iLiad Better contentLister

rudysplif · 01-25-2008, 03:36 PM

The current contentLister is a drawback for anyone with any moderate sized library. That said, I like the quick keys for accessing current reads. So I consider iLiads attempt at a good contentLister as half done.

I've created the backend of a library app that sits ontop of the current contentLister. The concept is very simple. You load into the library app and search through it, checking out the books you want to read, checking in the books you're done with. Based on the book metadata, it get's linked to the proper folder/quick-key.

The library carries the book info so you can search on the usual stuff (that you should be able to search now): title, year published, author, publisher..., whatever else you want to put in there.

Like I said, I have programmed the backend (checkin/checkout, file management/persistence). It's pretty simple. However, I did it in python (that's why it's simple!). I'm guessing what I have now would run on the current python ported for iLiad no problem. My problem is the gui.

Haven't had too much time to look into it and I don't have experience with cross compilers. If people think this sounds like a good app and wouldn't mind helping me out. I'd be interested in putting a little more effort into it.

Gogolo · 01-26-2008, 04:14 PM

Thank you for posting this. I hope developpers around here will at least respond to this very interesting approach.

Some Questions:

Is it possible to directly open files from your app, e.g. pdfs?
Is it possible to sort the library after author, title etc. as with a reference manager?
What do you mean by metadata? Information from Manifest.xml?

If I see it right, this is what a lot of people are missing for a long time...

I would be glad if there'd be progress here.

Gogolo

ericshliao · 01-27-2008, 08:00 AM

Although building a Python lib for iLiad is possilbe (there are already unofficial patch for cross compiling Python lib), I don't think coding in Python for iLiad is a good idea. The biggest problem just lies in the linkage between Python and GUI.Taking PyGTK for instance, nobody guarantee that PyGTK is OK on iLiad. The worst case is that somebody spends time to build Python and PyGTK for iLiad and found that it's not working.
Python is a powerful language. But we don't have much resource on iLiad. Even the official iPDF have to draw screen in a non-usual GTK way. Under such circumstance, I won't expect much on dev-tool other than C/C++. The JVM on iLiad is quite good (GUI control is quite easy), but it only supports few API.

serpentium · 11-14-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudysplif

The current contentLister is a drawback for anyone with any moderate sized library. That said, I like the quick keys for accessing current reads. So I consider iLiads attempt at a good contentLister as half done.

I've created the backend of a library app that sits ontop of the current contentLister. The concept is very simple. You load into the library app and search through it, checking out the books you want to read, checking in the books you're done with. Based on the book metadata, it get's linked to the proper folder/quick-key.

The library carries the book info so you can search on the usual stuff (that you should be able to search now): title, year published, author, publisher..., whatever else you want to put in there.

Like I said, I have programmed the backend (checkin/checkout, file management/persistence). It's pretty simple. However, I did it in python (that's why it's simple!). I'm guessing what I have now would run on the current python ported for iLiad no problem. My problem is the gui.

Haven't had too much time to look into it and I don't have experience with cross compilers. If people think this sounds like a good app and wouldn't mind helping me out. I'd be interested in putting a little more effort into it.

Why dont you uploaded your app? im curious about any new piece of sw for my iliad

jharker · 11-14-2008, 11:14 AM

This is very cool. Where is the library information stored? I think it would be especially useful if you're storing the information right in the manifest.xml file.

I agree that in the long run python is not the best way to go, but this is a great proof-of-concept. It would be great to see this kind of functionality built right into the ContentLister, with the book information placed right inside each file listing.

Great idea! Can we see more of your source/binary?

rudysplif · 11-26-2008, 11:11 PM

Wow, I haven't been on these forums in a while. I'm not the most experienced cross compiler, so I just stuck to reading on my iliad.

That said, true, storing the info in the xml would be a good way of doing it, info management wise, however, I found it simplest to use python's built in support for my persistence/serialization. Also, having only one file to read on loadup speeds things up rather than going through 300+ different files, sorting through whatever folders you've created.

