07-15-2007, 10:23 PM | #1 |
Secular Humanist
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PDB header format
I just ordered a Sony Reader and in preparation for it's arrival want to convert my unencrypted PDBs to TXT.
After a quick search I couldn't find anything that could do it in batch (I tried ABC Amber? but it crahed after a couple of files), so I'm trying to write a quick java app to do it for me. So far I've been able to decode the text OK but I still have a couple of hundred garbage bytes in the header. I want to disguard this information but as it's not a constant length it's hard to do. Does anyone know the header format for these files? Thanks very much for your help and if anyone is interested in the app and doesn't care about a paragraph of rubbish at the start I can make it available. avian |
07-16-2007, 12:19 AM | #2 |
Delphi-Guy
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Best search for txt2pdbdoc.tar.gz which is a C source to handle .prc and .pdb format. The format is fairly easy. A header and an index for the blocks of the file.
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07-16-2007, 05:11 AM | #3 |
Wizard
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.pdb is NOT an eBook format. Never was. Never will be.
A PDB file is a "Palm Database". That's what .pdb stands for. It can hold many, many different formats of eBooks. So you need to understand what kind of eBook it is. If it's a PalmDOC, txt2pdbdoc will turn it back in to text without a problem. If it's one type of Mobipocket (an HTML file in a PalmDOC), it will work too. However, you are pretty much out of luck if it's anything else. |
07-16-2007, 06:11 AM | #4 | |
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Quote:
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07-16-2007, 01:48 PM | #5 |
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I understand that - I guess I should have said my unencrypted PDB e-books. All of the reader files that I have have a very simple runlength encoding with a byte offset back into the existing text for character sequence repetition; having said that I believe that the header section should be fairly consistant across all palm database files (PDBs).
I should also have mentioned that I was trying to do this mostly for fun. Last edited by Avian; 07-16-2007 at 01:50 PM. |
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07-16-2007, 01:52 PM | #6 |
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JSWolf - Is BookDesigner software that comes with the Sony device?
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07-16-2007, 01:55 PM | #7 |
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07-16-2007, 02:13 PM | #8 | |
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07-16-2007, 04:45 PM | #9 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
A Palm database can contain anything. The only consistent part of a Palm database is the database header specifying the type of content. The content itself (i.e. the eBook) will vary wildly depending on the eBook format. |
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07-16-2007, 05:00 PM | #10 |
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What about converting mobipocket files I bought to sony reader format, is it possible?
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07-16-2007, 05:06 PM | #11 | |
Wizard
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Quote:
There are 2 formats: 1. An HTML file contained in a PalmDOC. 2. A closed, proprietary format that only Mobipocket utilities can create. #1 can be easily converted. #2 cannot. |
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07-16-2007, 05:09 PM | #12 |
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The ones I bought are from there site so I guess it falls into category 2
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07-16-2007, 07:37 PM | #13 |
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10-03-2007, 06:24 AM | #14 |
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java cell phone
I have found the mobileRead to be the most capable software. Also found readmaniac to be able to build java midlets usable.
However, I am trying to read *.pdb files that I can only read with iSilo and little else. Up to now I can read it in my smartphone, but not on cell phones. I am looking to read *.pdb in java enabled cell phones without success. Can someone please help me? |
10-03-2007, 09:39 AM | #15 |
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