Announcing boo2pdf for IBM BookManager files
Kevin Bowling
http://ps-2.kev009.com:8081/boo2pdf/
About:
This is a beta of boo2pdf, an IBM BookManager to PDF conversion app &
web service. I'm currently experimenting with the HTML to PDF
backends and would like feedback with book files I haven't tried.
Once the code is cleaned up, I will dump it on my site.
Motivation:
I have a large collection of old IBM machines and documentation. I
want this documentation indexed by my own search facilities and Google
for easy retrieval. PDF is widely read, while BookManager requires
proprietary software and no search engines I know of parse it.
This will probably be useful to Mainframers as well.
Technical details:
I am using the JAR files from IBM SoftCopy Reader for Linux. I've
decompiled these and written my own main class and and a wrapper
script to take care of setting the LD_LIBRARY_PATH, Java classpath,
and other such glue code. I use SoftCopy Reader's API to output HTML
and images from the BookManager files. I then pass this to htmldoc
(http://www.htmldoc.org/) for PDF conversion.
Known Limitations:
- Currently, internal hyperlinks and headings are not parsed, indexed,
or otherwise handled.
- The Linux SoftCopy Reader does not convert some of the older
embedded image formats. Possible formats are: GIF, PNG. JPG, MET,
GDF, WMF. I'm guessing it is one of the later that does not have a
Linux filter. You will know an image did not convert by red text
indicating such in your PDF. I've seen this in a few .boo files from
the early to mid '90s.
The whole app as it stands now is an exercise in inefficiency. I
think I have enough data to bitbang a clean C implementation but would
need a lot of help in doing so.
Documentation, help, or words of encouragement welcome. This has been
a fun and interesting project this weekend.
Michael Kraemer
> Please take this for a spin and let me know the results.
> http://ps-2.kev009.com:8081/boo2pdf/
>
> About:
> This is a beta of boo2pdf, an IBM BookManager to PDF conversion app &
> web service.
Much appreciated.
>
> The whole app as it stands now is an exercise in inefficiency. I
> think I have enough data to bitbang a clean C implementation
That would be even more appreciated.
I'd prefer a lean-and-mean command line utility in plain C
over the Java and Linux-only bloat.
> but would
> need a lot of help in doing so.
Seems nobody knows more about that than you :-)
How about a public description of the boo-format,
now that you've reverse-engineered it?
Arju
This one is really good. Is it possible otherway round? I would like
to convert some pdfs to boo format?
Kevin Bowling
> Please take this for a spin and let me know the results.http://ps-2.kev009.com:8081/boo2pdf/
I've fixed handling of file names with whitespace. Also made the web
service locking and recovery more robust.
Please keep the reports coming.
Kevin Bowling
That would actually be a lot harder. I assume this would be mostly
useful to mainframers?
Basil Holloway
Tried an old 500/390 .boo with picture/schematics over double pages and it
condensed them really well onto A4 size. Something Deskpdf cannot do.
Well done
Thanks
Basil
Davide Grandi
Good work.
I've converted the 5494 User's Guide (GA27-3960-05) and 5494 Remote
Control Unit Functions Reference (SC30-3533-04).
thank-you !
Davide
--
Ing. Davide Grandi
davide...@mclink.it
Kevin Bowling
>
> About:
> This is a beta of boo2pdf, an IBM BookManager to PDF conversion app &
> web service. I'm currently experimenting with the HTML to PDF
> backends and would like feedback with book files I haven't tried.
> Once the code is cleaned up, I will dump it on my site.
> Known Limitations:
> - The Linux SoftCopy Reader does not convert some of the older
> embedded image formats. Possible formats are: GIF, PNG. JPG, MET,
> GDF, WMF. I'm guessing it is one of the later that does not have a
> Linux filter. You will know an image did not convert by red text
> indicating such in your PDF. I've seen this in a few .boo files from
> the early to mid '90s.
If you have a Windows box and run these old books through the IBM Book
Graphics Conversion Utility (TransMogrifier):
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?doc=4000230&org=SW&rs=4 you
should be able to throw anything through my web service.
I tried running this through Wine and was able to get it to work, so I
may be able to add it to the web service as well with an optional
checkbox.
I will post the source and a doc this weekend.
John H. Lindsay
You wrote:
.....
> If you have a Windows box and run these old books
> through the IBM Book Graphics Conversion Utility
> (TransMogrifier):
> http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?doc=4000230&org=SW&rs=4
> you should be able to throw anything through my web service.
.....
Hmmmm. TransMogrifier. There's another unrelated
programme by that same name (with acronym TMG)-- a
source-to-source compiler-compiler. Apparently, it
was done at Steven's Institute of Technology, and
was at one time used as a first cut at creating
various compilers, especially bootstrap compilers.
I have no idea whether it has been redone for the PC
world.
John.
Tom Liotta
>> This one is really good. Is it possible otherway round? I would like
>> to convert some pdfs to boo format?
>
> That would actually be a lot harder. I assume this would be mostly
> useful to mainframers?
Hardly! I'd dump the .PDFs as quickly as I could convert to
BookManager formats -- assuming Reader could read/display them, of
course. I've thought the switch to .PDF was the worst step so far in
the evolution of manuals.
