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

Annotation of /psiconv/trunk/README

Parent Directory Parent Directory | Revision Log Revision Log


Revision 36 - (hide annotations)
Thu Dec 2 18:05:36 1999 UTC (24 years, 4 months ago) by frodo
File size: 4916 byte(s)
(Frodo) Release 0.6.0. Several minor things found when compiling.

1 frodo 2 INTRODUCTION
2     ============
3    
4     This package is meant to make the Psion 5 series of PDAs, as well as other
5     small computers running Epoc 32, more usable to non-Windows users. But even
6     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     (and in the future, perhaps write) Psion 5 files;
12     * 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     Word, TextEd, Sketch, MBM and Record files. I want this information to
24     be available to everyone, in order to write better file conversion utilities
25     for popular (non-)Windows programs.
26    
27     All documentation is written in Psion 5 Word. Fortunately, the utilities
28     in this package can translate it to HTML and other formats.
29    
30     Unlike all other files in this package, the *.psi files in the directory
31     formats/psion are completely public domain. I ask anybody who reproduces
32     them, or uses their information in other programs, kindly to attribute
33     them to me.
34    
35     The documentation files are not installed on a `make install'; you can
36     find them in the subdirectories of the formats directory.
37    
38    
39     THE LIBRARY
40     ===========
41    
42     libpsiconv is a library of routines that you can link against your own
43 frodo 36 application. It allows you to read Psion 5 files. Note that it comes
44     under the GNU General Public License; that means that you can only link
45     it to programs which are also covered by that license. You can contact
46     me if you need other license terms.
47 frodo 2
48     The parser is quite good at the moment. Page layout codes are not yet
49     read, but almost everything that is described in the documents in the
50     format directory is supported by it. Of course, it can also not yet
51     cope with inserted objects (ie. documents in some other format) and
52     other as of yet undocumented things.
53    
54 frodo 36 Documentation is scarce; please examine the source code or the example
55     psiconv program. Some things may also be found in the doc subdirectory.
56    
57    
58     THE PROGRAM
59     ===========
60    
61     Psiconv is a command-line converter that reads Psiconv files and outputs
62     more commonly used formats. It is linked against libpsiconv, and can
63     handle anything that it can.
64    
65     Please enter `psiconv --help' if you want to know about its syntax.
66    
67     The current HTML3 target is not very ideal. HTML is just not made to
68 frodo 2 represent detailed layout considerations: it is a document description
69     language. Still, the output is quite readable already. Of course, headers
70     and footers are not displayed, because there is no notion of pages in
71     HTML. Tabs are also difficult; they are not supported yet. This can be
72     solved using tables, but it is quite hard to do it correctly. Some other
73     things are just approximated too.
74    
75     The HTML4 target uses style sheets. You need a not-too-old browser for
76     this to display correctly. Generally, the output of this generator is
77     of higher quality than the normal HTML generator's.
78    
79     A plain TEXT target just grabs all text, without any futher conversions.
80    
81 frodo 36 The RTF target is not finished yet; in fact, it is no usable at all
82     right now.
83    
84     All ImageMagick graphic output formats are supported; depending on how
85     you compiled ImageMagick, this is betwee 20 and 50 different formats.
86     Your favorite one should be somewhere...
87    
88 frodo 2 I would very much like to add other targets, like (La)TeX, RTF (Rich Text
89     Format) and XML (for AbiWord). If other people want to work on this, please
90     let me know! Of course, you could also write your own conversion applications
91     just using my data format description. Native import/export filters for
92     some word processors would be very welcome!
93    
94     Psiconv is licensed under the GPL. Please read the included file COPYING
95     for exact licensing information. Please contact me if you need some other
96     licensing terms.
97    
98    
99     NEWS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
100     ============================
101    
102     Starting with version 0.2, psiconv should keep all namespaces unpoluted.
103     Starting with version 0.4, the conversion routines are linked into a
104     (static or shared) library. Version 0.5 has autoconf and libtool support,
105 frodo 36 and should run on many more platforms. Version 0.6 has support for
106     graphics.
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     On the output side, I hope RTF will soon be done. This will allow most
113     office tools to read the Psion files.
114    
115    
116     INSTALLATION
117     ============
118    
119     Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.

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