/[public]/psiconv/trunk/README
ViewVC logotype

Annotation of /psiconv/trunk/README

Parent Directory Parent Directory | Revision Log Revision Log


Revision 200 - (hide annotations)
Wed Feb 4 15:28:56 2004 UTC (20 years, 1 month ago) by frodo
File size: 4824 byte(s)
(Frodo) Documentation updates. Removed fatals.

1 frodo 2 INTRODUCTION
2     ============
3    
4     This package is meant to make the Psion 5 series of PDAs, as well as other
5 frodo 200 small computers running EPOC 32, more usable to non-Windows users. But even
6 frodo 2 they may profit from the data I collected.
7    
8     The package consists of several parts:
9     * Documentation about Psion 5 data formats;
10     * A library which can be linked against application that have to read
11 frodo 152 and write Psion 5 files;
12 frodo 2 * An example command-line program which reads Psion files and writes
13     more commonly used formats.
14    
15    
16     DATA FORMATS
17     ============
18    
19     As far as I know, and have gathered from the newsgroups, Psion does not want
20     or is not able to release the data formats of the saved files of their
21     internal applications. I am trying to reverse engineer these data formats
22     and to document them for general use. At this moment, I understand their
23 frodo 152 Word, Sheet, TextEd, Sketch, MBM, Clipart and Record files, as well as a
24     few other less important formats. I want this information to be available
25     to everyone, in order to write better file conversion utilities for popular
26     (non-)Windows programs.
27 frodo 2
28     All documentation is written in Psion 5 Word. Fortunately, the utilities
29     in this package can translate it to HTML and other formats.
30    
31     Unlike all other files in this package, the *.psi files in the directory
32     formats/psion are completely public domain. I ask anybody who reproduces
33     them, or uses their information in other programs, kindly to attribute
34     them to me.
35    
36     The documentation files are not installed on a `make install'; you can
37     find them in the subdirectories of the formats directory.
38    
39    
40     THE LIBRARY
41     ===========
42    
43     libpsiconv is a library of routines that you can link against your own
44 frodo 200 application. It allows you to read and write Psion 5 files. Note that
45     it comes under the GNU General Public License; that means that you can
46     only link it to programs which are also covered by that license. You can
47     contact me if you need other license terms.
48 frodo 2
49 frodo 200 The following formats are supported at this moment:
50     Word (R+W) Word processor files
51     TextEd (R+W) OPL editor files
52     Sketch (R+W) Picture files
53     MBM (R+W) Alternate picture format; can contain several pictures
54     ClipArt (R+W) Internal picture format; can contain several pictures
55     Sheet (R) Spreadsheet files
56 frodo 46
57 frodo 36 Documentation is scarce; please examine the source code or the example
58     psiconv program. Some things may also be found in the doc subdirectory.
59    
60    
61     THE PROGRAM
62     ===========
63    
64     Psiconv is a command-line converter that reads Psiconv files and outputs
65     more commonly used formats. It is linked against libpsiconv, and can
66     handle anything that it can.
67    
68     Please enter `psiconv --help' if you want to know about its syntax.
69    
70 frodo 200 The current HTML4 target is not very ideal. HTML is just not made to
71 frodo 2 represent detailed layout considerations: it is a document description
72     language. Still, the output is quite readable already. Of course, headers
73     and footers are not displayed, because there is no notion of pages in
74     HTML. Tabs are also difficult; they are not supported yet. This can be
75     solved using tables, but it is quite hard to do it correctly. Some other
76     things are just approximated too.
77    
78 frodo 200 The XHTML target uses cascading style sheets (CSS). You need a not-too-old
79     browser for this to display correctly. Generally, the output of this
80     generator is of higher quality than the normal HTML generator's.
81 frodo 2
82     A plain TEXT target just grabs all text, without any futher conversions.
83    
84 frodo 36 All ImageMagick graphic output formats are supported; depending on how
85     you compiled ImageMagick, this is betwee 20 and 50 different formats.
86 frodo 46 Your favorite one should be somewhere in there...
87 frodo 36
88 frodo 200 In the past, my focus was on extending the number of output targets for
89     this program; at the moment, I belief more in import/export filters for
90     office applications like AbiWord, Gnumeric and the Gimp.
91 frodo 2
92     Psiconv is licensed under the GPL. Please read the included file COPYING
93     for exact licensing information. Please contact me if you need some other
94     licensing terms.
95    
96    
97     NEWS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
98     ============================
99    
100     Starting with version 0.2, psiconv should keep all namespaces unpoluted.
101     Starting with version 0.4, the conversion routines are linked into a
102     (static or shared) library. Version 0.5 has autoconf and libtool support,
103 frodo 36 and should run on many more platforms. Version 0.6 has support for
104 frodo 200 graphics. Version 0.8 can generate files and add Sheet support. Version
105     0.9 uses Unicode inside, add the psiconv.conf file and has many more
106     enhancements.
107 frodo 2
108 frodo 36 High on the TODO list are input routines for Record files.
109 frodo 2 Sheet files will be next. I am running into some trouble understanding
110     Data and Agenda files, but with a little luck, I'll figure it out after
111     all. This is more long-term though.
112    
113    
114     INSTALLATION
115     ============
116    
117     Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.

frodo@frodo.looijaard.name
ViewVC Help
Powered by ViewVC 1.1.26