Re: IBM manual formats
Well, if IBM still started with markup (DCF / GML etc.) for their documents, then they could use a different set of markup handlers and output something that would be a good start. If they're using something else for document creation, I think doing a 'save as' to certain document formats would work better for what the Kindle publishing tools use. Calibre is also supposed to be able to handle different conversions, but I think the input source should be something other than PDF - because as I understand PDF, you would be trying to work backward from pages which are more-or-less laid out. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
Bear in mind that Kindle, and many other ereaders, are designed to automatically reflow text to fit user options like text size. Which works great for text, not so well for images like diagrams. The best think I've found for diagrams so far is to put the diagram on a page by itself and make sure the Kindle will size it to fit the entire page and even then, the diagram has to shrink to fit a 4x6 Kindle instead of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. This is definitely an area where the 'human factors' people ought to get involved. I think it's worth the time and effort, because many people want their manuals in many different (and often mobile) forms. I also think intra-document linking can help a lot for devices like Kindle; page-changing is pretty rapid, but scrolling through more than a few pages costs time. I think the RedBook people ought to do a 'Greybook' about re-working documents for the Kindle ... -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
Tim Hare wrote: I think the RedBook people ought to do a 'Greybook' about re- working documents for the Kindle ... Amen to that. Actually it would be kind of fun. :-) The challenges you've outlined I'd agree with. Removing page footers and headers from a PDF and reworking all the links to not need page numbers is a hard challenge, too. Was considering trying a Python script somewhere in the process to parse the PDF. Maybe Calibre (probably the program with the fastest gratitude generation in the teenies :-)) can already do it. Cheers, Martin Martin Packer, Mainframe Performance Consultant, zChampion Worldwide Banking Center of Excellence, IBM +44-7802-245-584 email: martin_pac...@uk.ibm.com Twitter / Facebook IDs: MartinPacker Blog: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/MartinPacker Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
On Wed, 4 Jan 2012 17:19:14 -0500, Shmuel Metz (Seymour J.) shmuel+ibm-m...@patriot.net wrote: If ity won't run on my machine then LR is not easier to use and doesn't offer me functionality. This is another case of IBM's split personality; they claim to be pushing Linux, but lots of key features are not available to Linux users. That's exactly the point! Jantje. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
On Wed, 4 Jan 2012 16:00:27 -0600, Kirk Wolf k...@dovetail.com wrote: FWIW, we use Linux on our desktops and have found that the following process works fantastic for IBM manuals. Something similar might be possible on Windoze (or OSX) with a similar tool or under cygwin, but I haven't tried it. 1) Use the DownLoadThemAll FireFox plugin to download all of the PDFs at once 2) I wrote the following shell script which makes symlinks to the original file names, using the PDF title. This has the advantage that I can very quickly find a manual using find file name in Nautilus, but the links between PDFs still work. All fine and well, but you remain stuck to it being .PDF and not .BOO and hence you lack the ease of navigation (to name just one feature) Library Reader is offering. 3) We use Evince as a reader, which works much better if you have fast processor and even better if you put your manuals on an SSD. I supposed that you could also use a PDF indexer, like Google Desktop, but And in the end it becomes a lot of work that used to be not needed at all when we still had Library Reader. Sorry for insisting so much. I had to release some of the pressure due to my frustration... Jantje. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
On Tue, 3 Jan 2012 08:44:07 -0500, Shmuel Metz (Seymour J.) shmuel+ibm-m...@patriot.net wrote: What if you don't run windoze? Then you cannot use the Library Reader for Windows... (IMHO it still is better than the Java stuff they replaced it with) But less portable. True. But I am more worried about functionnality. If the Softcopy Reader were to offer the same ease of use as the Library Reader, then I would probably not mind using it. Cheers, Jantje. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
Are you sure it doesn't run under WINE on Linux? Anyone? Cheers, Martin Martin Packer, Mainframe Performance Consultant, zChampion Worldwide Banking Center of Excellence, IBM +44-7802-245-584 email: martin_pac...@uk.ibm.com Twitter / Facebook IDs: MartinPacker Blog: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/MartinPacker From: Jan MOEYERSONS jan.moeyers...@adelior.be To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu, Date: 04/01/2012 12:40 Subject: Re: IBM manual formats Sent by: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu On Tue, 3 Jan 2012 08:44:07 -0500, Shmuel Metz (Seymour J.) shmuel+ibm-m...@patriot.net wrote: What if you don't run windoze? Then you cannot use the Library Reader for Windows... (IMHO it still is better than the Java stuff they replaced it with) But less portable. True. But I am more worried about functionnality. If the Softcopy Reader were to offer the same ease of use as the Library Reader, then I would probably not mind using it. Cheers, Jantje. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
