How do I implement PDF control in MP plugin?

JestriK · 2006-08-14, 00:48

I am currently writing a plugin for viewing ebooks in MP.

I have desigined the GUI for the plugin and at the moment I have come up against an obstacle.

The first picture below shows the GUI for the plugin (nothing special - pretty much like all other plugins). The second picture shows a windows form with a control from PDFSharp (open source c# pdf editing/viewing library).

I want to put the PDF viewing control from the windows form (2nd screenshot) into the white box on the first screenshot. (I have drawn the white box to illustrate my point - don't worry it won't be there on the plugin!)

I can't think of any way of doing this, hence the post.

What XML should I use to declare this control in the XML skin file, more specifically, what do I put in between the <type></type> tags?

Any help/tips would be most appreciated.

Regards,
JestriK

Inker · 2006-08-14, 08:36

Hmm, interesting. What type of object do you get back from SharpPDF? In other words, if you were to build a Winforms app what control would you drop the result onto? I almost suspect they have their own custom control type which you can drop onto any container control in Winforms.

If so, I think your best bet would be to look at the WebBrowser Plugin since *I think* this one also has to display some custom Winforms Control type (that Mozilla Plugin you have to install) and see how this is achieved there and how it handles things like scrolling with the remote.

Hope this is of any help to you.

samuel337 · 2006-08-14, 11:46

Alternatively, if you can somehow get the PDF doc exported to a System.Drawing.Bitmap object, then you can maybe show it in MP as a graphic.

Given there's no need to be able to select anything on the actual object, (unlike the webbrowser control, where you need to be able to select links) it should be OK to represent the PDF file as a graphics object.

Sam

mPod · 2006-08-14, 12:35

A good PDF has (internal) hyperlinks (mainly for the table of contents), so you need it selectable.

2006-08-14, 00:48	#1 (permalink)
JestriK Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Southsea, UK Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	How do I implement PDF control in MP plugin? I am currently writing a plugin for viewing ebooks in MP. I have desigined the GUI for the plugin and at the moment I have come up against an obstacle. The first picture below shows the GUI for the plugin (nothing special - pretty much like all other plugins). The second picture shows a windows form with a control from PDFSharp (open source c# pdf editing/viewing library). I want to put the PDF viewing control from the windows form (2nd screenshot) into the white box on the first screenshot. (I have drawn the white box to illustrate my point - don't worry it won't be there on the plugin!) I can't think of any way of doing this, hence the post. What XML should I use to declare this control in the XML skin file, more specifically, what do I put in between the <type></type> tags? Any help/tips would be most appreciated. Regards, JestriK __________________ Epia VIA 10000M :: 1GB RAM :: GeForce Low Profile 6600 :: 1x 300GB HDD :: 1x 250GB HDD :: MS Wireless Mouse and Keyboard :: MCE 2005 Remote

2006-08-14, 12:35	#4 (permalink)
mPod Retired Team Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Berlin Age: 34 Posts: 2,086 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Country: My System	A good PDF has (internal) hyperlinks (mainly for the table of contents), so you need it selectable. __________________ Bad news from the stars... We cannot give any support without a properly filled support template and a full mediaportal.log pasted here. Before you ask...

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2006-08-14, 08:36	#2 (permalink)
Inker Portal Designer Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,560 Thanks: 35 Thanked 134 Times in 58 Posts My System	Hmm, interesting. What type of object do you get back from SharpPDF? In other words, if you were to build a Winforms app what control would you drop the result onto? I almost suspect they have their own custom control type which you can drop onto any container control in Winforms. If so, I think your best bet would be to look at the WebBrowser Plugin since I think this one also has to display some custom Winforms Control type (that Mozilla Plugin you have to install) and see how this is achieved there and how it handles things like scrolling with the remote. Hope this is of any help to you.

2006-08-14, 11:46	#3 (permalink)
samuel337 Portal Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 773 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Alternatively, if you can somehow get the PDF doc exported to a System.Drawing.Bitmap object, then you can maybe show it in MP as a graphic. Given there's no need to be able to select anything on the actual object, (unlike the webbrowser control, where you need to be able to select links) it should be OK to represent the PDF file as a graphics object. Sam