(I understand the resistance to installing BookManager Reader
software. It's not like installing Adobe Acrobat Reader...) :-)
--
Tom Liotta
http://zap.to/tl400
Michael Kraemer
<tli...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
> Hardly! I'd dump the .PDFs as quickly as I could convert to
> BookManager formats -- assuming Reader could read/display them, of
> course. I've thought the switch to .PDF was the worst step so far in
> the evolution of manuals.
>
> (I understand the resistance to installing BookManager Reader
> software. It's not like installing Adobe Acrobat Reader...) :-)
>
PDF readers (not necessarily Adobe's) exist for almost all
platforms on this planets. Can the same be said for BookManager?
I don't want to be forced to use a BillyBox just to read AIX docs.
Better yet if manuals came in HTML, the ancient pre-HTML InfoExploder
wasn't that bad at all, just a bit proprietary.
Kevin Bowling
> In article <g9SdnRg5w_PaSX_XnZ2dnUVZ_oxi4...@earthlink.com>, Tom Liotta
I second Michael here. If you don't associate PDF with Adobe Acrobat
Reader, it really is a pretty nice format. PDF is a page definition
like PostScript (and in some ways an evolution of it), so you get page
accurate renderings -- WYSIWYG -- on your printer. For readers, I
enjoy Okular on KDE4 or kpdf on KDE3. Gnome has Evince. These are
all very light weight and fast. I'm sure there are some nice free
readers for Windows as well.
Regards,
Kevin
Underdog
files and gou this naughty surprise:
http://publibfp.boulder.ibm.com/cgi-bin/bookmgr/BOOKS/DSNAGK13/FRONT_1.2?SHELF=dsnshk13&DT=20081124004135
FRONT_1.2 The future direction for the BookManager format
As part of IBM's ongoing effort to deliver the best possible
information experience to our customers, we are optimizing the
information that is delivered with DB2 for z/OS for viewing in the
information center and phasing out the BookManager® format.
The BookManager books will continue to be provided for the life cycle
of DB2 UDB for z/OS Version 8 and DB2 Version 9.1 for z/OS; however,
we do not intend to deliver BookManager books for releases after DB2
Version 9.1 for z/OS.
The Information Management Software for z/OS Solutions Information
Center includes all of the information that you are used to seeing in
BookManager and PDF, plus many improved features for finding and
viewing the information that you need to do your job. You can find the
information center at the following Web site: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/imzic
We welcome your feedback about the information center. You can submit
comments through the online reader comment form at the following Web
site: http://www.ibm.com/software/data/rcf.
I have tons of manuals in boo format, and some of those I'm sure I'll
find no PDF replacement because they're old, but still used, Mainframe
products.
Is it in your plans a downloadable version that can process .boo files
in batch mode? It sure would be time saver for me.
Thanks!
On 20 out, 04:28, Kevin Bowling <kevin.bowl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Please take this for a spin and let me know the results.http://ps-2.kev009.com:8081/boo2pdf/
Kevin Bowling
> Kevin, you're a life saver! I recently downloaded IBM DB2 9.1 boo
> files and gou this naughty surprise:
>
> FRONT_1.2 The future direction for the BookManager format
>
> As part of IBM's ongoing effort to deliver the best possible
> information experience to our customers, we are optimizing the
> information that is delivered with DB2 for z/OS for viewing in the
> information center and phasing out the BookManager® format.
>
> The BookManager books will continue to be provided for the life cycle
> of DB2 UDB for z/OS Version 8 and DB2 Version 9.1 for z/OS; however,
> we do not intend to deliver BookManager books for releases after DB2
> Version 9.1 for z/OS.
>
> The Information Management Software for z/OS Solutions Information
> Center includes all of the information that you are used to seeing in
> BookManager and PDF, plus many improved features for finding and
> viewing the information that you need to do your job. You can find the
> information center at the following Web site:http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/imzic
>
> We welcome your feedback about the information center. You can submit
> comments through the online reader comment form at the following Web
> site:http://www.ibm.com/software/data/rcf.
>
> I have tons of manuals in boo format, and some of those I'm sure I'll
> find no PDF replacement because they're old, but still used, Mainframe
> products.
>
> Is it in your plans a downloadable version that can process .boo files
> in batch mode? It sure would be time saver for me.
>
Yes, the base part of the code is here: http://git.kev009.com/gitweb/?p=boo2pdf/.git;a=summary
Fair warning, you will need to be pretty experienced with Linux, Java,
and shell scripting to make sense of it. It can, with a couple minor
changes, run in Windows. http://git.kev009.com/gitweb/?p=boo2pdf/.git;a=blob;f=README.boo2pdf.txt
You would then supply a small shell command or script to run it
against a directory: i.e. ./convert.sh ~/Books/abc.boo abc. That will
output abc.html and the images will be in SCR's cache directory (NOTE:
they will get wiped the next SCR run, so you need to either move them
or run the 'htmldoc' utility immediately to convert to PDF).
If that sounds over the top and you have too many for the web service,
it may be easier to FTP me the directory you need converted.
Regards,
Kevin