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possible fix for overwide tables in PGTEI text (was: XML version of some books...)
by Jussi Kukkonen 03 Dec '04

03 Dec '04

Joshua Hutchinson wrote: > I'm curious to see if your script can handle tables. That is our > current biggest bugaboo when it comes to transforming to PG TXT > format. > Now that you mentioned it.... I've been playing with PGTEI, and encountered this problem (too wide tables) also. If anyone is wondering what we're talking about, please search for string "1271-95." in http://koti.welho.com/jkukkone/geo/teioutput.txt Oh, feel free to see the html version also while you're there: http://koti.welho.com/jkukkone/geo/teioutput.html (warning for modem users - some images might still be pretty large). So, I spent some time with Groff* and Tbl** manuals and I think I found a fix for this. Currently Tbl input tables look like this (3 rows, 2 columns): *** 1873. Livingstone discovers Lake Moero. 1874-75. Lieut. Cameron crosses equatorial Africa. 1875-94. Élisée Reclus publishes his _Géographie Universelle_. *** Tbl _can_ be instructed to wrap lines when needed by changing the input to this: *** T{ 1873. T} T{ Livingstone discovers Lake Moero. T} T{ 1874-75. T} T{ Lieut. Cameron crosses equatorial Africa. T} T{ 1875-94. T} T{ Élisée Reclus publishes his _Géographie Universelle_. T} *** According to my tests it works suprisingly well. Sometimes Tbl does wrap too eagerly, but I saw nothing that wasn't acceptable. Marcello (or anyone with some authority on PGTEI), I can try and come up with a patch for tei2nroff-common.xsl, if that's wished for. Let me know. - jussi *, ** For those not familiar with the more obscure unix tools: Groff, or GNU Troff, is a document typesetting tool used in PGTEI to produce TXT and PDB versions. Tbl is a table formatting tool used by Groff -- Jussi Kukkonen

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Re: [gutvol-d] XML version of some books of PG (and other formats)
by Joshua Hutchinson 03 Dec '04

03 Dec '04

I didn't think you could have a <head></head> inside a <table>... So I went back and looked at the TEI-Lite. It doesn't mention it, so I thought I was right. Then, just to be sure, I checked the full spec. There, it does mention <head></head> as a viable element inside a <table> So, you are right. <head></head> markup would be the more correct route. Josh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marcello Perathoner" <marcello(a)perathoner.de> To: "Project Gutenberg Volunteer Discussion" <gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org> Subject: Re: [gutvol-d] XML version of some books of PG (and other formats) Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 18:17:00 +0100 > > Joshua Hutchinson wrote: > > > <table rows="16" cols="4"> > > <row> > > <cell cols="4" role="label">THE RECORD OF 1875.</cell> > > </row> > > Shouldn't that be > > <table rows="15" cols="4"> > <head> > THE RECORD OF 1875. > </head> > > ? > > > -- Marcello Perathoner > webmaster(a)gutenberg.org > > _______________________________________________ > gutvol-d mailing list > gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org > http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d

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XML version of some books of PG (and other formats)
by Sebastien Blondeel 03 Dec '04

03 Dec '04

Hello, I hacked some scripts doing the following: RTF -> XML RTF: from Word, using a (very) simple stylesheet: just paragraphs, 3 title levels, footnotes, and italics Meta-information is in the properties of the document. My script can extract images too, if wanted. XML: using a personal and simple DTD (embedded), probably easy to port to any more complete DTD, such as TEI This is the hard part, and I am never quite sure it will not break in case the Word file is weird. >From that, I then did other (proof-of-concept) scripts to produce: XML -> PG TXT XML -> (LaTeX) -> PDF, DVI, PS (with hyperlinks) XML -> valid HTML 4.01 (probably useless) XML -> XHTML 1.0 Strict with some CSS (embedded) The programming is very defensive, so when all transforms finish I am confident enough the stuff is right. You can find examples of those formats at http://www.eleves.ens.fr/home/blondeel/ebooksgratuits/ (most of the books there don't have the meta-info properly set up, so don't worry too much about that). My scripts also clean up small typography mistakes (they are specialized in French rules but can of course be taught any thing). They will be used to help give PG nicer formats from the ebooksgratuits team (until now their Word macros could only produce PG TXT, which is not very sexy to read for the end user). Regards,

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Re: [gutvol-d] interim report on eBookWise reader, info about Rocket
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 02 Dec '04

