Subject: [79attendees] RFCs in two ebook formats (mobi, epub)

From: Tero Kivinen <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 17:45:03 +0200

I have made the tool to convert all rfcs to format suitable for kindle
3 (Mobipocket, mobi) and as side effect I also have RFCs in epub
format too (as that is used as a source format for kindlegen
conversion program).

My process does not try to keep the original format of the RFCss, but
rather try to make them ebook reader compatible. This means I do
remove all page breaks, page numbers, convert table of contents to be
links to actual section headers, remove hard linebreaks and make
normal text flowable (meaning you can change font size etc). I try to
detect pictures, list items, references etc and format those
accordingly.

There are limitations depending on the platform, for example in the
Kindle 3 the smallest fixed width font is just small enough to allow
65 characters on the line (when screen is rotated), and that is just
exactly what is needed for our loved 32 bit word pictures:

                        1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                       IKE SA Initiator's SPI                  |
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
...

I do not want to convert them to gif/jpeg images as then you would
loose ability to search, cut & paste etc.

Also in kindle there seems to be no way to access extra indexes I have
(Lookup Keywords, Lookup Titles) even when they do work if you load
same mobipocket file to mobipocket reader on some other platforms
(SymbianOs, blackberry, PalmOs, Windows Mobile etc), fortunately you
can get to the rfc index by through menu / index.

The epub format works for some other platforms (at least stanza in
iPhony altought it didn't support fixed width font so pictures were
not pretty), but I have not really tested it as I do not have those
platforms.

Anyways this is still work in progress, so feel free to send comments,
bug reports, feature requests etc to me.

Bill Fenner is now hosting those files in fast enough connection that
should allow loading them fast enough.

The urls are:

	http://www.fenron.net/~fenner/ietf/rfc.mobi

and

	http://www.fenron.net/~fenner/ietf/rfc.epub

The mobi format (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobipocket) works in
Kindle 3, and any mobipocket reader software, along with lots of other
readers). ePub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB) should then work in
rest of the devices...

You might need to download them to your PC first and then transfer
them to your device separately. Kindle should be able to download them
directly from that url, but the mime.types file in www.fenron.net does
not announce the proper mime type for those files, so it tries to show
it as text... (I assume this will get fixed). 
-- 
[email-masked]

---

From: Albert Tian <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 12:12:33 -0500

On kindle3 I found you can replace one of the existing font with the fixedwidth font (through fonts hack, which I consider essential) and read the txt directly side ways. You can do around 74 char per line with Mono_Regular.ttf that came with the hack when reading side ways.

http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Font_Hack_for_all_2.x_and_3.x_Kindles

Cheers,
Albert

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked] [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Tero Kivinen
Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2010 7:45 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: [79attendees] RFCs in two ebook formats (mobi, epub)

I have made the tool to convert all rfcs to format suitable for kindle
3 (Mobipocket, mobi) and as side effect I also have RFCs in epub format too (as that is used as a source format for kindlegen conversion program).

My process does not try to keep the original format of the RFCss, but rather try to make them ebook reader compatible. This means I do remove all page breaks, page numbers, convert table of contents to be links to actual section headers, remove hard linebreaks and make normal text flowable (meaning you can change font size etc). I try to detect pictures, list items, references etc and format those accordingly.

There are limitations depending on the platform, for example in the Kindle 3 the smallest fixed width font is just small enough to allow
65 characters on the line (when screen is rotated), and that is just exactly what is needed for our loved 32 bit word pictures:

                        1                   2                   3

I do not want to convert them to gif/jpeg images as then you would loose ability to search, cut & paste etc.

Also in kindle there seems to be no way to access extra indexes I have (Lookup Keywords, Lookup Titles) even when they do work if you load same mobipocket file to mobipocket reader on some other platforms (SymbianOs, blackberry, PalmOs, Windows Mobile etc), fortunately you can get to the rfc index by through menu / index.

