I notice it's only Palm users praising Instant Access - please don't leave it in it's current state on PPC. The fact that it breaks copy/paste is the biggest thing I'm looking forward to seeing fixed in 2.0. For some reason disabling it in prefs doesn't fix it in 1.0 either.
I notice it's only Palm users praising Instant Access - please don't leave it in it's current state on PPC. The fact that it breaks copy/paste is the biggest thing I'm looking forward to seeing fixed in 2.0. For some reason disabling it in prefs doesn't fix it in 1.0 either.
Aunty - I'm intrigued to hear that it had such a psychological impact; we always viewed it as a minor convenience booster and nothing more. Really the limiting factor in all of this is whether we can figure out a way to get it working on Palm OS without having to delay the product release by a month or more as a result; if we can't pull that off, though, you'll still have access to it through the old version (which can coexist quite happily with the new one).
I suppose one workaround we could always consider would be to release Instant Access on Palm as an entirely separate application, bundled free with 2.0; we'd base it on the old-version code, it would likely need its own separate keyfile but we could probably rig up some sort of way to integrate it with the 2.0 flashcards by having it dump added cards to some sort of temporary file which 2.0 would then look for / create flashcards based on when it started up. Another benefit of that approach is that we could release this a few months after the rest of 2.0 and not have to delay the release because of it.
ldolse - not to worry, we won't be leaving it in its current state; we'll probably just discard our ill-advised attempt to integrate it more closely with other applications and instead just offer an option to paste in the clipboard contents whenever you switch to PlecoDict; with an add-on application launcher program you could easily reduce the whole operation to two stylus taps (and possibly just one if you could combine the copy / launch Pleco commands into a single macro or somesuch), so it wouldn't be significantly less useful than what we have now but it would be much less likely to screw up the rest of your system.
I suppose one workaround we could always consider would be to release Instant Access on Palm as an entirely separate application, bundled free with 2.0; we'd base it on the old-version code, it would likely need its own separate keyfile but we could probably rig up some sort of way to integrate it with the 2.0 flashcards by having it dump added cards to some sort of temporary file which 2.0 would then look for / create flashcards based on when it started up. Another benefit of that approach is that we could release this a few months after the rest of 2.0 and not have to delay the release because of it.
ldolse - not to worry, we won't be leaving it in its current state; we'll probably just discard our ill-advised attempt to integrate it more closely with other applications and instead just offer an option to paste in the clipboard contents whenever you switch to PlecoDict; with an add-on application launcher program you could easily reduce the whole operation to two stylus taps (and possibly just one if you could combine the copy / launch Pleco commands into a single macro or somesuch), so it wouldn't be significantly less useful than what we have now but it would be much less likely to screw up the rest of your system.