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ePub are packaged HTML/CSS/SVG, and entirely dependent on their changing specs. That's no good for many of PDF's uses. Printers these days can print PDF directl

by yyyk 5y ago

ePub are packaged HTML/CSS/SVG, and entirely dependent on their changing specs. That's no good for many of PDF's uses. Printers these days can print PDF directly. With ePub they'll eventually need to include an auto-updated version of Chrome? If we want to replace PDF entirely, we need a stable print-oriented format.

dredmorbius 5y ago
Hrm... So I know that ePub is a packaged bundle of HTML + CSS. I could see SVG in there. Does it also include JS? A static or slow-moving subset of HTML could be reasonable. Again, what ePub manages to achieve by way of single-file distribution and reflowable (but pageable) text is ... useful for mediocre devices. But if it does keep us on the Google-mandated spec-escallation treadmill ... Yeah, that's kind of awful.
- yyyk 5y ago
  >So I know that ePub is a packaged bundle of HTML + CSS. I could see SVG in there. Does it also include JS? ePub does include Javascript, including the SVG ability to include a script element, which IMHO shouldn't have ever existed in the first place. But the JS version is never specified, and it's unclear what's really supported besides the navigator element which is mentioned in the spec. In fairness, PDFs also support JS, but most PDF viewers are sane enough to just ignore it - haven't done a check of ePub readers, but I suspect it's not much different. >A static or slow-moving subset of HTML could be reasonable. Latest ePub specs (v3.1+) explicitly commit to supporting latest HTML5. Quoting the 3.2 spec: "The biggest change in EPUB 3.2 is the relationship to the core web specs of HTML, CSS, and SVG. In the past EPUB has pointed to a particular dated version of HTML or CSS. EPUB 3.2 now officially supports the current versions of HTML, CSS, and SVG, as defined by the W3C. These versions will evolve over time, allowing EPUB to remain up-to-date with the web."
  - dredmorbius 5y ago
    Thanks. Much of HTML5 is IMO pretty good in that it is explicitly structural. Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into HTML5 is excellent at both describing and being an exemplar of good HTML5 design. (The markup is remarkably sparse and clear.) Canvas, interactivity, DRM, not so much.

by yyyk 5y ago

dredmorbius 5y ago

Hrm... So I know that ePub is a packaged bundle of HTML + CSS. I could see SVG in there. Does it also include JS? A static or slow-moving subset of HTML could be reasonable. Again, what ePub manages to achieve by way of single-file distribution and reflowable (but pageable) text is ... useful for mediocre devices. But if it does keep us on the Google-mandated spec-escallation treadmill ... Yeah, that's kind of awful.

yyyk 5y ago
>So I know that ePub is a packaged bundle of HTML + CSS. I could see SVG in there. Does it also include JS? ePub does include Javascript, including the SVG ability to include a script element, which IMHO shouldn't have ever existed in the first place. But the JS version is never specified, and it's unclear what's really supported besides the navigator element which is mentioned in the spec. In fairness, PDFs also support JS, but most PDF viewers are sane enough to just ignore it - haven't done a check of ePub readers, but I suspect it's not much different. >A static or slow-moving subset of HTML could be reasonable. Latest ePub specs (v3.1+) explicitly commit to supporting latest HTML5. Quoting the 3.2 spec: "The biggest change in EPUB 3.2 is the relationship to the core web specs of HTML, CSS, and SVG. In the past EPUB has pointed to a particular dated version of HTML or CSS. EPUB 3.2 now officially supports the current versions of HTML, CSS, and SVG, as defined by the W3C. These versions will evolve over time, allowing EPUB to remain up-to-date with the web."
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  Thanks. Much of HTML5 is IMO pretty good in that it is explicitly structural. Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into HTML5 is excellent at both describing and being an exemplar of good HTML5 design. (The markup is remarkably sparse and clear.) Canvas, interactivity, DRM, not so much.