Reverse Engineering Built-In Plugins

Agama · 01-09-2012, 02:23 PM

Is there any way to find the Python source code associated with a built-in plugin. I want to use this as a way of improving my knowledge so that I can write my own plugins.

For example, in the File Type plugins there is one called "TXT to TXTZ". How do I find where the code for this resides on my Windows installation of calibre?

JimmXinu · 01-09-2012, 09:56 PM

The install uses compiled python files now instead of source, but the source is available:

http://code.google.com/p/calibre-ebook/downloads/list

Finding particular code can sometimes be challenging, though.

Plugins, on the other hand, are still just zipped python source. I've been learning a lot from kiwidude's plugins.

Jim

kovidgoyal · 01-09-2012, 10:20 PM

grep -r "TXT to TXTZ"

on the calibre source code

Agama · 01-10-2012, 07:31 AM

Thanks for the help, I got there eventually.

Just in case anyone else want to do the same, here are my steps:

I followed the link and downloaded: calibre-0.8.34.tar.xz, then used Zip7 to extract this to: calibre-0.8.34.tar.xz, then extracted it again which gave a folder structure. I didn't know what to do with the "grep" command, but in this extracted folder structure I found:

C:\TEMP\calibre\src\calibre\customize\built-ins.py

which appears to contain all the source code for the built-in plugins, including TXT2TXTZ.

kovidgoyal · 01-10-2012, 08:11 AM

grep is a tool that searches for the specified string (really a regex) over all files and subdirectories. I dont know what the equivalent on windows is, but I'm sure there is one.

And note that the actual source code for the vast majority of plugins is not in builtins.py, most of the stuff in builtins.py are stubs used to load the actual code. The exception is the builtin file type plugins like txt2txtz.

theducks · 01-10-2012, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

grep is a tool that searches for the specified string (really a regex) over all files and subdirectories. I dont know what the equivalent on windows is, but I'm sure there is one.

And note that the actual source code for the vast majority of plugins is not in builtins.py, most of the stuff in builtins.py are stubs used to load the actual code. The exception is the builtin file type plugins like txt2txtz.

"Search" (Advanced) on the Start button
the command "Find" is weak

Agama · 01-10-2012, 05:35 PM

Thanks for the extra infos. I was just lucky with txt2txtz!

I don't have a Search (Advanced) on the Windows Start Button, but I can use the Find-in-Files (+subdirectories) of Notepad++ to do this searching.

01-09-2012, 02:23 PM	#1
Agama Guru Posts: 776 Karma: 2751519 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: UK Device: PW2, Nexus7	Reverse Engineering Built-In Plugins Is there any way to find the Python source code associated with a built-in plugin. I want to use this as a way of improving my knowledge so that I can write my own plugins. For example, in the File Type plugins there is one called "TXT to TXTZ". How do I find where the code for this resides on my Windows installation of calibre?

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01-09-2012, 09:56 PM	#2
JimmXinu Plugin Developer Posts: 6,815 Karma: 4604429 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Midwest USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite(10th)	The install uses compiled python files now instead of source, but the source is available: http://code.google.com/p/calibre-ebook/downloads/list Finding particular code can sometimes be challenging, though. Plugins, on the other hand, are still just zipped python source. I've been learning a lot from kiwidude's plugins. Jim

01-09-2012, 10:20 PM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,144 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	grep -r "TXT to TXTZ" on the calibre source code

01-10-2012, 07:31 AM	#4
Agama Guru Posts: 776 Karma: 2751519 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: UK Device: PW2, Nexus7	Thanks for the help, I got there eventually. Just in case anyone else want to do the same, here are my steps: I followed the link and downloaded: calibre-0.8.34.tar.xz, then used Zip7 to extract this to: calibre-0.8.34.tar.xz, then extracted it again which gave a folder structure. I didn't know what to do with the "grep" command, but in this extracted folder structure I found: C:\TEMP\calibre\src\calibre\customize\built-ins.py which appears to contain all the source code for the built-in plugins, including TXT2TXTZ.

01-10-2012, 08:11 AM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,144 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	grep is a tool that searches for the specified string (really a regex) over all files and subdirectories. I dont know what the equivalent on windows is, but I'm sure there is one. And note that the actual source code for the vast majority of plugins is not in builtins.py, most of the stuff in builtins.py are stubs used to load the actual code. The exception is the builtin file type plugins like txt2txtz.

01-10-2012, 05:35 PM	#7
Agama Guru Posts: 776 Karma: 2751519 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: UK Device: PW2, Nexus7	Thanks for the extra infos. I was just lucky with txt2txtz! I don't have a Search (Advanced) on the Windows Start Button, but I can use the Find-in-Files (+subdirectories) of Notepad++ to do this searching.

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