Microsoft Edge To Save Edits Made To PDF Files Without Saving a Copy Each Time (thewindowsclub.com) 30
techtsp quotes The Windows Club: In a major breakthrough, Microsoft Edge now supports Native File System API, which will take progressive web apps and their usage to a whole new level.
An official roadmap entry points towards the new development, which only means one thing: Bridging the native app gap using modern web technologies... This is exactly where Microsoft Edge's Native File System API support comes into play, and Edge is already rolling out a native PDF editing support that uses this Native File System API. In the future, Microsoft Edge users can easily save edits made to PDF documents back to the file instead of saving a copy each time...
Starting in Google Chrome 83, a new origin trial has started for the Native File System API for all desktop platforms including Windows, Linux, and macOS. We saw it in action in the text editor demo....
Over the last few years, the web has evolved into an incredibly powerful platform in itself, and with the introduction and significant adoption of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), the cross-device software delivery became much easier. But no matter how great PWAs are, they have certain limitations that we can't possibly ignore. And these limitations prevent users from replacing native apps with progressive web apps. In short, PWAs can't do everything that native apps can do.
An official roadmap entry points towards the new development, which only means one thing: Bridging the native app gap using modern web technologies... This is exactly where Microsoft Edge's Native File System API support comes into play, and Edge is already rolling out a native PDF editing support that uses this Native File System API. In the future, Microsoft Edge users can easily save edits made to PDF documents back to the file instead of saving a copy each time...
Starting in Google Chrome 83, a new origin trial has started for the Native File System API for all desktop platforms including Windows, Linux, and macOS. We saw it in action in the text editor demo....
Over the last few years, the web has evolved into an incredibly powerful platform in itself, and with the introduction and significant adoption of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), the cross-device software delivery became much easier. But no matter how great PWAs are, they have certain limitations that we can't possibly ignore. And these limitations prevent users from replacing native apps with progressive web apps. In short, PWAs can't do everything that native apps can do.
Microsoft Edge? (Score:3)
What's that? Oh, wait, Wikipedia says it's a web browser of some sort. Could the person using that let us know how it is?
[ Ha! I jest. But, seriously, does anyone actually use Edge, except when Windows fires it up instead of the browser you actually want? ]
PDF bloat (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:PDF bloat (Score:5, Insightful)
Much like the edit history of Word documents, it could leave a paper trail for who edited what when. It will be particualrly risky for redacted documents.
Re: (Score:2)
No. PDFs will be completely unchanged, the only difference is the user won't make a copy and delete the original like they have been doing.
And that is by design (Score:5, Insightful)
”And these limitations prevent users from replacing native apps with progressive web apps. In short, PWAs can't do everything that native apps can do.“
Back in the early days of ActiveX, I remember reading an article stating that one of its benefits was it had much better ways to access the local file system than, say, JavaScript.
And we all saw how well that turned out.
Those limitations do exist for a reason.
Re:And that is by design (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
file format lock in, try to open the PDF in another application and it wont work
Err not sure what you're talking about, but I've been editing PDFs on edge (mainly for its pen support) for years and have never once run into any issue reading the result in Acrobat, Foxit, Chrome, Firefox, or even importing in as a flat image to Photoshop.
Re: (Score:2)
You mean the version of Edge that just came out? You've used it for years?
Re: (Score:2)
No I mean Edge, the browser that has had PDF editing functionality for years. The fact that the browser can access the file system via a new API doesn't have any impact at all on resulting PDF files, other than the file name and the fact you no longer end up with 2 files.
Edge saves fairly standard PDFs, has always done (though in the past with compatibility issues which have improved over the years) and continue to do going forward.
Re: And that is by design (Score:1, Troll)
Uuum, well, with WebGL and WebSockets and website processes that keep running even when you "close" the browser (In Firefox for Android, online traffic often only stops when you force-close the browser. Closing it in the task switcher does nothing.) I think it's already too late.
Nuke WhatWG from orbit. It's the only way to be safe.
Re: (Score:2)
I think it's already too late.
Yeah, that's more or less my fear - people keep having to relearn the same lessons, over and over again.
Re: And that is by design (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
And we all saw how well that turned out.
Indeed, but not due to file system access. ActiveX was poorly designed at every level. Additionally local file system access made little sense. Fast forward to 2020 and when a large portion of the world runs an office suite directly in their browser, the ability to actually edit files becomes somewhat important.
A web browser is effectively an OS now, so it may as well not suck at that job.
Re: (Score:2)
Damn. There goes my plans for browser-based sex dolls.
Note: This post was NSFW. If accidental exposure occurred, please go back in time one minute and skip this post.
Re: (Score:3)
Fast forward to 2020 and when a large portion of the world runs an office suite directly in their browser
I feel like a better solution to that issue is to spray them with water while firmly saying, "stop it," when you see that happening. You know, like a cat clawing furniture.
I didn't really think I'd be the "get off my lawn" type of old man, but the trend for everyone to keep replacing native applications with web applications consistently astounds me. It's not that I'm against the benefits of connectivity and information in the cloud. I love that I can write a document in Word, then when I walk into a meetin
Still waiting for WebFS... (Score:1, Troll)
... so I can save my WebPDFs over WebSockets with my WebPs that I made with WebGL to my WebSSD on my WebComputer, with only a quick stroke of my WebHands on my WebKeyboard while sitting on my WebChair in my WebHouse, where I WebWeb the WebWeb WebWebDeeWeb.
I have no web, but I must web! [wikipedia.org]
P.S. regarding WebFS... (Score:1)
In case anyone is trying: I already developed a WebFS in 2004-5, so I've got prior art.
It was before AJAX, so all done via a form in a hidden frame, that HTTP POSTed to a server, which replied with a script that called the outside frame back with some what we now would call JSON.
Yep. An abomination that scares Cthulhu. Yet still, the "modern" (read: degenerated) web is even worse.
What breakthrough? (Score:2)
What exactly is the breakthrough here? Creating a browser API to access the local file system was not possible due something?
Re: (Score:2)
Creating a browser API to access the local file system was not possible due something?
Yes, a lack of a standard API.
Printing? (Score:1)
“ But no matter how great PWAs are, they have certain limitations that we can't possibly ignore. And these limitations prevent users from replacing native apps with progressive web apps. In short, PWAs can't do everything that native apps can do.”
I know it’s a “paperless” world these days, but there are lots of cases where it’s still required. Any idea why there’s never been a standard way to support printing properly? I don’t mean using the “print
So it just overwrites the original? (Score:3)
"major breakthrough" (Score:2)
Uh... neat? You're either way over-selling this or way under-explaining this. Sure sounds like a fairly run-of-the-mill basic incremental improvement to me, and I'm a software developer who generally thinks things like switching to a new back-end API for this or that is actually interesting.
Re: (Score:3)
HTAs never left (Score:2)
PWAs, renamed from HTAs. I've still got a bunch of HTAs running on client machines for over a decade -- writing hundreds of files every hour.
It's been decades of the same unpopular ideas, over and over. Still waiting for a world of videophones. Last year, grandparents with grandchildren. This year, zoom for everybody. Next year, it'll all be gone. Even my parents are tired of video calls. "zoom fatigue" as it were.
Mainframe, workstation, thin client, personal computer, web server, local app, cloud se