FB Informatik FG Systemprogrammierung | PPower4 This is the homepage of PPower4 (P^4, Pdf Presentation Post Processor)
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Frequently asked questions concerning PPower4

- Q: Do I need a full Java implementation to run PPower4?
  A: No, it is sufficient for running PPower4, to install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and then call `jre` instead of `java`
- Q: I would like to find the whole set of options for `pdfpagetransition`.
  A: This is a matter of the transition effect for PDF files, described in section 6.4.1.4 of the PDF reference manual by Adobe.
  Marc van Dongen has kindly prepared some additional commands to access the effects and agreed to publish these. Thanks!
  For transition effects between partial builds of a page refer to the extensions demo.
- Q: Can I use thumbnails with PPower4?
  A: Together with the development of our new PDF processing library we have created a program to add thumbnails to PDF files. It needs to run GhostScript as a subprocess. This is still only available for Unix users.
- Q: If I run LaTeX on my document and your examples I get an error about an undefined control sequence `\pauselevel`.
  A: Make sure that there is no outdated version of `pause.sty` in your installation (probably from the `pdfslide` package).
- Q: Is there a list of planned enhancements?
  A: No, all current developments are released now.
- Q: Is there an archive of the mailing list?
  A: Yes, you find it (while supplies last;-) here, hosted by mail-archive.com. Archiving was started on December 7, 1999. Earlier messages are recorded only as far as they made it into my personal log.
- Q: You have used the `foils.sty` in your documents. I can find such a file neither in my TeX distribution nor on CTAN. Where do I get this file?
  A: `foils.sty` is created from `foiltex.dtx`, which can be found on CTAN. Watch out for the copyright. It is in the nonfree tree.
  It is not necessary to have `foils.sty` for running PPower4. Just some examples refer to this style.

Problems and possible solutions

- Q: When I look at the demo, the reader comes up in full screen mode and then freezes...return and page down do not work.
  A: Make sure that the reader application has the keyboard input focus. Maybe you have to download the demo files to local disk, then start the reader and select the demo document from the "File" menu.
- Q: I tried to compile `exm2.tex` but the background is still white.
  A: To have background colors you must run the post processor first and then view the resulting output pdf.
- Q: I tried to use gradient background, but my initial monochrome background is still there.
  A: To have gradient colors you must run the post processor and then view the resulting output pdf.
  But beware: if you use the pagecolor macro from pdftex.def, the post processor does not remove that and it sticks to the page covering any post processor added backgrounds.
- Q: When I typeset fractions, the bar is written in a different color.
  A: This problem is independent of PPower4. It seems to be resolved in versions 4.05 of Acrobat Reader. Time to update your version?
- Q: I get this message error when trying to execute `ppower4.bat`:
  `C:\xxx>C:\xxx\jdk1.2.2\jre\bin\java.exe -jar C:\xxx\pp4p.jar
  count = 0, total = 76
  Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: de/tu_darmstadt/sp/pp4/PPower4`
  A: Most probably the file `pp4p.jar` was damaged during download. Check the file size, because most damages will lead to different lengths.

You have more questions? Check the archived entries of the mailing list. Or ask on the mailing list, but make sure that you are subscribed to it.
You found an error in this list? Please write to the maintainer.

Thank you!