On Sat, Apr 02, 2005 at 10:32:36PM +0200, Marcello Perathoner wrote:
Tony Baechler wrote:
Really all that needs to be done is to integrate a script into the PG site that calls nfbtrans and generates the .brf file. The .brf can be sent to the browser for downloading. Windows users would probably have to right-click on the Braille links and save the files manually. It would not be much harder for the multiple volumes, just use a split utility on the .brf file and create a temporary page with each piece of the file linked so they can also be downloaded and saved.
Piping the files thru nfbtrans should pose no problem at all.
Question: won't every blind computer user have this program on his PC already? Won't she be better able to tailor the output to her needs if the program is run locally?
I think I corresponded with Tony about this a couple of years ago. I had no less than three programmers working on "conversion on the fly" which would generate formats including Braille, MP3, and others from .txt, .htm or .xml source files. Unfortunately, none of these ever became complete enough to offer on the Project Gutenberg download site. I am still very much able to provide a programming platform (a Linux server, with plenty of space and a copy of the PG collection) to people who might want to develop a CGI, PHP, Web services, or other platform for this type of functionality. Most of the tools already exist (i.e., for .txt to HTML, or Braille), but it's still a complex problem due to the complex nature of our collection. (That is, lots of different files & formats to choose from.) While Marcello is correct that many blind or visually impaired computer users already have nfbtrans (or something similar), I still think a general purpose conversion on-the-fly between formats is useful. And, if we offer this functionality, then an option to convert to Braille via nfbtrans is a very easy addition. There are just a few options for the output....like all of the other transformation programs... Long-timers on this list are getting tired of me talking about conversion on the fly, I know. Plus, this inevitably leads to a discussion of eBooks being "born as" XML, which I have also tried to facilitate. People who are newer (or newly-energized!) are welcome to look at viable methods for delivering some of this functionality. Beware, though: it's a larger and more complex problem than you might guess at first. Some folks will even remember that I offered a "bounty" reward for completely functional applications. This offer still stands. -- Greg