02 Dec '04

In a message dated 12/2/2004 9:10:38 AM Mountain Standard Time, joshua(a)hutchinson.net writes: The SmartMedia card is only supported up to 128MB and it lists for $30.11 at Amazon (which means you can probably find it cheaper other places, but that's a good ballpark figure). Thank you. I wasn't sure about that. It's $35.18 at CompUSA, plus shipping, so the Amazon price is probably about the best. Well, 128 MB will hold about 256 average texts, so that plus the built-in storage for another 20 books should suffice most people for the average airline trip or emergency room wait! The only time I read more than one complete book in either of those situations was the first time I flew after 9/11. I had to get to the airport two hours early and then the plane was two hours late. I spent most of the time sitting on the floor with my Rocket plugged in so I wouldn't drain the battery. Anne

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Re: [gutvol-d] interim report on eBookWise reader, info about Rocket
by Joshua Hutchinson 02 Dec '04

02 Dec '04

Good review... Just one quick quibble. The SmartMedia card is only supported up to 128MB and it lists for $30.11 at Amazon (which means you can probably find it cheaper other places, but that's a good ballpark figure). Josh ----- Original Message ----- From: Gutenberg9443(a)aol.com To: gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org Subject: [gutvol-d] interim report on eBookWise reader, info about Rocket Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 10:52:00 EST > > Hi all-- > > One quick note on the Rocket: If your power cord has gone out, call Fox > International at 1-800-321-6993 for a replacement. If you're in the US it will > cost about $33 including shipping. I don't know whether you can even get it > outside the US. Don't try to go online to get it so you'll have a printout of > the order; they'll just tell you to call the phone number. > > Now to the eBookWise reader: > > Judging from the info I have so far, its footprint is slightly larger than > that of the Rocket, but it weighs less--about a pound, whereas Rocket weighs 22 > oz. It's still slightly smaller than a trade paperback, though, and weighs > considerably less. Some of its controls seem counterintuitive to me, but that > may be just because I've used the Rocket so many years. > > There are thousands (about 7,500 to be precise) of commercial books for > those who can afford to buy them; they're at eBookWise.com, which is a > subsidiary > of FictionWise.com, and is presently engaged in converting all, or almost > all, of its content into an eBookWise format. Some of them are new books, > often > bestsellers, and others are classics that are not yet out of copyright. If I > had it to spend, I could spend a thousand dollars there in two shakes of a > puppy-dog's tail. Alas, I don't have a thousand dollars. > > Although loading your own content is right now rather clunky, involving > upload to a server and then download through a telephone line, it is doable. > You > can keep your own bookshelf at the server, and download by telephone, so you > don't have to take your computer on the road with you to change the books in > your reader. They have their software engineers working on a direct USB > download program, the kind Rocket has, but it isn't ready yet. This close to > Christmas, they made the decision to make the device available now and fix the > software later. > > This is a quotation from eBookWise's propaganda sheet: > > "In addition, the eBookwise-1150 can display your own personal content in > the following file formats: plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), > Microsoft Word documents (.doc), HTML (.htm or .html), and Rocket eBook > Editions > (.rb)." > > So that means that just about any free online book is readable on this > reader, except that far under 1% that are available only in PDF. So--PG, PG Oz, > Blackmask, _http://www.sacred-texts.com_ (http://www.sacred-texts.com) , > Phoenix-Library.com and umpteen dozen other sites are now your oyster, in a > reader > you can fit into any briefcase or backpack and most large-size handbags. > (Phoenix-Library has good language-to-language dictionaries in a surprisingly > large number of languages.) > > It will hold only about 20 texts at a time, which was also normal for the > Rocket unless you bought the extra large storage device when you ordered your > Rocket. I did, and my Rocket holds about 50 texts. However, it has a slot for a > SmartMedia card; I checked, and you can get SmartMedia cards holding > anything from 4 mg up to half a gig. (The half-gig card costs about $250.) > > It does not do much with illustrations, as it is grayscale only. However, it > appears that at least some small illustrations can be put into it. > > If you want one right now, go to eBookWise and create an account. Put $110 > into your account. You can immediately order your machine, which will use 10 > cents short of the entire $110, but it will then give you $20 in book credits. > Wait to buy them until your device arrives, but you can go through and select > them and put them into your cart now. Of course, you can deposit as much > money as you want to into your account, and put the books into your shopping > cart, to purchase when your device arrives. > > This is not the best possible ebook reader, but it is the best presently > available for anybody who is not content to read ebooks only on a computer or a > PDA. > > Anne > > > _______________________________________________ > gutvol-d mailing list > gutvol-d(a)lists.pglaf.org > http://lists.pglaf.org/listinfo.cgi/gutvol-d

