Xray like feature possible for non-Amazon books?

[TortoiseAvenger]

Wasn't sure where to post this, since it's "anything other than Amazon."

Is there a way to get Xray like features (I'm especially interested in Character lookup) without a kindle book? Is this done through the device, or through the file itself?

FYI: I have a kindle and a kobo... experimenting with both. I'm starting to use Calibre a lot.

[j.p.s]

If you use microsoft windows this thread supports an application to build Xray files from arbitrary books.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=245754
Xray files are separate files that are sqlite databases. Accessing Xray features requires reading the book on an amazon kindle with Xray support (all modern kindles going back at least 6 years).

[TortoiseAvenger]

I'm Mac only...

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by TortoiseAvenger

I'm Mac only...

The application in the thread I listed is the most actively maintained so that is the one I mentioned, but there have been others written in python. I have never used any of them, including the first, You can search on threads tagged x-ray, see what comes up, and give those a try.

[barryem]

I've found that most of the benefits of X-Ray can be had by using text search. I rarely use X-Ray since I began doing that.

Barry

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by barryem

I've found that most of the benefits of X-Ray can be had by using text search. I rarely use X-Ray since I began doing that.

Barry

I do both and I've found that the additional benefits of X-ray are worthwhile for me. I frequently use X-ray. However, I am annoyed that the X-ray files for most books have a lot of errors.

[HLS]

NO. For x-ray is unique to Amazon specifically

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by barryem

I've found that most of the benefits of X-Ray can be had by using text search. I rarely use X-Ray since I began doing that.

Barry

Yes, IMO it's just Amazon marketing and adds nothing to actually reading books.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by HLS

NO. For x-ray is unique to Amazon specifically

It is unique to amazon devices, NOT amazon books. There are several applications available for people to add xray to any book they want.

[haertig]

At first, I thought X-Ray sounded really cool and useful. But then I thought more about what I would actually do with it. And it came down to, "search out the first introduction of a character name that I had forgotten". And you don't need X-Ray to do that. You can do it in any book with just a simple search.

Others may have more use for it, but for me, X-Ray ultimately boiled down to an over-hyped and over-engineered way to do something that we've already been able to do for years.

[balamol]

I recently developed a (non Amazon!) plugin for KOReader, called Dynamic Xray. The main difference with Amazon X-ray is that this plugin allows an user to dynamically define descriptions for persons, locations and terms, while reading. These descriptions can be assigned to a single book or to an entire book series.

On GitHub you can see screenprints and -casts of this plugin in action (most recent and therefor up-to-date developments at bottom of the discussion).

I publiced the code of the plugin in the GitHub Dynamic Xray Repository.. As it is now integrating this plugin into default KOReader code will require some programming experience.

Alas, I don't have time to provide support for this. But I hope the KOReader developer community will integrate an adapted version of this plugin into the default KOReader installation.

[Quoth]

It's a bit of gimmick that adds nothing to enjoying a novel. For research I use FTS on Calibre on a selected range of books.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It's a bit of gimmick that adds nothing to enjoying a novel. For research I use FTS on Calibre on a selected range of books.

A gimmick to one could well be a must have to another.

[balamol]

Two features I forgot to mention:

* Xray items can also be found by their aliases (if defined by the user).
* The user can create links from one Xray item to another, e.g. for family members, members of a political party, lovers, etc.