On 3 January 2012 08:44, Shmuel Metz (Seymour J.) shmuel+ibm-m...@patriot.net wrote: In 4953978233034455.wa.jan.moeyersonsadelior...@bama.ua.edu, on 01/03/2012 at 05:39 AM, Jan MOEYERSONS jan.moeyers...@adelior.be said: I think you can. Just install the old, but still faithfull Library Reader for Windows What if you don't run windoze? (IMHO it still is better than the Java stuff they replaced it with) But less portable. Not really. IBM's Java reader has only the GUI in Java, while the code that processes the .boo files is platform specific JNI stuff, presumably C or C++. So you get the worst of both worlds - no portability, and a bad GUI. Tony H. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
FWIW, we use Linux on our desktops and have found that the following process works fantastic for IBM manuals. Something similar might be possible on Windoze (or OSX) with a similar tool or under cygwin, but I haven't tried it. 1) Use the DownLoadThemAll FireFox plugin to download all of the PDFs at once 2) I wrote the following shell script which makes symlinks to the original file names, using the PDF title. This has the advantage that I can very quickly find a manual using find file name in Nautilus, but the links between PDFs still work. 3) We use Evince as a reader, which works much better if you have fast processor and even better if you put your manuals on an SSD. I supposed that you could also use a PDF indexer, like Google Desktop, but I haven't seen the need. #!/bin/sh # Make symlinks to all .pdf files in the current directory to names that match their Title: ls -1 *.pdf | while read f do echo Examining: $f title=$(pdfinfo $f | grep Title: | cut -c17- | tr -d '/\\:' | tr ' ' '_') if test -n $title -a ! -s $title.pdf ; then echo link $title.pdf - $f ln -s $f $title.pdf fi done Kirk Wolf Dovetailed Technologies http://dovetail.com -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
In 5899163949644116.wa.jan.moeyersonsadelior...@bama.ua.edu, on 01/04/2012 at 05:42 AM, Jan MOEYERSONS jan.moeyers...@adelior.be said: But I am more worried about functionnality. If the Softcopy Reader were to offer the same ease of use as the Library Reader, then I would probably not mind using it. If ity won't run on my machine then LR is not easier to use and doesn't offer me functionality. This is another case of IBM's split personality; they claim to be pushing Linux, but lots of key features are not available to Linux users. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT ISO position; see http://patriot.net/~shmuel/resume/brief.html We don't care. We don't have to care, we're Congress. (S877: The Shut up and Eat Your spam act of 2003) -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
Kirk, I also like Linux but I run win7 x64 and was running virtual-box running Redhat,Fedora and Solaris to name a few. Up side of software deveLopment, we also use VMWare.. Regards, Scott Sent from my iPad On Jan 4, 2012, at 5:00 PM, Kirk Wolf k...@dovetail.com wrote: FWIW, we use Linux on our desktops and have found that the following process works fantastic for IBM manuals. Something similar might be possible on Windoze (or OSX) with a similar tool or under cygwin, but I haven't tried it. 1) Use the DownLoadThemAll FireFox plugin to download all of the PDFs at once 2) I wrote the following shell script which makes symlinks to the original file names, using the PDF title. This has the advantage that I can very quickly find a manual using find file name in Nautilus, but the links between PDFs still work. 3) We use Evince as a reader, which works much better if you have fast processor and even better if you put your manuals on an SSD. I supposed that you could also use a PDF indexer, like Google Desktop, but I haven't seen the need. #!/bin/sh # Make symlinks to all .pdf files in the current directory to names that match their Title: ls -1 *.pdf | while read f do echo Examining: $f title=$(pdfinfo $f | grep Title: | cut -c17- | tr -d '/\\:' | tr ' ' '_') if test -n $title -a ! -s $title.pdf ; then echo link $title.pdf - $f ln -s $f $title.pdf fi done Kirk Wolf Dovetailed Technologies http://dovetail.com -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
On Tue, 3 Jan 2012 05:39:14 -0600 Jan MOEYERSONS wrote: On Sun, 1 Jan 2012 09:48:59 -0600, John McKown wrote: I like having IBM manuals be readable in electronic form. Personally, I prefer using the Web and BookManager format over PDF. Hear, hear! Please give us back Bookmanager for ALL manuals, IBM. H ... IBMs lame attempts to force the java reader on us all was IMHO another corporate fiasco. I use Linux - IBM seem to want to have some skin in that game; not that you'd know it from the corporate prevarication. I use the pdfs because they are (FSVO) usable universally. Pity IBM can't extract the digit and get organized. Shane ... -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
