Computing desk
< October 17	<< Sep \| October \| Nov >>	Current desk >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

October 18[edit]

Copy pasting Hebrew Text from PDF[edit]

is it possible to copy Hebrew text from a PDF file, and paste it into a text editor?.am on mobile phone, finding the pasted text is reversed, some letters, and most diacritic marks are being lost..is this a common problem, does it depend on the text editor, website/browser, or will updating PDF reader resolve this? Gfigs (talk) 17:36, 18 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

here is a test page Hashkiveinu#Text Gfigs (talk) 17:43, 18 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

don't think it is Android, browser or text editor, as can copy paste the text directly from the Wikipedia HTML page with all the letters and diacritics..so is it then PDF file? or PDF reader? I have Acrobat 15.2.1 Gfigs (talk) 22:00, 18 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on the PDF file. In its simplest form, a PDF file is essentially a list of characters with font information (e.g. Lucida Calligraphy, point size 10, medium weight) and position information. A ligature such as ffl is one character, or rather an index in a font table. The ability to select and copy a portion depends on additional information in the file that is only there for that purpose; it is not used for creating an image of the page, whether onscreen or on paper. Not all PDF files have that extra information – and if it is present, it is not always faithful to the intended textual content. --Lambiam 23:06, 18 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

would it possible then, to improve the PDF generation process on Wikipedia, to enable copy pasting of Hebrew text from the PDFs? am on restricted data, hoping someone could double check this on the latest Acrobat reader, and advise how to proceed from here..Gfigs (talk) 04:06, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

PDF is a printer language and is designed as such. It doesn't necessarily contain any information that's not interesting to the printer, so only use it for viewing on screen or printing. If you want to do anything else, get the source from which the pdf was generated. Unfortunately, some people seem unaware of this and expect you to process pdfs in some way. There's no reliable way to do this.

Normally, the characters in a line are stored in order (pdf is designed to do that efficiently), but seeing the difference between kerns and spaces may be hard. Lines may be stored top to bottom, but may also be bottom to top and in two-column pages it's conceivable that it alternates between lines of the left and right column. Lines of margin text may alternate with lines of main body text, or an entire block of margin text is squeezed between two lines of the body text. Ligatures and accented characters may be stored at unexpected places in the encoding table. When copying, hyphens at the end of a line may have to be eliminated, but not always, and in some languages (and the file doesn't say which language it's in) more processing is required. That's just the beginning. In short, turning pdf into plain text is a nightmare to be avoided. PiusImpavidus (talk) 09:15, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

PDFs can also contain images, and some applications will convert unusual fonts into an image so that there is no text there at all! You might find it easier to convert to a JPEG and use an OCR application, depends on the source and your resources. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 09:54, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

thanks, am still searching for an appropriate and accurate online Hebrew Bible, ideally based on C.D. Ginsburg or better..going to try the in-browser Chrome download for now (.mhtml) Gfigs (talk) 10:16, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Silence ringing of incoming call on Android phone[edit]

It is Android 7.0 if that matters. When I get an incoming call, I can swipe left (to the red phone icon) that I think rejects the call (prevents it from being completed), or swipe right and answer the call. But a lot of calls are spam, so when I get a call from an unknown number, I tend to not want to answer it. Yet it MIGHT not be spam, so I would rather not reject it outright.

What I really want is to leave the call pending but silence the ringing, so the call eventually goes to voice mail without bothering me with further noise. The caller can then leave a message if they have something to say (spammers usually don't). Does anyone know if there is a way to do that? Thanks. 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 20:56, 18 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I own a LG-android from 2014: It offers a setting to mute the signal easily by turning the device over (front down). --84.190.201.165 (talk) 23:50, 18 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Doesn't it have a volume control on the side? Martin of Sheffield (talk) 09:51, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

If you tap the power button, (or volume up/down) when the phone is ringing, then your ringer is muted. However, the caller isn't informed of this. Your phone will keep ringing on silent until your voicemail kicks in and answers the call. LongHairedFop (talk) 14:40, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I didn't know this. It sounds like exactly what I want, so I'll try it next time such a call comes in. I got one this morning that was unusual in coming from an 866 (toll free, like 800) area code, asking me to call the number, and I answered because I thought it might be a valid call. Now I wonder what it might have been about (said something about a medical bill) but I'm not about to call the number yet. Might try a reverse lookup. 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 21:36, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You could always experiment by calling from your landline (remember them?), or ask a friend to call you. LongHairedFop (talk) 10:01, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]