Journal files - where are they stored?

Perhaps I am missing something, but it seems that when a journal file is created, there is no way to store it in a folder of your choice (e.g., on USB memory stick) - or is this possible?

If not, where are journal files stored (I mean, what is the absolute path to the directory with journal files)?

The Journal files are stored in protected storage. You can export them to a folder of your choice using the File menu in the Journal app, but that converts them to a PDF and are no longer editable using the Journal app (although you can read and mark them up using the Reader).

If you want to back them up, use the "Local Backup" application, which backs up all your Library content to either the SD card or a USB device (memory stick, USB ext hard drive, etc.).

Thanks a lot for your reply.

What does it mean "protected storage"? Encrypted perhaps? In any case, these files must be stored in a concrete place in the filesystem, and this is what I need to know.

I have to say that all of this is a very peculiar design decision. I read elsewhere on this forum that journal application uses xournal file format, so it seems natural that the user would want to move the file to another machine on which xournal is installed.

But it seems that somebody put extra effort into making such portability as difficult as possible. I wonder why? Does enTourage seriously think that somebody will write important notes in journal, only to have them locked on a particular device? I use tablets for work which I want to be able to edit years from now - so it is out of question to have it stored in non-portable format.

It is actually on a "hidden" directory: .edge/.esi-content

unluckily the journal files have this weird naming. So you will have to modify the journal that you want to copy and sort by date in order to find one in particular.

The thread that you are mentioning about xournal was just guesswork from opening the file with a text editor. The format does look like the format of xournal. I don't know if anyone has actually tried opening them in xournal to see if it works. That would be an interesting experiment...

Originally Posted by Regiomontanus

Thanks a lot for your reply.

What does it mean "protected storage"? Encrypted perhaps? In any case, these files must be stored in a concrete place in the filesystem, and this is what I need to know.

I have to say that all of this is a very peculiar design decision. I read elsewhere on this forum that journal application uses xournal file format, so it seems natural that the user would want to move the file to another machine on which xournal is installed.

But it seems that somebody put extra effort into making such portability as difficult as possible. I wonder why? Does enTourage seriously think that somebody will write important notes in journal, only to have them locked on a particular device? I use tablets for work which I want to be able to edit years from now - so it is out of question to have it stored in non-portable format.

Great, this is what I needed! I will try to do some experiments over the weekend, and I will post results here. For me, if the format is non-portable, it means useless, so I hope that the "guess" about xournal is correct.

Yep. So far the only way to use the journal files outside the edge is by converting to pdf. What I usually do is converting the pdf to images and send them to evernote. That way at least I get some handwriting search. But I agree that it would be better if we could edit the journal form outside. Please do let us know what you find.

Originally Posted by Regiomontanus

Great, this is what I needed! I will try to make some experiments over the weekend, and I will post results here. For me, if the format is non-portable, it means useless, so I hope that the "guess" about xournal is correct.

Originally Posted by Regiomontanus

What does it mean "protected storage"? Encrypted perhaps? In any case, these files must be stored in a concrete place in the filesystem, and this is what I need to know.

fgruber indicates the actual directory.

However, the contents of this directory are not meant to be manipulated (other than possibly read) directly as these files are managed by the Library app (things like indexing, meta data, linkages, etc.), hence my term "protected storage." When you add an item to the Library, the file is copied into this location rather than referenced in the original source location.

Editing and renaming/relocating can cause the Library app to lose track of the Journal (meaning you won't be able to open it in the Journal app anymore) and, I'm guessing, possibly lead to Library corruption.

However, nothing stops you from hacking these files - more power to you!

OK, here is what I found.

Journal files are indeed stored in
/sdcard/.edge/.esi-content
and have extension .esj

These files appear to be xournal files, but you cannot open them with xournal. You need to do the following first:
copy foo.esj to another machine with xournal installed.
mv foo.esj foo.gz
unzip foo.gz

Then open foo with text editor, and replace line
<page width="396.00" height="540.00" tabname="">
with line
<page width="396.00" height="540.00">

Then do:
gzip foo
mv foo.gz foo.xoj

The resulting foo.xoj file can then be opened with xournal. I guess I will simply write a script which does this automatically.

Nice work. The tabname would be one of enTourage's customizations...

Thanks for the xournal info

Originally Posted by Regiomontanus

The resulting foo.xoj file can then be opened with xournal. I guess I will simply write a script which does this automatically.

That's awesome, thanks! I had tried last weekend to open an .esj file on my Nokia N810 (no success, obv.) and similarly the .xoj file on my edge (similarly, no success). Since the N810 has a terminal app, I'm guessing I'll be able to do this right on my N810.

Have you tried the process in reverse to convert .xoj files to .esj? If the same can be done to move between Journal and Jarnal files (Jarnal is cross-platform Windows, Mac, Linux), then these files could be read on any machine. Neat!

There's another difference - xournal doesn't understand the "landscape" or "activity" (calendar) background style, so instead of just

zcat $infile | sed -e 's/\(^.*<page .*\) tabname.*$/\1>/' | gzip -c > $outfile

you need to do:

zcat $infile | sed -e 's/\(^.*<page .*\) tabname.*$/\1>/' -e 's/landscape/plain/'  -e 's/activity/plain/'| gzip -c > $outfile

There may be more...