On Sun, 1 Jan 2012 09:48:59 -0600, John McKown joa...@swbell.net wrote: I like having IBM manuals be readable in electronic form. Personally, I prefer using the Web and BookManager format over PDF. Hear, hear! Please give us back Bookmanager for ALL manuals, IBM. But I cannot easily download those and view them offline. I think you can. Just install the old, but still faithfull Library Reader for Windows (IMHO it still is better than the Java stuff they replaced it with) or if you must the Softcopy Reader. sides to read. The problem with the BookManager format, in addition to the not offline, is that I sometimes cannot read the diagrams. They aren't formatted correctly. Library reader does a pretty good job at that... I am wondering how difficult it would be for IBM to publish their manuals in .mobi or .epub format. For a company like IBM, it should not be difficult to come up with a converter from Bookmanager to whatever... Cheers, Jantje. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
IBM manual formats
Other than Amazon's proprietary Kindle environment, virtually all eReaders (BN Nook, Kobo, Sony etc.) and virtually all eBook clients and apps (Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch iBooks, Android Aldiko, etc.) are standardized on the open epub and pdf formats. As John previously remarked, pdf format is less than optimal, especially on smaller screen devices, since page formats are locked. Epub allows for reading software to reflow pages so the books/manuals appear optimized for whatever device the book is displayed on. Mobi format is an old format that's still of some importance because of compatibility with older devices and software. Leading modern eBook products (i.e. iBooks, Aldiko) do not support mobi. If you're looking into publishing manuals in eBook formats, especially with portable readers in mind, I recommend you take a look at Calibre. This open source project has become the de facto library management and ebook conversion software of choice for those who have needs beyond a single commercial ebook store. The project is located at caliber-ebook.com. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
In 4953978233034455.wa.jan.moeyersonsadelior...@bama.ua.edu, on 01/03/2012 at 05:39 AM, Jan MOEYERSONS jan.moeyers...@adelior.be said: I think you can. Just install the old, but still faithfull Library Reader for Windows What if you don't run windoze? (IMHO it still is better than the Java stuff they replaced it with) But less portable. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT ISO position; see http://patriot.net/~shmuel/resume/brief.html We don't care. We don't have to care, we're Congress. (S877: The Shut up and Eat Your spam act of 2003) -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
Funnily enough I mused on Kindle MOBI / AZW format re Redbooks on Twitter just now. (You can guess what I got for Xmas.) :-) I'd like to have the discussion on how to format for Kindle with the right people. In ITSO (the Redbooks people) we use Framemaker (at a fairly ancient level) so I'm not sure whether that could be taught to emit MOBI / AZW / Epub etc. I would think Information Development (Product Manual Writers) are using something else (once was Bookmaster, which I still use myself) and I don't know what the options are. It seems to me emission of HTML is a good intermediate step. I have to say even the O'Reilly books for Kindle are of quite variable quality, formattingwise. I'd be happy to have the discussion with appropriate IBMers and customers (the latter giving us some idea of demand for mobile reading formats). Anyone? Thanks, Martin Martin Packer, Mainframe Performance Consultant, zChampion Worldwide Banking Center of Excellence, IBM +44-7802-245-584 email: martin_pac...@uk.ibm.com Twitter / Facebook IDs: MartinPacker Blog: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/MartinPacker From: John McKown joa...@swbell.net To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu, Date: 01/01/2012 16:17 Subject: IBM manual formats Sent by: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu I like having IBM manuals be readable in electronic form. Personally, I prefer using the Web and BookManager format over PDF. But I cannot easily download those and view them offline. On the other hand, the PDF manuals are a royal PITA to me, except on my Kindle DX. Which is why I have a Kindle DX. They are a PITA because PDFs are formatted as a portrait mode, letter (or maybe A4) sized page. And since many of the manuals are two column, that means paging up and down while switching sides to read. The problem with the BookManager format, in addition to the not offline, is that I sometimes cannot read the diagrams. They aren't formatted correctly. Now, one of my favorite magazines has gone digital only. I have an Android app on my Xoom tablet which displays their magazine like a regular magazine - letter sized portrait. HOWEVER, they also have .mobi and .epub formats for reading on cell phones and other devices. I am wondering how difficult it would be for IBM to publish their manuals in .mobi or .epub format. This would make them much more readable on cell phones or other media such a the newer Kindles or Nook ebook reader. It would even help on netbooks, laptops, and desktop as it wouldn't force the letter sized pages onto a device which cannot render them nicely. Just a thought. -- John McKown Maranatha! -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
