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 |
frodo |
46 |
Word, TextEd, Sketch, MBM, Clipart and Record files. I want this information |
24 |
|
|
to be available to everyone, in order to write better file conversion |
25 |
|
|
utilities for popular (non-)Windows programs. |
26 |
frodo |
2 |
|
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 |
frodo |
46 |
The following formats can be read at this moment: |
49 |
|
|
Word Word processor files |
50 |
|
|
TextEd OPL editor files |
51 |
|
|
Sketch Picture files |
52 |
|
|
MBM Alternate picture format; several pictures can be combined in it |
53 |
|
|
ClipArt Internal picture format; several pictures can be combined in it |
54 |
|
|
|
55 |
frodo |
2 |
The parser is quite good at the moment. Page layout codes are not yet |
56 |
|
|
read, but almost everything that is described in the documents in the |
57 |
frodo |
46 |
format directory is supported by it; but it can not yet cope with |
58 |
|
|
inserted objects (ie. documents in some other format). |
59 |
frodo |
2 |
|
60 |
frodo |
36 |
Documentation is scarce; please examine the source code or the example |
61 |
|
|
psiconv program. Some things may also be found in the doc subdirectory. |
62 |
|
|
|
63 |
|
|
|
64 |
|
|
THE PROGRAM |
65 |
|
|
=========== |
66 |
|
|
|
67 |
|
|
Psiconv is a command-line converter that reads Psiconv files and outputs |
68 |
|
|
more commonly used formats. It is linked against libpsiconv, and can |
69 |
|
|
handle anything that it can. |
70 |
|
|
|
71 |
|
|
Please enter `psiconv --help' if you want to know about its syntax. |
72 |
|
|
|
73 |
|
|
The current HTML3 target is not very ideal. HTML is just not made to |
74 |
frodo |
2 |
represent detailed layout considerations: it is a document description |
75 |
|
|
language. Still, the output is quite readable already. Of course, headers |
76 |
|
|
and footers are not displayed, because there is no notion of pages in |
77 |
|
|
HTML. Tabs are also difficult; they are not supported yet. This can be |
78 |
|
|
solved using tables, but it is quite hard to do it correctly. Some other |
79 |
|
|
things are just approximated too. |
80 |
|
|
|
81 |
|
|
The HTML4 target uses style sheets. You need a not-too-old browser for |
82 |
|
|
this to display correctly. Generally, the output of this generator is |
83 |
|
|
of higher quality than the normal HTML generator's. |
84 |
|
|
|
85 |
|
|
A plain TEXT target just grabs all text, without any futher conversions. |
86 |
|
|
|
87 |
frodo |
36 |
The RTF target is not finished yet; in fact, it is no usable at all |
88 |
|
|
right now. |
89 |
|
|
|
90 |
|
|
All ImageMagick graphic output formats are supported; depending on how |
91 |
|
|
you compiled ImageMagick, this is betwee 20 and 50 different formats. |
92 |
frodo |
46 |
Your favorite one should be somewhere in there... |
93 |
frodo |
36 |
|
94 |
frodo |
2 |
I would very much like to add other targets, like (La)TeX, RTF (Rich Text |
95 |
|
|
Format) and XML (for AbiWord). If other people want to work on this, please |
96 |
|
|
let me know! Of course, you could also write your own conversion applications |
97 |
|
|
just using my data format description. Native import/export filters for |
98 |
|
|
some word processors would be very welcome! |
99 |
|
|
|
100 |
|
|
Psiconv is licensed under the GPL. Please read the included file COPYING |
101 |
|
|
for exact licensing information. Please contact me if you need some other |
102 |
|
|
licensing terms. |
103 |
|
|
|
104 |
|
|
|
105 |
|
|
NEWS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS |
106 |
|
|
============================ |
107 |
|
|
|
108 |
|
|
Starting with version 0.2, psiconv should keep all namespaces unpoluted. |
109 |
|
|
Starting with version 0.4, the conversion routines are linked into a |
110 |
|
|
(static or shared) library. Version 0.5 has autoconf and libtool support, |
111 |
frodo |
36 |
and should run on many more platforms. Version 0.6 has support for |
112 |
|
|
graphics. |
113 |
frodo |
2 |
|
114 |
frodo |
36 |
High on the TODO list are input routines for Record files. |
115 |
frodo |
2 |
Sheet files will be next. I am running into some trouble understanding |
116 |
|
|
Data and Agenda files, but with a little luck, I'll figure it out after |
117 |
|
|
all. This is more long-term though. |
118 |
|
|
On the output side, I hope RTF will soon be done. This will allow most |
119 |
|
|
office tools to read the Psion files. |
120 |
|
|
|
121 |
|
|
|
122 |
|
|
INSTALLATION |
123 |
|
|
============ |
124 |
|
|
|
125 |
|
|
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions. |