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interim report on eBookWise reader, info about Rocket
by Gutenberg9443＠aol.com 02 Dec '04

02 Dec '04

Hi all-- One quick note on the Rocket: If your power cord has gone out, call Fox International at 1-800-321-6993 for a replacement. If you're in the US it will cost about $33 including shipping. I don't know whether you can even get it outside the US. Don't try to go online to get it so you'll have a printout of the order; they'll just tell you to call the phone number. Now to the eBookWise reader: Judging from the info I have so far, its footprint is slightly larger than that of the Rocket, but it weighs less--about a pound, whereas Rocket weighs 22 oz. It's still slightly smaller than a trade paperback, though, and weighs considerably less. Some of its controls seem counterintuitive to me, but that may be just because I've used the Rocket so many years. There are thousands (about 7,500 to be precise) of commercial books for those who can afford to buy them; they're at eBookWise.com, which is a subsidiary of FictionWise.com, and is presently engaged in converting all, or almost all, of its content into an eBookWise format. Some of them are new books, often bestsellers, and others are classics that are not yet out of copyright. If I had it to spend, I could spend a thousand dollars there in two shakes of a puppy-dog's tail. Alas, I don't have a thousand dollars. Although loading your own content is right now rather clunky, involving upload to a server and then download through a telephone line, it is doable. You can keep your own bookshelf at the server, and download by telephone, so you don't have to take your computer on the road with you to change the books in your reader. They have their software engineers working on a direct USB download program, the kind Rocket has, but it isn't ready yet. This close to Christmas, they made the decision to make the device available now and fix the software later. This is a quotation from eBookWise's propaganda sheet: "In addition, the eBookwise-1150 can display your own personal content in the following file formats: plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), Microsoft Word documents (.doc), HTML (.htm or .html), and Rocket eBook Editions (.rb)." So that means that just about any free online book is readable on this reader, except that far under 1% that are available only in PDF. So--PG, PG Oz, Blackmask, _http://www.sacred-texts.com_ (http://www.sacred-texts.com) , Phoenix-Library.com and umpteen dozen other sites are now your oyster, in a reader you can fit into any briefcase or backpack and most large-size handbags. (Phoenix-Library has good language-to-language dictionaries in a surprisingly large number of languages.) It will hold only about 20 texts at a time, which was also normal for the Rocket unless you bought the extra large storage device when you ordered your Rocket. I did, and my Rocket holds about 50 texts. However, it has a slot for a SmartMedia card; I checked, and you can get SmartMedia cards holding anything from 4 mg up to half a gig. (The half-gig card costs about $250.) It does not do much with illustrations, as it is grayscale only. However, it appears that at least some small illustrations can be put into it. If you want one right now, go to eBookWise and create an account. Put $110 into your account. You can immediately order your machine, which will use 10 cents short of the entire $110, but it will then give you $20 in book credits. Wait to buy them until your device arrives, but you can go through and select them and put them into your cart now. Of course, you can deposit as much money as you want to into your account, and put the books into your shopping cart, to purchase when your device arrives. This is not the best possible ebook reader, but it is the best presently available for anybody who is not content to read ebooks only on a computer or a PDA. Anne

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Anybody want to test of this gutenberg browser ?
by Marcello Perathoner 02 Dec '04

02 Dec '04

-------- Original Message -------- From: Clif Flynt <clif(a)cflynt.com> Message-Id: <200412012104.iB1L4rm27796(a)clif.cflynt.com> Subject: Re: Project Gutenberg Browser To: marcello(a)perathoner.de (Marcello Perathoner) Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 16:04:53 -0500 (EST) Hi, My apology for being slow in replying to your mail. Being a spare-time project, the TkGutenbrowser doesn't get as much attention as it deserves, and the move from "works-for-me" to "suitable-for-general-use" is always slower than I'd like. The browser software is currently at http://www.mod3.net:~clif This is very much a work-in-progress, but the software does what I consider the minimal set of tasks now. It will read and display text, save text as PDB for C-Spot-Run on a PDA, and download non-text documents (images, sound files) to a disk file. I've not added support for bookmarks yet and the help is rudimentary. I believe that Project Gutenberg has changed the data in the catalog.rdf file since I started the project, and it appears that most (all?) of the information is now in catalog.rdf, instead of being split between catalog.rdf and GUTINDEX.ALL. My browser is only using catalog.rdf now, and not downloading the other files. ... Clif .... Clif Flynt ... http://www.cflynt.com ... clif(a)cflynt.com ... ..Tcl/Tk: A Developer's Guide (2'nd edition) - Morgan Kauffman .. -- Marcello Perathoner webmaster(a)gutenberg.org

