FBReader Release for the DR1000S

[Adam B.]

This is the first installer for FBReader running on the DR1000S.

For those who aren't familiar with FBReader, it's an ebook reading software with a built in library and support for many formats.

Supported formats are:

• ePub format
• fb2 e-book format (style attributes are not supported yet).
• HTML format (tables are not supported).
• CHM format (tables are not supported).
• plucker format (tables are not supported).
• Palmdoc (aportis doc).
• zTxt (Weasel format).
• TCR (psion text) format.
• RTF format (stylesheets and tables are not supported).
• OEB format (css and tables are not supported).
• OpenReader format (css and tables are not supported).
• Non-DRM'ed mobipocket format (tables are not supported).
• Plain text format.

To read a book, you'll have to add it to the library. You can do this by clicking the icon that looks like a book with a "+" sign.

You'll also need to close out of the program by clicking the exit button in the upper right. I plan to support the menu eventually, but I have to dig into that further.

To install: Unzip the file to the root of your SD card. For example, if your SD card shows up as the E:\ drive on your computer, you should have an E:\Programs folder after you unzip it.

After installing, you'll be able to select the FBReader icon from the Documents/Programs folder on your device.

You can toggle full screen mode with the select button (between up and down).

You can find more information about FBReader at their website.

It was actually *very* easy to port, since the DR1000 has a lot of libraries already built for it. Screen refreshes are *fast*. The internal refreshes are amazingly accurate. It only refreshes what's changed on the screen. I didn't have to build in any refreshes into FBReader itself. All of the built in menus and library functions work perfectly.

It's hard to describe how amazingly easy this was in comparison to iLiad ports.

Thank you iRex for making a device that *very* easy to hack on (and for providing the device for my "review")!

If you would like to open supported files directly from the Content Browser, see this thread.

[pthwaite]

Wow, that was fast. Looks tickety boo I look forward to trying it.

regards

[sarikan]

Adam, you've answered another question of mine indirectly Care to point towards a few resources for the basics? I'd like to play around with the source etc.
What kind of development environment do you use? Your setup, tools, etc.

Kind regards
Seref

[Adam B.]

Originally Posted by sarikan

Adam, you've answered another question of mine indirectly Care to point towards a few resources for the basics? I'd like to play around with the source etc.
What kind of development environment do you use? Your setup, tools, etc.

Kind regards
Seref

I plan on setting up a post explaining how to setup a development area. I did all of this with the iRex provided SDK on Ubuntu Linux.

[joblack]

Hell, that is great ... my favorite program for the Iliad ... please don't remove the buttons (like someone tried with the Iliad FBReader ...)

[Adam B.]

Originally Posted by joblack

Hell, that is great ... my favorite program for the Iliad ... please don't remove the buttons (like someone tried with the Iliad FBReader ...)

That someone was me

It was done to speed up page turns. That won't be necessary on the DR since all refreshes are done internally.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Adam B.

This is the first installer for FBReader running on the DR1000S

The screenshots look very nice. Did you also port a screenshot program to the DR?

[Adam B.]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The screenshots look very nice. Did you also port a screenshot program to the DR?

I made those running fbshot in the SDK, so they're not exactly "true" screenshots. Fbshot will run on the DR, but I have to set up a delay script.

[marioamato]

THANKS Adam!!!!!

ehm Adam I have a simple request ... can you port a djvu viewer?

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by marioamato

can you port a djvu viewer?

The issue on the iLiad was the lack of Qt library support, because almost all X11 djvu viewers use Qt. The only GTK+ djvu viewer I am aware of is evince, and if Qt still isn't possible on DR perhaps evince makes sense (even though it isn't needed for PDF). There is a version of evince for the Nokia tablets, so if can run on relatively resource-poor devices.

[allovertheglobe]

Wow, that was fast.

After some experimentation:
It's OK to move the FBReader.desktop to the /System/Desktop/ folder.
It's not OK to modify it:
- changing the path to /System/Programs/ doesn't work, the shortcut works, but then the reader hangs... (after moving Programs there first, of course) I guess some paths are hardwired?
(I would prefer to have all the software in /System, and use the root only for content)
Interestingly, it also seems you have to use the rather more cryptic /media/mmcblk0p1/ than the usual ../Programs for System/Programs or ../../Programs for FBReader's default location

One bug I ran into when setting up my library path using the software keyboard: I used the TAB key to see if it would auto-complete, but all it did was auto-destruct: the screen refresh went berserk, and after a while I managed to cancel the entry, but re-doing it immediately went back to the screen-refresh cycle, and finally the reader hung when trying to quit.

