What are the chances of calibre supporting conversion from eReader

=X= · 03-29-2009, 05:56 PM

Hi calibre team,
What are the chances of including eReader as a conversion format for calibre? As of late FW has been doing a good job promoting their format. The constant 5% discount is also making the format attractive. It would be great if calibre supported this format.

I've played around with the eReader format is very similar to the zipped up HTML format calibre can convert. The only real difference is that eReader uses the PDB database structure and a PML file instead of an HTML file. The only thing calibre has to do is extract the images, extract the PML and convert PML to HTML and it will have support.

Looking at the PML syntax is is very basic. Here is a link the PML syntax (link).

It seems very basic compared to true HTML, it should not be too hard to convert PML to HTML. I believe there are tools already that do it ETools for example. (EReader2html does not do a very good job)

=X=

kovidgoyal · 03-29-2009, 10:22 PM

I have too many other things on my plate at the moment, so count me out. But if someone were to write a decent ereader2html in python I'd be happy to integrate it into calibre

=X= · 03-30-2009, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I have too many other things on my plate at the moment, so count me out. But if someone were to write a decent ereader2html in python I'd be happy to integrate it into calibre

Hi Kovid,
Thanks for the reply.

That's too bad. It's too bad I don't know how to program in Python I would really like to help out the calibre team.

=X=

junkml · 04-04-2009, 03:53 PM

I might take a stab at writing a quick plugin for Calibre that users could add in. Just so that they could use Calibre to organize their ereader books, and have the metadata information in Calibre. But I have a question:

If a plug in is written that puts "pdb" in the file type of the plugin, will Calibre know to call that plugin when a .pdb file is loaded? Or would .pdb have to be added as a supported format in Calibre first?

About the only information that looks easily accessible in an ereader file is the Title is the first thing in the file, but that would be a start for anyone needing to use the .pdb (ereader) format.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I have too many other things on my plate at the moment, so count me out. But if someone were to write a decent ereader2html in python I'd be happy to integrate it into calibre

kovidgoyal · 04-04-2009, 04:14 PM

If you write a MetadataReader plugin calibre should use it automatically whenever a .pdb file is added to calibre. And I'll be happy to add the plugin to calibre's trunk.

junkml · 04-04-2009, 05:27 PM

So far, it appears that it should be possible to get the title, and even the cover image (if there is one) without breaking the DRM, but it looks like the author/publisher information is encrypted with the rest of the contents. I'm not positive about that, but it might not be possible to extract much metadata information, or update metadata information without breaking the DRM.

kovidgoyal · 04-04-2009, 05:57 PM

Getting the title and cover is a good start.

junkml · 04-04-2009, 10:44 PM

I purchased an ereader book from fictionwise, and after bringing it into the ereader application, but before providing the unlock code, it had picked up the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. So, they must be accessible, but I'm not sure if/when I'll figure out how to retrieve those from the file.

The challenge is finding out where and how they are stored in the file.

user_none · 04-19-2009, 05:17 PM

I've started working on ereader input and output. It will not be available for the 0.5.x series as it is being written for the new conversion framework used by pluginize.

@junkml, if you can figure out how to get the metadata out of an encrypted file that would be awesome. So far it looks like the majority of the information is stored in the encrypted data section itself. For example,

Code:

\vTITLE="Andersen's Fairy Tales" AUTHOR="Hans Christian Andersen"  PUBLISHER="Fictionwise, Inc." EISBN="" COPYRIGHT=""\v

That is the first line of the first page of text in my test file.

I haven't delved into the header section of the file all that much so it might store some metadata in two different places. I know you can get the title out of the unencrypted header for instance.

junkml · 04-25-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user_none

I've started working on ereader input and output. It will not be available for the 0.5.x series as it is being written for the new conversion framework used by pluginize.

@junkml, if you can figure out how to get the metadata out of an encrypted file that would be awesome. So far it looks like the majority of the information is stored in the encrypted data section itself. For example,

Code:

\vTITLE="Andersen's Fairy Tales" AUTHOR="Hans Christian Andersen"  PUBLISHER="Fictionwise, Inc." EISBN="" COPYRIGHT=""\v

That is the first line of the first page of text in my test file.

I haven't delved into the header section of the file all that much so it might store some metadata in two different places. I know you can get the title out of the unencrypted header for instance.

Sorry I haven't been around for a few weeks (working 10-12 hour days at work).

Were you able to figure out how to get the metadata without breaking the encryption? I hadn't made any progress on that.

user_none · 04-25-2009, 12:03 PM

I haven't gotten around to looking at metadata with drm content yet. I've completed ereader input. Once I finish output I'm going to look into it a bit more.

