Hi,
I would like to receive feedback and comments on a funny/crazy/useful idea I am working on in my spare time these days.
For my business needs I developed a small, simple but extremely useful Python 2.7 script to do the following things:
Code:
$ python glyphIgo.py [ARGUMENTS]
Arguments:
-h, --help : print this usage message and exit
-f, --font <font> : font file, in TTF/OTF/WOFF format
-g, --glyphs <list> : use this list of glyphs instead of opening a font file
-e, --ebook <ebook> : ebook in EPUB format
-p, --plain <ebook> : ebook file, in plain text UTF-8 format
-m, --minimize : retain only the glyphs of <font> that appear in <ebook>
-o, --output <name> : use <name> for the font to be created
-s, --sort : sort output by character count instead of character codepoint
-q, --quiet : quiet output
-v, --verbose : verbose output of Unicode codepoints
Exit codes:
0 = no error / no missing glyphs in the font file
1 = invalid argument(s) error
2 = missing glyphs in the font file to correctly display the given file/ebook
4 = minimization/conversion failed
Examples:
1. Print this usage message
$ python glyphIgo.py -h
2. Print the list of glyphs in font.ttf
$ python glyphIgo.py -f font.ttf
3. Print the list of glyphs in ebook.epub
$ python glyphIgo.py -e ebook.epub
4. Print the list of glyphs in page.xhtml
$ python glyphIgo.py -p page.xhtml
5. Check whether all the glyphs in ebook.epub are available in font.ttf
$ python glyphIgo.py -f font.ttf -e ebook.epub
6. As above, but use font_glyph_list.txt containing a list of decimal codepoints for the font glyphs
$ python glyphIgo.py -g font_glyph_list.txt -e ebook.epub
7. As in Example 5, but sort missing glyphs (if any) by character count (in ebook.epub) instead of by Unicode codepoint
$ python glyphIgo.py -f font.ttf -e ebook.epub -s
8. Create new.font.otf containing only the glyphs of font.ttf that also appear in ebook.epub
$ python glyphIgo.py -m -f font.ttf -e ebook.epub -o new.font.otf
9. Convert font.ttf (TTF) in font.otf (OTF)
$ python glyphIgo.py -f font.ttf -o font.otf
I am thinking of creating a web site that, using it, exposes its functionality to a user. The idea is to know, before you start reading an eBook that might contain non-Latin glyphs (say, the "Upanishads" or the "Haft Peykar"), if your preferred font can handle all the Unicode chars contained in the eBook.
A "video" of the prototype is here:
http://www.albertopettarin.it/glyphIgo/glyphIgo.mov
Currently, I am considering the idea of 1) releasing the Python script; 2) setting up a web site for offering the service for free --- but my sysadmin/PHP skills are minimal and I do not have funds for the server (I need PHP exec and the ability of running my python script => colo server).
I would like to hear your thoughs, especially if they are amazingly crazy or funny
