How do Search & Notes work on 350/650/950?

[paaThaka]

For those of you who are using PRS-350/650/950 devices, could you enlighten as to:

Is it possible to search for a text within all files in your library (without opening the files one by one and performing the search manually on each of them)? That is not search by name, but search by full contents (full text)?

How can one integrate the highlights / notes / scribbles done on Sony eBook readerinto the PDF files themselves? Does the Sony desktop software do this? Are the markings/highlights properly saved on the PDF annotation layer as per PDF spec (that is, can they be separately turned on/off and selected to be printed or not)?

I'd love to test these myself, but the readers are not available locally to test and I'm wondering how the search/notes features work.

[paaThaka]

Hate to bump this, but I wonder if anybody knows the answer?

[hpjrt]

Well we have two 650s in our house ... and I don't know the answers to your questions ... however, as soon as my granddaughter leaves [early this evening ...], I'll do a few tests for you.

Mary

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by paaThaka

...Is it possible to search for a text within all files in your library (without opening the files one by one and performing the search manually on each of them)? That is not search by name, but search by full contents (full text)? ...

Not so far as I know. You can search for a word, or text, when a book is open: OPTIONS (ie hardware button) > Search > then type the word(s) or text in the pop-up keyboard.

Note that you are not just restricted to searching for single words, but rather you can search for phrases, or whole sentences. Whilst in the middle of a book, it is possible the search the entire contents for all occurrences of the selected text.

Originally Posted by paaThaka

...
How can one integrate the highlights / notes / scribbles done on Sony eBook readerinto the PDF files themselves? Does the Sony desktop software do this? Are the markings/highlights properly saved on the PDF annotation layer as per PDF spec (that is, can they be separately turned on/off and selected to be printed or not)? ...

Sorry, I can't answer this yet. I haven't tried to convert a file that contains notes to PDF. All I can say at this time is that my Sony has an option to create/edit notes and then hide/show the notes.

Update
I realise this reply doesn't really answer your question, but hopefully it will be of some interest to you, or perhaps others who want to know whether notes can be added to PDF documents.

I transferred a PDF file to my reader, using Calibre, and then added some notes (large scribbles across the entire page). Then I turned the notes off and back on again: OPTIONS > Notes > Hide/Show. So, that works fine.

Then I pressed the home button, so the large icon to the right of the words "Continue Reading", representing the PDF file, was displayed. The scribbled notes were missing. This suggested that notes are stored separately.

So, I located the PDF file on my reader: database > media > books > filename.pdf and dragged it to a folder on my PC, and then opened it using Document Viewer. The scribbled notes were missing.

I discovered that notes are stored in a separate folder: database > media > notepads > filename.note

So, I copied them to my PC and examined them using a plain text editor. Apparently notes are stored separately as XML files.

Perhaps I should have mentioned earlier that I am unable to run Sony's desktop software because my OS is Linux.

Further update
I have now installed Adobe Reader 9 for Linux, which of course opens the PDF file without difficulty. However, I still do not see the scribbled notes, nor do do I see any option for incorporating separate XML files, say as a layer. Perhaps someone who is more knowledgeable could help me out here.

Addendum
The Sony Reader Library Software can export Notes from your e-book reader to an RTF file, that can be saved on your hard-drive.

http://ebookstore.sony.com/download/

For further info on the location of Notes files, see:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=109939 -> Post#2

Also, see: Sony PRS-650 Folder/file storage structure hierarchy

[paaThaka]

Thank you very much for the updates. Hopefully there's an esay way to integrate notes with the original pdf file once transferred back to the desktop computer.