Logical TOC in mobi binary

nosmokingbandit · 04-26-2019, 10:16 PM

To make a long story short I'm making an ebook converter in C#. So far everything is great when creating a mobi except what I believe is called the "logical toc." In case I've got the terminology wrong, whats happening is that I do not have seekable tick marks on the progress bar at each chapter (or wherever else you want a tick mark).

The Wiki page doesn't have any info I could find about this. I understand that KindleGen uses an epub-style toc.ncx, but I am unable to find how this is serialized into the mobi file.

I've looked through Calibre's source code but it is a bit of a spaghetti nightmare.

Anyone know of any good resources for how mobi files are generated?

KevinH · 04-28-2019, 11:42 AM

Not on generation of mobi files, but on unpacking Mobi 7 and Mobi 8 files. If you want to see how the ncx equivalent is unpacked from a Mobi index database record, see github for KindleUnpack here:

https://github.com/kevinhendricks/KindleUnpack

The binary index format is quite a pain but you can see how to unpack one once the proper record has been identified. Although similar, the ncx info in Mobi 6 and 7, differs from the more epub like Mobi 8 ncx info.

Look in the lib directory for kindleunpack.py, mobi_index.py, and mobi_ncx.py.

The easiest way to understand the binary format is generate a mobi 8 using Kindlegen from a known epub with an elaborate ncx and upack it with added debug statements added to the mobi_index.py and mobi_ncx.py code.

nosmokingbandit · 04-29-2019, 07:35 PM

KindleUnpack's source is much easier to read, but reversing the process might prove a bit tricky. I'll take a close look at it.

Whoever decided to use the mobi format for the world's most popular eReader should be tried for crimes against humanity.

Little.Egret · 04-30-2019, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosmokingbandit

KindleUnpack's source is much easier to read, but reversing the process might prove a bit tricky. I'll take a close look at it.

Whoever decided to use the mobi format for the world's most popular eReader should be tried for crimes against humanity.

When some cheapjack made that decision, the Kindle e-reader was only a concept and ePub not even that.

KevinH · 04-30-2019, 10:11 AM

That said, the newer kindle formats created more recently like PrintReplica, KFX and others are just as intricate and convoluted.

nosmokingbandit · 04-30-2019, 06:24 PM

I've worked with plenty of database styled files in the past, but nothing comes even close to being as obtuse as mobi.

04-26-2019, 10:16 PM	#1
nosmokingbandit Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2015 Device: Kindle 3G B006	Logical TOC in mobi binary To make a long story short I'm making an ebook converter in C#. So far everything is great when creating a mobi except what I believe is called the "logical toc." In case I've got the terminology wrong, whats happening is that I do not have seekable tick marks on the progress bar at each chapter (or wherever else you want a tick mark). The Wiki page doesn't have any info I could find about this. I understand that KindleGen uses an epub-style toc.ncx, but I am unable to find how this is serialized into the mobi file. I've looked through Calibre's source code but it is a bit of a spaghetti nightmare. Anyone know of any good resources for how mobi files are generated?

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04-28-2019, 11:42 AM	#2
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 7,644 Karma: 5433388 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Not on generation of mobi files, but on unpacking Mobi 7 and Mobi 8 files. If you want to see how the ncx equivalent is unpacked from a Mobi index database record, see github for KindleUnpack here: https://github.com/kevinhendricks/KindleUnpack The binary index format is quite a pain but you can see how to unpack one once the proper record has been identified. Although similar, the ncx info in Mobi 6 and 7, differs from the more epub like Mobi 8 ncx info. Look in the lib directory for kindleunpack.py, mobi_index.py, and mobi_ncx.py. The easiest way to understand the binary format is generate a mobi 8 using Kindlegen from a known epub with an elaborate ncx and upack it with added debug statements added to the mobi_index.py and mobi_ncx.py code.

04-29-2019, 07:35 PM	#3
nosmokingbandit Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2015 Device: Kindle 3G B006	KindleUnpack's source is much easier to read, but reversing the process might prove a bit tricky. I'll take a close look at it. Whoever decided to use the mobi format for the world's most popular eReader should be tried for crimes against humanity.

04-30-2019, 10:11 AM	#5
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 7,644 Karma: 5433388 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	That said, the newer kindle formats created more recently like PrintReplica, KFX and others are just as intricate and convoluted.

04-30-2019, 06:24 PM	#6
nosmokingbandit Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2015 Device: Kindle 3G B006	I've worked with plenty of database styled files in the past, but nothing comes even close to being as obtuse as mobi.

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