PDF reader, for reading Ebooks

well.. it's doable in python but would be ugly. heres a script i found to convert pdf to text:
http://aspn.activestate.com/aspn/cookboo...ipe/189858

>edit<
whoops, no it isn't. thats the other way round. searching...

>edit2<
looks like we'd need ghostscript or something for decent results. anyone compiled that for the xbox yet? if not maybe a pc server that does a conversion to jpg/png -
http://blue.chem.psu.edu/~rajarshi/code/...tmlpres.py

or you could always ftp them to the web somewhere and use adobe's text conversion service:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/ac...tools.html

i'll love to read various pdf via xbmc on my 42" tv! i dunno if it is possible to do and how hard it is, but there some open source projects like ghostscript that could be a starting point!

anyway you make the best player ever


keep on rockin in the free world !

would be nice to be able to read pdfs via xbmc, such as ebooks. it is classified as media.

i have the xbmc source code compiling myself, maybe i might get around to it. what does everyone else think.

g

sure... when you add it in, submit the patch on sourceforge.

hi,

i've loved using xbmc, the only media type i feel it lacks is good old text, but more importantly .pdf , thats right good old adobe pdf...i'd love to be able to scan through all my technical garbage on a big telly rather than my pokey laptop screen....

cheers all, and hats off to the fan-bloody-tastic work so far!

makattak :idea:

Bump

Bump again. I don't think we're asking for a lot here and we're not asking for anything that is unreasonable. I've heard of plenty of people reading comic books from xbmc, so why not ebooks in pdf format? Magazines are also considered "media", so why are there people that want to make a big deal about it and say "it's not media!" when it certainly is?

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm guessing the big problem is the container. Is there a current open source pdf reader?

Reading comics is easier, because all they are is a series of jpgs or other pictures wrapped in a special zip folder. So all you'd need is a player that can present the pictures in order.

With pdf, you'd have to have something that can read the proprietary pdf format. Naturally, code is welcome, but even pointing to another open source project that does something similar would be a good way to get the ball rolling.

It isn't so much that you're asking a lot or that pdf reader would be 100% out of the question, but that no one who wants it knows how to add it, and no one who knows how to add it wants it. In other words, we have bigger fish to fry...

FWIW if you're only after displaying the PDF and not searching or editing it, I think this would be doable in python on non-xbox platforms by using ghostwriter to convert the pdf to a png and display that.

Indeed, a cursory google search shows you could basically copy and paste a solution together with only a superficial knowledge of what you're doing.

If you get that together I would help with getting the xbmc 1/2 of things working.

Cool, thanks for the replies guys .

rw: It's been a long time man! I used to see you in IRC a lot, but I "stepped away" from xbmc for a while while I was trying to accomplish some other things in my life. I didn't want to step away though and I'm excited to be back. Hopefully I'll see you in IRC again soon