martin_pac...@uk.ibm.com (Martin Packer) writes: Funnily enough I mused on Kindle MOBI / AZW format re Redbooks on Twitter just now. (You can guess what I got for Xmas.) :-) I'd like to have the discussion on how to format for Kindle with the right people. In ITSO (the Redbooks people) we use Framemaker (at a fairly ancient level) so I'm not sure whether that could be taught to emit MOBI / AZW / Epub etc. I would think Information Development (Product Manual Writers) are using something else (once was Bookmaster, which I still use myself) and I don't know what the options are. simplest is email to kindle.com userid with convert (pdf may not turn out like you expected) http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_pdoc_main_short_us?nodeId=200767340 and much more ... http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Formatting-Complete-Amazon-ebook/dp/B0024FAPF4 -- virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970 -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
l...@garlic.com wrote: simplest is email to kindle.com userid with convert (pdf may not turn out like you expected) It's precisely because it DOESN'T turn out how I'd like that I prefer the idea of trying to get the horse's mouth to emit it right. Martin Packer, Mainframe Performance Consultant, zChampion Worldwide Banking Center of Excellence, IBM +44-7802-245-584 email: martin_pac...@uk.ibm.com Twitter / Facebook IDs: MartinPacker Blog: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/MartinPacker Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
IBM manual formats
I like having IBM manuals be readable in electronic form. Personally, I prefer using the Web and BookManager format over PDF. But I cannot easily download those and view them offline. On the other hand, the PDF manuals are a royal PITA to me, except on my Kindle DX. Which is why I have a Kindle DX. They are a PITA because PDFs are formatted as a portrait mode, letter (or maybe A4) sized page. And since many of the manuals are two column, that means paging up and down while switching sides to read. The problem with the BookManager format, in addition to the not offline, is that I sometimes cannot read the diagrams. They aren't formatted correctly. Now, one of my favorite magazines has gone digital only. I have an Android app on my Xoom tablet which displays their magazine like a regular magazine - letter sized portrait. HOWEVER, they also have .mobi and .epub formats for reading on cell phones and other devices. I am wondering how difficult it would be for IBM to publish their manuals in .mobi or .epub format. This would make them much more readable on cell phones or other media such a the newer Kindles or Nook ebook reader. It would even help on netbooks, laptops, and desktop as it wouldn't force the letter sized pages onto a device which cannot render them nicely. Just a thought. -- John McKown Maranatha! -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
John, I agree , it would give the people who use the manuals, aka the readers more options. Regards, Scott Sent from my iPad On Jan 1, 2012, at 10:48 AM, John McKown joa...@swbell.net wrote: I like having IBM manuals be readable in electronic form. Personally, I prefer using the Web and BookManager format over PDF. But I cannot easily download those and view them offline. On the other hand, the PDF manuals are a royal PITA to me, except on my Kindle DX. Which is why I have a Kindle DX. They are a PITA because PDFs are formatted as a portrait mode, letter (or maybe A4) sized page. And since many of the manuals are two column, that means paging up and down while switching sides to read. The problem with the BookManager format, in addition to the not offline, is that I sometimes cannot read the diagrams. They aren't formatted correctly. Now, one of my favorite magazines has gone digital only. I have an Android app on my Xoom tablet which displays their magazine like a regular magazine - letter sized portrait. HOWEVER, they also have .mobi and .epub formats for reading on cell phones and other devices. I am wondering how difficult it would be for IBM to publish their manuals in .mobi or .epub format. This would make them much more readable on cell phones or other media such a the newer Kindles or Nook ebook reader. It would even help on netbooks, laptops, and desktop as it wouldn't force the letter sized pages onto a device which cannot render them nicely. Just a thought. -- John McKown Maranatha! -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: IBM manual formats
scott_j_f...@yahoo.com (Scott Ford) writes: I agree , it would give the people who use the manuals, aka the readers more options. I merged the multiple postscript files from Melinda's VM and the VM Community: Past, Present, and Future into single PDF file and then also ran it through Amazon's (kindle) conversion. Melinda now has the files up on here web page: http://web.me.com/melinda.varian/Site/Melinda_Varians_Home_Page.html and it came out quite well. However, doing converting some of the other files to kindle format came out less well. Standard PDF-Kindle conversion reflows words which messes up tables and other situations involving multiple blank fixed spacing. Normally PDF-kindle seems to come out with small file ...but the VM and the VM Community had a lot of jpeg images ... which resulted in kindle file that was twice the size of the pdf file. -- virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970 -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