The epub format works for some other platforms (at least stanza in iPhony altought it didn't support fixed width font so pictures were not pretty), but I have not really tested it as I do not have those platforms.

Anyways this is still work in progress, so feel free to send comments, bug reports, feature requests etc to me.

Bill Fenner is now hosting those files in fast enough connection that should allow loading them fast enough.

The urls are:

and

The mobi format (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobipocket) works in Kindle 3, and any mobipocket reader software, along with lots of other readers). ePub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB) should then work in rest of the devices...

You might need to download them to your PC first and then transfer them to your device separately. Kindle should be able to download them directly from that url, but the mime.types file in www.fenron.net does not announce the proper mime type for those files, so it tries to show it as text... (I assume this will get fixed). 
--
[email-masked]
_______________________________________________
79attendees mailing list
[email-masked]
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/79attendees

---

From: Michael Graff <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 05:39:13 +0800

I have a nook, and will have to try these out there too. ePub is preferred there. 

--Michael (from an iPhone)

---

From: Andrew McGregor <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 08:51:40 +0800

The Apple Books app on the iPhone has the same font issue as Stanza.

Andrew

---

From: Michael Graff <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2010 09:08:56 +0800

Some initial feedback:  All RFCs as one large file seems intractable.
It would be nice if each RFC were its own book, so I could pick and
choose which to store on my device.  It also would allow the reader to
remember the location in each RFC document, so rapidly switching between
two or more RFCs was easier.

--Michael

---

From: Tero Kivinen <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 03:38:53 +0200

> two or more RFCs was easier.

At least in kindle having each RFC as separate file would be unusable,
as it would make it impossible to find any other books. Also if the
RFCs are as separate books, I do not think you can get the links to
work from one RFC to another (i.e. when RFC 5996 refers RFC 4301 you
can simply click on the RFC number to see the RFC4301 and at least in
kindle you can press back to get back to location where you where
before you jumped off to another RFC).

Also again in kindle I have been using bookmarks to mark locations in
the RFCs and then jumping between those locations is quite easy.

My usual need for the all RFCs in the kindle (and on my Palm TX and on
my phone) has been to verify things from RFCs quickly.

My tools do allow making partial sets of RFCs as one book, so it would
be quite easy to make partial sets of RFCs, the problem is just what
subset to select. I do not think generating 6000 separate books would
be that useful.

I still need to clean up my tools a bit before I can release them, but
I plan to do that in few weeks, so after that you can make your own
file having those RFCs you need. Another plan is to see how well I can
do same thing on internet drafts, but for that I need to make bit more
work to generate suitable metadata for them.
-- 
[email-masked]

---

From: Gonzalo Camarillo <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:50:54 +0800

Hi Tero,

on a related topic, I use my Kindle DX graphite edition (the one with
the 9.7 inch screen) to review drafts (in the IESG, we review tons of
them). I use the PDF format provided in the ID tracker because the
screen is large enough. The problem is that the Kindle DX does not
support annotations on PDF files.

I understood the Kindle 3 may already support annotations on PDFs. Do
you know if that is true?

Suggestions on alternative ways to make annotations on drafts in any
format are of course also welcome.

Thanks,

Gonzalo

---

From: Malcolm Scott <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 06:10:36 +0000 (GMT)

> you know if that is true?

Yes, it does.  (I'm somewhat surprised that the DX 3rd Gen does not; I had 
mistakenly assumed that the software was the same...).

-- 
Malcolm Scott
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory

---

From: Gonzalo Camarillo <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:19:24 +0800

Hi,

> mistakenly assumed that the software was the same...).

yes, it is indeed strange that the more expensive model does not support it:

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Wireless-Reader-3G-Global/dp/B002GYWHSQ

"Some features such as annotations and read-to-me are not currently
supported for PDF"

I hope they provide support for it in the DX soon, given that they
already support it in the cheaper model.

Thanks,

Gonzalo