Now that may well be a bug with the software keyboard... (which could use some contrast adjustment too) Oh, and a file selector would be nice. (Since I'm lazy which is why I tried the auto-complete in the first place)

For some reason, the popup selectors (ex. Font Family, Line Spacing) pop up and disappear almost instantly, so one has to be very fast. EDIT: OK, keep holding down, don't tap... still a bit fiddly. But finally not just one but several SERIF fonts - YES!

Margins (set in Options) seem to get ignored, at least in .epub.

P.S.: Is there a way to modify the .desktop properties so the shortcut-arrow overlay doesn't appear, like iRex's own icons?

This is nitpicking of course. FBReader works already very well (at least with the .epub books I tried)

Congratulations Adam for getting this working so soon!

[veeraganesh]

I got some problems reading some .CHM files in FBReader ( Same on iliad 2). Some characters doesn't show up properly. Is there a way I can change the font type or something? For example the file contains a character '-' but on FBR it shows some digits in a small square

[allovertheglobe]

Originally Posted by veeraganesh

I got some problems reading some .CHM files in FBReader ( Same on iliad 2). Some characters doesn't show up properly. Is there a way I can change the font type or something? For example the file contains a character '-' but on FBR it shows some digits in a small square

That means it can't display that character so it replaces it with the corrsponding code. Typical Linux.

Try changing the encoding in the FBReader options under "Language". As a last resort try changing the font family (unlikely though)

[ppxnouse]

Adam, you rock. Thank you for this.
Probably one of iRexs smarter moves to hand out a DR1000S review unit to you ;-).

[Adam B.]

Originally Posted by allovertheglobe

Wow, that was fast.

After some experimentation:
It's OK to move the FBReader.desktop to the /System/Desktop/ folder.
It's not OK to modify it:
- changing the path to /System/Programs/ doesn't work, the shortcut works, but then the reader hangs... (after moving Programs there first, of course) I guess some paths are hardwired?
(I would prefer to have all the software in /System, and use the root only for content)
Interestingly, it also seems you have to use the rather more cryptic /media/mmcblk0p1/ than the usual ../Programs for System/Programs or ../../Programs for FBReader's default location

/Programs is where I compiled it to run from. I could have just as easily used /System, but I figured Programs was a good compromise for hiding the data files, as well as a place to browse to all 3rd party programs. It's path is hard coded, but it does have to be put where I compile it for. The shortcut can be put anywhere. iRex has plans to make shortcuts use relative paths instead of the full location, but it's not implemented yet.

One bug I ran into when setting up my library path using the software keyboard: I used the TAB key to see if it would auto-complete, but all it did was auto-destruct: the screen refresh went berserk, and after a while I managed to cancel the entry, but re-doing it immediately went back to the screen-refresh cycle, and finally the reader hung when trying to quit.

Now that may well be a bug with the software keyboard... (which could use some contrast adjustment too) Oh, and a file selector would be nice. (Since I'm lazy which is why I tried the auto-complete in the first place)

There's a file selector when you click on the "Add Book" icon. (Book with a plus sign) You should be able to browse the memory card and find whatever you want to add to the library.

For some reason, the popup selectors (ex. Font Family, Line Spacing) pop up and disappear almost instantly, so one has to be very fast. EDIT: OK, keep holding down, don't tap... still a bit fiddly. But finally not just one but several SERIF fonts - YES!

I've found it's easiest to click on the box, and use the up and down arrows to navigate. It is a bit funky though.

Margins (set in Options) seem to get ignored, at least in .epub.

Looks like an FBReader bug.

P.S.: Is there a way to modify the .desktop properties so the shortcut-arrow overlay doesn't appear, like iRex's own icons?

Not sure yet. I've just scratched the surface of the the DR can do.

This is nitpicking of course. FBReader works already very well (at least with the .epub books I tried)

Congratulations Adam for getting this working so soon!

It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. iRex has really done a lot of things right this time around.