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Unicode versions?
by William Flis 01 Dec '04

01 Dec '04

I prepared ("postprocessed" at Distributed Proofreaders) also a Unicode (UTF-8) version of this book, but it doesn't seem to have made it to posting at PG. The UTF-8 elements were all pronunciation symbols, which one might expect to be important in such a book. I'm currently working on another volume in this series, with similar symbols. I've also been working on a book on Native American sign language, which contains a good number of special symbols used in transcribing the NA spoken languages, also requiring UTF-8. So my first question is, did my Unicode version just get lost somewhere? (I usually upload directly to PG but submitted this one the long way around through DP's "Post-Processing Verification" system so someone else would take a look at it, since it was my first attempt at Unicode.) Second, if not, are Unicode versions welcome? Bill Flis > Society for Pure English, Tract 2, on English Homophones, Robert > Bridges 14227 > [Link: http://www.gutenberg.net/1/4/2/2/14227 ] > [Files: 14227.txt; 14227-8.txt; 14227-h.htm]

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request for input (first timer here)
by stuart 01 Dec '04

01 Dec '04

I am starting on a project to convert Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1919 to an ebook, any suggestions welcome. If interested, take a look at http://ww1aviationlinks.cjb.net/janes/index.html

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On quote-like marks...
by Jon Noring 30 Nov '04

30 Nov '04

Regarding the recent discussion about ASCII and the single/double quote marks (and what to use), I have my two cents to add (and those here who are much more expert at character sets and Unicode than I am will undoubtely be able to add to this.) The situation regarding single and double quote-like marks is even more complicated than what it has been presented so far. It has an impact on the future expanded use of PG texts as envisioned by Michael Hart and others, such as text-to-speech and language conversion. So I believe it needs to be dealt with in a more standardized-fashion (that is, don't simply use the straight keyboard ' and " for everything under the sun.) Quote-like marks are used for multiple purposes in texts -- especially single quote-like marks. And then there are the "curly" types of marks used in typographical presentation. Here's a (probably) partial list of their multiple uses: 1) For marking up quotations (other conventions are also used) 2) Word contractions (e.g., "we're" for "we are") 3) Possessives ("the Emperor's crown") 4) Non-breaking character modifiers (see below) 5) Minutes and second of time and arc. (50d3'25") 6) Feet and inches unit indicator (She is 5'7" tall) 7) Other mathematical symbol and unit measurement uses. Item (4) is particularly interesting since I'm working on cleaning up Burton's "1001 Arabian Nights Tales", and in it there are many Arabic names where, when Burton converted to Latin script, single quote-like marks were inserted to indicate a type of non-breaking character modifier for pronounciation purposes. For example: Ja'afar. This semantically differs from the apostrophes used for contractions/ possessives -- or at least semantically different enough (imho) that warrants differentiation in character encoding/entities. In the XML markup of the Arabian Nights, I've chosen to use the following Unicode character conventions to keep everything straight. It's not what I necessarily propose PG/DP do, but it indicates one possible approach. Since at present I do not enclose quotations in <q> (for example), I keep in the quotation marks (double and single) to identify quotations. In the Arabian Nights I find some odd quotation passages, a couple of which start in the middle of one paragraph and end in the middle of another paragraph later within a story, so adding <q>...</q> would result in non-well-formed XML (I could use the "mile marker" approach as defined in TEI, but for the Arabian Nights have chosen not to.) 1) For quotations using double quote marks, I use the Unicode left-double quote mark for the beginning, and the right-double quote mark for the ending: “ and ”, respectively. (The "curly" quotes -- for those who don't like curly quotes for reading, it is trivial to convert them to straight keyboard quote marks, but going the other way is more difficult to do.) 2) For quotations using single quote marks, I use the Unicode left-single quote mark for the beginning, and the right-single quote mark for the ending: ‘ and ’, respectively. 3) For the non-breaking character modifier as described above, e.g. for "Ja'afar", I use the Unicode character specific for this purpose: ʼ 4) For word contractions and possessives I use the ordinary lower- ASCII single straight quote mark: ' (For later presentational purposes this character can always be converted to the right-single "curly" quote mark.) For use of ' and " for minutes and seconds of arc, and feet/inches, there are special Unicode code points for these (I don't see this usage in the Arabian Nights footnotes, but maybe I'll encounter it somewhere, not having finished the 5000+ footnotes.) If one is working with plain text files (not XML), the above Unicode characters can be encoded at the bit-level using UTF-8 or UTF-16 encoding. Jon Noring

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