Alissa's MobiHandler

CONTENTS
1. About Alissa's MobiHandler
2. Precautions and Issues
3. Installing and Uninstalling
4. How to Use
5. Any Questions?
6. Technical Information

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1. About Alissa's MobiHandler

Alissa's MobiHandler is a program for a Windows PC to handle MOBI
electronic book files such as .azw eBook files for Amazon Kindle or
.mobi files for other eBook readers.  I have my Kindle device and use
it daily, and I wrote this small program to satisfy myself.

Alissa's MobiHandler is not a stand-alone application program; it is a
program plugged into Windows and extends Windows' functionarity. Once
installed, it adds the following three main features to Windows (e.g.,
Explorer):

(1) When viewing a list of files, cover images of MOBI electronic
    books will apear as their thumbnails.

(2) You can show book titles, authors, and other information from MOBI
    electronic book files on the Details view.  You can also search
    MOBI electronic book files by these information.  (Note, however,
    that this feature may not be available on Windows XP.)

(3) A dedicated MOBI property sheet will be added on
    "Properties..." context menu.

I posted earlier versions of MobiHandler on Mobileread Forum
(http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=140) and got a
lot of valuable feedback, that was helpful to improve the MobiHandler.
I appreciate the community's effort.

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2. Precautions and Issues

(This section is messy.  I need to reorganize topics.)

Alissa's MobiHandler is technically a set of Windows Shell Extensions.
A Shell Extension becomes a part of Windows itself when installed.  A
bug of a Shell Extension can affect stability of entire Windows
operations.  Alissa's MobiHandler is under development is likely to
have some bugs.  By using Alissa's MobiHandler, you risk crushing of
Windows and/or loss of important data on the PC.

Alissa's MobiHandler is a Windows program.  It doesn't run on MacOS or
Android.

Alissa's MobiHandler runs on the following systems:

Windows XP (SP3 required)
Windows Vista
Windows 7

(Windows Vista and 7 include both 32 bit and 64 bit (x64) editions.)

I tested Alissa's MobiHandler only on the Japanese and US English
versions of Windows, but it should run on any language versions.

Note that some features may not be available on Windows XP.  Try
installing .NET framework 3.0 or later *and* Windows Search 4.0, if
you want full features of Alissa's MobiHandler.  Both are available on
the Microsoft Web Site for free downloads.

PCs managed by IT administrators of your companies or schools may
block running of unknown Shell Extensions so that the PCs run stable.
Although it is not recommended, if you want to run Alissa's
MobiHandler on those managed PCs, you need to contact your IT
administrator.  Showing Technical Information at the bottom of this
document may help him/her to judge your request.

Alissa's MobiHandler is *NOT* an electronic book reader; it doesn't
show you the book content.  If you want to read MOBI electornic book
files on your PC, you need a separate program such as Amazon Kindle
for PC, Mobipocket Reader, or Calibre.  You can install Alissa's
MobiHandler and the eBook reader programs such as Amazon Kindle for
PC, Mobipocket Reader, or Calibre on a same PC.

Windows may save images shown on Thumbnails or Large Icon views in
invisible files known as the "thumbnail cache" (Thumbs.db.)  This is a
normal Windows behaviour independent from Alissa's MobiHandler.  As
you view more images, the files become larger and can eat up the free
space of you hard drive.  You can remove the thumbnail cache by
Windows' "Disk Cleanup" tool available on Start Menu | All Programs |
Accessories | System Tools or on the Drive Properties window.

If you use Alissa's MobiHandler against a "documents" folder of a
Kindle Device directly attached through a USB cable, Windows may
create the thumbnail cache file on the flash memory of the Kindle
Device, reducing effective number of books you can keep in it.  You
may need to clear Thumbs.db file periodically.