What I've found so far is the pdb header can store the title. There can be metadata embedded in the content itself as a comment. There is a metadata section which contains null terminated strings.

The pdb header is not encrypted. What I still need to look into is if the first data section (it tells the section types) is encrypted and if the metadata section is encrypted.

Since you had mentioned that the metadata is pulled out of the files in your library before putting in the decryption key I'm assuming that at least the metadata section is not encrypted. If the first section is not encrypted it will make things much easier.

03-29-2009, 05:56 PM	#1
=X= Wizard Posts: 3,671 Karma: 12205348 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Galaxy S, Nook w/CM7	What are the chances of calibre supporting conversion from eReader Hi calibre team, What are the chances of including eReader as a conversion format for calibre? As of late FW has been doing a good job promoting their format. The constant 5% discount is also making the format attractive. It would be great if calibre supported this format. I've played around with the eReader format is very similar to the zipped up HTML format calibre can convert. The only real difference is that eReader uses the PDB database structure and a PML file instead of an HTML file. The only thing calibre has to do is extract the images, extract the PML and convert PML to HTML and it will have support. Looking at the PML syntax is is very basic. Here is a link the PML syntax (link). It seems very basic compared to true HTML, it should not be too hard to convert PML to HTML. I believe there are tools already that do it ETools for example. (EReader2html does not do a very good job) =X=

04-19-2009, 05:17 PM	#9
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,488 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	I've started working on ereader input and output. It will not be available for the 0.5.x series as it is being written for the new conversion framework used by pluginize. @junkml, if you can figure out how to get the metadata out of an encrypted file that would be awesome. So far it looks like the majority of the information is stored in the encrypted data section itself. For example, Code: \vTITLE="Andersen's Fairy Tales" AUTHOR="Hans Christian Andersen" PUBLISHER="Fictionwise, Inc." EISBN="" COPYRIGHT=""\v That is the first line of the first page of text in my test file. I haven't delved into the header section of the file all that much so it might store some metadata in two different places. I know you can get the title out of the unencrypted header for instance.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
eReader.com new Android app conversion	tamole	Calibre	0	07-23-2010 12:26 PM
PRS-600 So what are the chances...	44Dave	Sony Reader	4	05-24-2010 04:58 AM
what are the chances	Lago	Fictionwise eBookwise	13	04-29-2010 10:30 AM
Is there any chance of sony supporting calibre?	JGB	Calibre	7	12-10-2008 02:03 PM
eReader.com conversion	leveck	Workshop	3	07-07-2008 01:07 AM

03-29-2009, 10:22 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	I have too many other things on my plate at the moment, so count me out. But if someone were to write a decent ereader2html in python I'd be happy to integrate it into calibre

04-04-2009, 04:14 PM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	If you write a MetadataReader plugin calibre should use it automatically whenever a .pdb file is added to calibre. And I'll be happy to add the plugin to calibre's trunk.

04-04-2009, 05:27 PM	#6
junkml Addict Posts: 277 Karma: 1004969 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: Sony Reader	So far, it appears that it should be possible to get the title, and even the cover image (if there is one) without breaking the DRM, but it looks like the author/publisher information is encrypted with the rest of the contents. I'm not positive about that, but it might not be possible to extract much metadata information, or update metadata information without breaking the DRM.

04-04-2009, 05:57 PM	#7
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Getting the title and cover is a good start.

04-04-2009, 10:44 PM	#8
junkml Addict Posts: 277 Karma: 1004969 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: Sony Reader	I purchased an ereader book from fictionwise, and after bringing it into the ereader application, but before providing the unlock code, it had picked up the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. So, they must be accessible, but I'm not sure if/when I'll figure out how to retrieve those from the file. The challenge is finding out where and how they are stored in the file.

04-25-2009, 12:03 PM	#11
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,488 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	I haven't gotten around to looking at metadata with drm content yet. I've completed ereader input. Once I finish output I'm going to look into it a bit more. What I've found so far is the pdb header can store the title. There can be metadata embedded in the content itself as a comment. There is a metadata section which contains null terminated strings. The pdb header is not encrypted. What I still need to look into is if the first data section (it tells the section types) is encrypted and if the metadata section is encrypted. Since you had mentioned that the metadata is pulled out of the files in your library before putting in the decryption key I'm assuming that at least the metadata section is not encrypted. If the first section is not encrypted it will make things much easier.

Advert

Advert