It's also true the PyGTK is error prone on the iliad platform (back when I was hacking around). I ended up using the C/python API. Programming the gui in straight GTK and having the backend be a python script. If I remember correctly, I implemented most of the gui/functionality, maybe not the most polished... but then I ran into problems with cross compiling... another project got my attention and I dropped it.

I'll post what I have if I can find it. You guys can see if it's worth working with.

01-25-2008, 03:36 PM	#1
rudysplif Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: iLiad V2	Better contentLister The current contentLister is a drawback for anyone with any moderate sized library. That said, I like the quick keys for accessing current reads. So I consider iLiads attempt at a good contentLister as half done. I've created the backend of a library app that sits ontop of the current contentLister. The concept is very simple. You load into the library app and search through it, checking out the books you want to read, checking in the books you're done with. Based on the book metadata, it get's linked to the proper folder/quick-key. The library carries the book info so you can search on the usual stuff (that you should be able to search now): title, year published, author, publisher..., whatever else you want to put in there. Like I said, I have programmed the backend (checkin/checkout, file management/persistence). It's pretty simple. However, I did it in python (that's why it's simple!). I'm guessing what I have now would run on the current python ported for iLiad no problem. My problem is the gui. Haven't had too much time to look into it and I don't have experience with cross compilers. If people think this sounds like a good app and wouldn't mind helping me out. I'd be interested in putting a little more effort into it.

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01-26-2008, 04:14 PM	#2
Gogolo Addict Posts: 353 Karma: 92 Join Date: Sep 2007 Device: DR1000S, Nook ST (rooted), Kobo Aura one (ksm)	Thank you for posting this. I hope developpers around here will at least respond to this very interesting approach. Some Questions: Is it possible to directly open files from your app, e.g. pdfs? Is it possible to sort the library after author, title etc. as with a reference manager? What do you mean by metadata? Information from Manifest.xml? If I see it right, this is what a lot of people are missing for a long time... I would be glad if there'd be progress here. Gogolo

01-27-2008, 08:00 AM	#3
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Although building a Python lib for iLiad is possilbe (there are already unofficial patch for cross compiling Python lib), I don't think coding in Python for iLiad is a good idea. The biggest problem just lies in the linkage between Python and GUI.Taking PyGTK for instance, nobody guarantee that PyGTK is OK on iLiad. The worst case is that somebody spends time to build Python and PyGTK for iLiad and found that it's not working. Python is a powerful language. But we don't have much resource on iLiad. Even the official iPDF have to draw screen in a non-usual GTK way. Under such circumstance, I won't expect much on dev-tool other than C/C++. The JVM on iLiad is quite good (GUI control is quite easy), but it only supports few API.

11-14-2008, 11:14 AM	#5
jharker Developer Posts: 345 Karma: 3473 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Device: iRex iLiad v1, Blackberry Tour, Kindle DX, iPad.	This is very cool. Where is the library information stored? I think it would be especially useful if you're storing the information right in the manifest.xml file. I agree that in the long run python is not the best way to go, but this is a great proof-of-concept. It would be great to see this kind of functionality built right into the ContentLister, with the book information placed right inside each file listing. Great idea! Can we see more of your source/binary?

11-26-2008, 11:11 PM	#6
rudysplif Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: iLiad V2	Wow, I haven't been on these forums in a while. I'm not the most experienced cross compiler, so I just stuck to reading on my iliad. That said, true, storing the info in the xml would be a good way of doing it, info management wise, however, I found it simplest to use python's built in support for my persistence/serialization. Also, having only one file to read on loadup speeds things up rather than going through 300+ different files, sorting through whatever folders you've created. It's also true the PyGTK is error prone on the iliad platform (back when I was hacking around). I ended up using the C/python API. Programming the gui in straight GTK and having the backend be a python script. If I remember correctly, I implemented most of the gui/functionality, maybe not the most polished... but then I ran into problems with cross compiling... another project got my attention and I dropped it. I'll post what I have if I can find it. You guys can see if it's worth working with.

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