Alissa's MobiHandler shows a cover image extracted from a MOBI
electronic book file.  However, it is possible that a MOBI electronic
book file doesn't contain a cover image.  In particular, some MOBI
ebooks sold on Amazon Kindle Store or Mobipocket ebook shop don't
contain cover images, even if the covers are listed on the web pages.
Alissa's MobiHandler can't show a thumbnail for such ebook file.
Amazon Kindle for PC, on the other hand, somehow shows cover images
for all ebooks bought from Amazon Kindle Store on its HOME screen,
even if a cover image is not included in the ebook file.  Alissa's
MobiHandler is no match to Amazon Kindle for PC on the point.

Alissa's MobiHandler sometimes shows a thumbnail taken from an image
other than the book cover, usually the first illustration in the book.
This behaviour is seen on Kindle Devices, too, when pressing the RIGHT
of the five way controller on the HOME.  This is a strange behaviour,
but because the Kindle Device and Alissa's MobiHandler behave in a
same way, I consider it is a feature, not a bug.

Amazon.com sells not only .azw files but .azw1/.tpz files as Kindle
eBooks.  Although Kindle handles both .azw and .azw1 files equally,
.azw1 is technically a totally different thing from .azw (MOBI) file.
Alissa's MobiHandler can't handle .azw1/.tpz files.

Because Alissa's MobiHandler relies on "File Type Association" feature
of Windows, you may get a touble if you have other applications that
can open MOBI electronic book files (i.e., *.azw, *.mobi and *.prc
files) and the application also uses the File Type Association.  I
tried to make Alissa's MobiHandler compatible with those application
programs, and the compatibility has extensively been improved through
a lot of feedbacks from early testers.  However, there are still
chances of file type association conflicts.

Alissa's MobiHandler is installed on the default (32 bit) application
folder.  It is "C:\Program Files\Alissa\MobiHandler" on 32 bit Windows
and "C:\Program Files (x86)\Alissa\MobiHandler" on 64 bit Windows.
You can't change the install directory.  It is by design.  Moving the
MobiHandler files to different locations will break consistency with
the registry settings.  Don't do it.

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3. Installing and Uninstalling

3.1 How to Install

Alissa's MobiHandler is provided as a setup file (*.msi) for Windows
Installer.  Downloading the file of name "mobihandler-*-setup.msi"
(where * is a version number, and ".msi" may not be visible depending
on the Windows settings) and running the installer by double clicking
on the file (execute) will install the Alissa's MobiHandler.

If you are on Windows Vista or 7, and UAC (User Account Control) is
enabled, Privileges Elevation is requested in a process of
installation.

Alissa's MobiHandler will be available for all users of the PC.

There are no options you can choose.  The installer asks you nothing.
Once invoked, the installer completes the process without giving you
the chance to cancel in a middle, unless there was a fatal error.

3.2 How to Uninstall

Use "Add or Remove Programs" (Windows XP) or "Programs and Features"
(Windows 7) on Control Panel to uninstall Alissa's MobiHandler.

3.3 How to Upgrade

Alissa's MobiHandler is not in-place upgradalbe.  You first need to
remove (uninstall) an older version, then install a newer version.

3.4 Other Applications

The installer of Alissa's MobiHandler adjusts Windows' file type
association so that it doesn't conflict with other installed
applications handling MOBI ebook files (*.azw/*.mobi/*.prc).  If you
install or uninstall such applications *after* installing MobiHandler,
the file type association may be broken, however.

When it happens, uninstalling and re-installing Alissa's MobiHandler
will fix the issue.

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4. How to Use

Use Windows Explorer to open a folder where MOBI electronic book files
are.  If you have a Kindle Devce attached via a USB cable, it is
somewhere such as "F:\Documents" (with "F:" appropriately substituted.)

Choosing, e.g., Thumbnails or Large Icons from View menu will show cover
images from MOBI electronic book files in place of icons.

Choosing Details View will show information from MOBI electronic book
files such as the book titles on the list.  (You may need to add
required items to the view manually.)

