Certainly something people long waited for. Am I right, it's for OOo > 2.3.x?

Posted by Peter on October 29, 2007 at 07:24 PM CET #

Some months ago Christian Lippka told me that it the presenter API will contain some more feature related to extension development. Especially he mentioned arbitrary slide-transitions via API (which is not possible yet)? Is this still on the agenda for 2.4?

from http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Presenter_Screen/Implementation
> As first thing it stores the current configuration of the drawing framework, so that later, when the full screen
> presentation ends, the current set of panes and views can be restored. Then all panes and views are
> deactivated to make room for the presenter controls.

Does this mean that the presentation can not be modified via API while the presenter is running? I would be very very pleased if changes would be still possible.The flashcard learning extension I am working on could greatly benefit from such a feature.

Best regards,
Holger

Posted by Holger on October 29, 2007 at 08:56 PM CET #

This sounds like a cool feature. Does this work with a normal laptop/projector combination, or does it require special hardware, like dual video cards?

Posted by Rob Weir on October 30, 2007 at 04:11 AM CET #

I was so fortunate to be able to use this extension for my talk at the OOoCon in Barcelona, and it was really great to use in practice! Thanks again for letting me beta-test.

It is a great thing to see the next slide, so you know what comes next to make a link in your talk. However what I missed a bit was: a preview of the current slide in its final state, e.g., when you have a list which appears entry by entry you have no preview of the following one. Work-around was to write all upcoming entires into the notes. That works quite well, too.

And another thing is the navigation. After trying to place a the cursor of a wireless mouse on the "next" button and then no longer move it to advance slides with a left click was not working. Putting the mouse on the presentation window has the disadvantage that you see the mouse cursor on the screen sometimes. My solution finally was using the mouse wheel, which only works when the cursor is not on a scrollable field.

Another solution would be a small device with a touch-screen on which you can press the next and previous buttons, instead of a mouse. I know that this idea is not new to you, so I am looking forward to do next year's OOoCon presentation with an iPod Touch or whatever device I'll have then :-)

Posted by Bjoern Milcke on October 30, 2007 at 09:01 AM CET #

Nice work!
I will have a go soon (need to find a secondary screen), but I would like to know if enhancements to the pen (paragraph 70 of the specifications) has been implemented.
I admit it is not the most important feature ever, but at present the thin non modifiable green line is almost (if not totally) useless and this project seemed to provide the right framework to improve it.

Cheers,

Michele

Posted by Michele on October 30, 2007 at 04:09 PM CET #

Hi Andre,

ich komme auch aus (der Nähe von) Köln. Just to say: great stuff, could not wait to use it.

Rgds,
Frank

Posted by Frank Selbach on October 30, 2007 at 10:07 PM CET #

I don't have an extra machine to try the developer's snapshot, but based on the images, i think it's pretty good. I don't think you would be needing too many features (like editing and stuff) on the Presenter's screen while you present. The next screen preview is of course excellent. I wonder whether there is a need to have a previous screen?

One suggestion about was to NOT have a last page button... I agree with that too. It increases the possibility that you might accidentally click on it and spill your beans too early.

I'm just not sure about the space allocation for each section though. Some people might want to see more of the next slide, some the notes, and some the current slide. So I guess it would be good to be able to change the sizes of the window [?] by simply dragging a border that automatically adjusts the three to proportion.

Should we go digital with the clock? I'm not sure. But I guess presenter's could live with just the 3-6-9-12 markers - it obscures the view from a far. Maybe what's important is the visibility from a couple of feet. A countdown timer - something to use as a cue, with blinking indicators and/or optional <ding> maybe?

About the effects, what about a translucent mouse somewhere in the corner to indicate that there is an "on mouse click" effect... so the presenter doesn't end up waiting for the next line, bullet, or slide to appear. I think this is what's important during a presentation. Automated transitions and effects will do their job, it's when you need to press on the remote or mouse that needs to be queued in the presenter's view.

Hope this helps.

Posted by gvsa123 on October 31, 2007 at 08:28 PM CET #

My first thought was, this is an excellent feature, one I've wanted for a long time without quite realising it.

My 2nd thought was, you should have patented this idea before disclosing it, since you're in a tough battle against a monopolist who basically "owns" the desktop and office suite market, and who has started recently using patents against OSS and will do so increasingly. Remember, Microsoft dramatically started applying for patents only in the last 5 years, and have been putting in a massive effort to start building a quite daunting portfolio to use as a weapon.

I'm sure you probably dislike software patents, and that position makes sense, but that's the way the game is played. Except it's more than a game, it's the law, and not something you can safely ignore.

Think of it this way: the more great novel usability ideas you disclose without protecting, the harder it will be for you to provide something better than Microsoft - since if you don't patent your stuff, they can legally copy it to catch up to you; while they can patent their own good ideas and prevent you from catching up.

Until sanity returns to patents in the realm of software, I think some people should be considering this unpleasant aspect of the situation.

Posted by Luke Kendall on November 04, 2007 at 11:42 AM CET #