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janek · 08-10-2012, 03:39 PM

I'm not really a developer, but I happen to have a "software" development idea and a little experience in writing scripts on my linux pc. And whether you like it or not, at the risk of writing a long post, I will share this idea with you in the hopes somebody finds it useful and maybe implements it for the common good

, or that somebody more knowledgeable than I answers a question that I'm asking below, so that I can develop the required script myself.

Since there is no real calendar app on Boox and the chances it will ever be developed are slim, it has been suggested that a pdf file with a (yearly) calendar may be used for storing agendas, notes, todo lists and other stuff people normally have in their calendars. Such a pdf can easily be generated on pc or downloaded from web and then used for annotations and scribbles. (with a little effort it can also be syncronized with the external world, but that's another story).

Now, wouldn't it be nice if (say) a daily or weekly schedule was displayed instead of m92's regular screensaver/boot image? This would save the time needed for searching/opening the calendar pdf and could also serve as a reminder of sorts - start your Boox and learn what your day's agenda is even before the device completes booting.

Very aptly, Kodomo once wrote a script that replaces regular screensaver images with a screenshot of the currently read document. This could be used, if after small modifications, for exactly the purpose I'm talking about: a page of day's or week's agenda from pdf calendar could be snapshot and then displayed instead of the screensaver/boot image.

Yet to accomplish this, one needs a way to automatically display a calendar pdf file at required page, make a snapshot of it, save it with Kodomo's script, and then return to the document the user is reading. This can in principle be done by modifying Boox "last read file" information from within a script run at boot at regular intervals (every week/day etc)

But there's a problem. As far as I know, there's no cron-type service on m92, so it is not possible to just add an appropriate script to crontab. The only thing that comes to my mind when it comes to running the required script at regular intervals, is developing a "poor man's cron" script that is run at each boot, and does the following: checks the date, and at set interval modifies the "last read" information, waits until the calendar file is opened, makes a snapshot, stores it as a screensaver image, creates a flag somewhere to remember that the weekly/daily calendar exports has already been done, and finally restores the original "last read" information so that user can return to normal reading at next boot/suspend.

In principle all this looks rather trivial, but one crucial bit of information I don't have: what is the best place in Boox's booting scheme to add such a script? Which files should be modified?

08-10-2012, 03:39 PM	#85
janek Groupie Posts: 175 Karma: 23456 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Boox m92	I'm not really a developer, but I happen to have a "software" development idea and a little experience in writing scripts on my linux pc. And whether you like it or not, at the risk of writing a long post, I will share this idea with you in the hopes somebody finds it useful and maybe implements it for the common good , or that somebody more knowledgeable than I answers a question that I'm asking below, so that I can develop the required script myself. Since there is no real calendar app on Boox and the chances it will ever be developed are slim, it has been suggested that a pdf file with a (yearly) calendar may be used for storing agendas, notes, todo lists and other stuff people normally have in their calendars. Such a pdf can easily be generated on pc or downloaded from web and then used for annotations and scribbles. (with a little effort it can also be syncronized with the external world, but that's another story). Now, wouldn't it be nice if (say) a daily or weekly schedule was displayed instead of m92's regular screensaver/boot image? This would save the time needed for searching/opening the calendar pdf and could also serve as a reminder of sorts - start your Boox and learn what your day's agenda is even before the device completes booting. Very aptly, Kodomo once wrote a script that replaces regular screensaver images with a screenshot of the currently read document. This could be used, if after small modifications, for exactly the purpose I'm talking about: a page of day's or week's agenda from pdf calendar could be snapshot and then displayed instead of the screensaver/boot image. Yet to accomplish this, one needs a way to automatically display a calendar pdf file at required page, make a snapshot of it, save it with Kodomo's script, and then return to the document the user is reading. This can in principle be done by modifying Boox "last read file" information from within a script run at boot at regular intervals (every week/day etc) But there's a problem. As far as I know, there's no cron-type service on m92, so it is not possible to just add an appropriate script to crontab. The only thing that comes to my mind when it comes to running the required script at regular intervals, is developing a "poor man's cron" script that is run at each boot, and does the following: checks the date, and at set interval modifies the "last read" information, waits until the calendar file is opened, makes a snapshot, stores it as a screensaver image, creates a flag somewhere to remember that the weekly/daily calendar exports has already been done, and finally restores the original "last read" information so that user can return to normal reading at next boot/suspend. In principle all this looks rather trivial, but one crucial bit of information I don't have: what is the best place in Boox's booting scheme to add such a script? Which files should be modified? Last edited by janek; 08-10-2012 at 03:42 PM.