Moreover, if you are on Windows 7, the status area of your explorer
window will show the title as well as the cover image when a MOBI
electoronic book file is selected.  If you enabled a preview panel, it
will show a (very large) cover image.

When you right-click on MOBI electronic book files (i.e., *.azw,
*.mobi, *.prc) and choose "Properties..." from the context menu to
open a property sheet, there will be a "MOBI" page showing various
information on the electronic book file

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5. Any Questions?

Questions, as well as comments, on Alissa's MobiHandler can be
e-mailed to Alissa Sabre <alissa_sabre@yahoo.co.jp>.  Please write in
English or Japanese.  (Japanese preferred.)

Posting on the Kindle Forum on http://mobileread.com is also a good
channel to talk on MobiHandler.  I regulary, although not very
frequently, monitor the forum.  You may get comments from other
MobiHandler users.  The forum is useful for other issues regarding
Kindle and MOBI.  It is recommended to visit it if you have not yet.

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6. Technical Information

6.1 COM Implementation

Alissa's MobiHandler consists of a set of Windows Shell Extensions,
that are COM in-process servers.

MobiHandler's class ID is {BA91BBAF-9243-49BD-B0DA-97BFC25EB976}.

An instance of this class implements following well-known interfaces
as well as IUnknown.  (Not all methods are implementted.)

IShellExtInit
IPersist
IPersistFile
IInitializeWithStream
IInitializeWithFile
IShellPropSheetExt
IExtractImage
IThumbnailProvider
IPropertySetStorage
IPropertyStore
IPropertyStoreCapability

The Installer does NOT register the MobiHandler's class ID under the
Shell Extensions Approved key.  If EnforceShellExtensionSecurity
policy is enabled on your PC, you can't use Alissa's MobiHandler.  You
can register the following value in the registry where needed.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved]
"{BA91BBAF-9243-49BD-B0DA-97BFC25EB976}"="Alissa's MobiHandler Shell Extension"

6.2 System Services

Alissa's MobiHandler depends on the following Windows DLLs.  If any of
the following DLLs are unavailable, Alissa's MobiHanler doesn't run.

KERNEL32.DLL
GDI32.DLL
USER32.DLL
ADVAPI32.DLL
ole32.DLL
SHELL32.DLL
SHLWAPI.DLL
WindowsCodecs.DLL

Alissa's MobiHandler alo uses the following DLL if available.  If it
is missing, Alissa's MobiHandler runs, but some features will be
disabled.

PropSys.DLL

6.3 Registry

The installer writes various registry values under the following
registry keys and their subkeys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.azw
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mobi
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.prc
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Amazon.KindleForPC.content
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{BA91BBAF-9243-49BD-B0DA-97BFC25EB976}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PropertySystem\PropertyHandlers

Most of the Registry entries that the installer registered will be
removed when Alissa's MobiHandler uninstalls.  However, registry
entries shared with Amazon Kindle for PC may be preserved.

6.4 64 bit Support

Alissa's MobiHandler supports 64 bit (x64) platforms.

Alissa's MobiHandler come with 32/64 hybrid installer.  When installed
on a 32 bit Windows, it installs 32 bit binary only.  When installed
on a 64 bit Windows, it installs both 32 bit and 64 bit binaries.

On 64 bit OS, all files of Alissa's MobiHandler will be installed in
"Program Files (x86)" folder but "Program Files".  The 64 bit file
(mobihandler64.dll) may better go to "Program Files", but it is
installed in "Program Files (x86)" for some circumstances.

Itanium platforms are not supported.

6.5 Source Files

Source files of Alissa's MobiHandler is also available.  If you want
more technical details, you can examine the source program.

The source files should be available on a same folder in a same web
site where the binary distribution is available.

As of this writing the primary distribution point of the source files
and the latest installable binaries are on my skydrive page:
http://cid-88858bc052aea782.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/MobiHandler
