Hey all, this is my first post. I'm'na start by posting a program, I hope I've done it right
Anyway. This post is about the first program I have made for the Zune HD. Ever since I got the thing I really wanted to read some ebooks on it, and so I searched for an book reader program. However, I found nothing but the original Zune book reader - which looked nice, but I could not use! So, I set about making my own.
This program is very bare-bone. The graphics are simple black rectangles and arrows, and the features include only choosing the book, picking the line you want to start at and then reading the book. I may consider adding more features later on, but for right now, I'm content.
So, with no further ado: Book Reader HD.
Instructions:
Basically the same as the other Zune Reader. First, convert your books to text files; if they are PDF, they won't look very nice, because converting from PDF to txt leaves you with linebreaks everywhere. I have no fix for this, sorry.
Open up Visual C# and go to BookReader.sln. Drag this txt file to the "books" folder, which can be located in Content. Important: Select all the books and, at the bottom, change "Build Action" to "None" and "Copy to Output Directory" to "Copy if Newer". If you don't do this, it won't build! Make sure that the Zune software is closed, your screen is locked and, of course, that your Zune is hooked up to your computer. Now, build by hitting F5. If the build succeeds, you're done! If not, either ask why or figure it out by yourself!
Controls:
Choose Book Screen: To move up/down in the list of books, use the side buttons. To pick a book, press the book's name.
Choose Line Screen: Type in some number. Try to make sure the number you put in is less than the number the book has. If you chose the wrong book (the name is shown above the line you're gonna go to) then hit "Go Back."
Loading Screen: Wait. This can take a long, long time, depending on the size of the book.
Reading Book: Use the up/down buttons to scroll. It will scroll by pages, and if you hold them down the pages will scroll faster after a bit of time. Use the back button to choose a different line, or a different book.
Some of known bugs:
The folder "BookReaderHD/scrolltest" is so named because that's what the program was originally called and I can't figure out how to rename the folder.
Some text encodings don't work with the font. Some characters, i.e. ", - , ' etc, show up as *, so make sure your books are encoded in ASCII, not ISO-8859-1 or something else. The included short story, 2BR02B, is an example of this bug.
The "GameThumbnail.png" doesn't seem to load; it automatically uses the default one.
DO NOT put commas or other strange characters into the book names. The deploy will fail with some unknown error message. Took me forever to figure out what was wrong when I did this
If you put in a line that's greater than the number of lines the book has the Zune will probably shut off.
If anyone can help me work these things out it'd be much appreciated.
Report any other bugs you may find in this thread, or email me at "Chaosed0@gmail.com". Happy Reading!
EDIT: Can someone change the thread title for me? Should be <AS>. Nevermind, thanks itsnotabigtruck.
AWESOME. Now I need to find some eBooks...anyone know how/where I can find some? =X
Edit: ANd supposedly my thing expired so....would a .ccgame help? =x If so, can you make it into that form?
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Last edited by incedio456; 01-14-2010 at 09:50 PM.
Why is it that you could not use the original Book Reader? It is open source, so you can use parts from it (such as the bookmarking feature) if you want.
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"Against logic there is no armor like ignorance." - Laurence J. Peter
Incendio, I can't make it into a ccgame because then there'd be no way to put books in. (Or maybe there is; someone correct me?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Netrix
Why is it that you could not use the original Book Reader? It is open source, so you can use parts from it (such as the bookmarking feature) if you want.
True that I probably should have, but this was a learning experience for me more than anything. I've done a bit of Java and Visual Basic, but C# was new to me; I took a look at the original code and I had no clue what the heck anything did. I may take a look again and try to incorporate some of their code into mine.
AWESOME. Now I need to find some eBooks...anyone know how/where I can find some? =X
Edit: ANd supposedly my thing expired so....would a .ccgame help? =x If so, can you make it into that form?
are you referring to your C# program? You know that the registration key is free right? Just follow the instructions it gives.
True that I probably should have, but this was a learning experience for me more than anything. I've done a bit of Java and Visual Basic, but C# was new to me; I took a look at the original code and I had no clue what the heck anything did. I may take a look again and try to incorporate some of their code into mine.
I'd say the maker of the other one would probably give you a hand or tell you what everything does. Truthfully, there should be internal documentation and comments, but not everyone is as anal about it as i am (I know a bit of vb, hoping to make a career of it).
EDIT: Just realized Netrix was the maker of the original book reader. I'd just like to say though, i mean no offence (if that's how you read this)
Just tried this out today. The line selection screen is a bit confusing - perhaps it could be replaced with better scrolling and a "go to line" command. If you get ambitious bookmarks and section headings would be good ideas as well.
The UI is a bit plain, but that's a lot better than the opposite - the controls are nice and clean so they don't get in the way of reading. Additionally, I like this is GPL'd when the trend is toward closed-source, though the nature of adding content in XNA rules out the latter anyway.
Incendio, I can't make it into a ccgame because then there'd be no way to put books in. (Or maybe there is; someone correct me?)
True that I probably should have, but this was a learning experience for me more than anything. I've done a bit of Java and Visual Basic, but C# was new to me; I took a look at the original code and I had no clue what the heck anything did. I may take a look again and try to incorporate some of their code into mine.
It could be done by encoding text files into images, syncing those images to the Zune, then reading the images within the XNA game and decoding them. It is too much work to be worth it, though.
In that case, it was better that you did it on your own. I also learned C# on my own when I made Zune Solitaire then got more practice with the original Book Reader.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimm312
I'd say the maker of the other one would probably give you a hand or tell you what everything does. Truthfully, there should be internal documentation and comments, but not everyone is as anal about it as i am (I know a bit of vb, hoping to make a career of it).
EDIT: Just realized Netrix was the maker of the original book reader. I'd just like to say though, i mean no offence (if that's how you read this)
I am not offended. You have a good point about the comments. I never really comment anything since I know what the code does. That is a bad habit of mine. Maybe I will comment it some day that I have a lot of free time.
__________________
"Against logic there is no armor like ignorance." - Laurence J. Peter
I'd say the maker of the other one would probably give you a hand or tell you what everything does. Truthfully, there should be internal documentation and comments, but not everyone is as anal about it as i am (I know a bit of vb, hoping to make a career of it).
EDIT: Just realized Netrix was the maker of the original book reader. I'd just like to say though, i mean no offence (if that's how you read this)
Ahahaha, I didn't even realize either! I was a bit confused after his last post, now I realize why
Thanks for the support everyone.
I am not offended. You have a good point about the comments. I never really comment anything since I know what the code does. That is a bad habit of mine. Maybe I will comment it some day that I have a lot of free time.
It's good to hear that you aren't offended. I read it back and it kinda sounded a bit like a criticism.
I've always been told to comment stuff. Especially in an open-source environment. Documentation has always been drilled into me. I hate it, when I said I wanted to be a programmer, i meant i wanted to design, plan, and create programs ... not write about them. Although the arguements for documentation are stronger, like if for some reason you were unable to complete the project and someone else stepped in to complete it. Or if you leave it alone for ages and come back too it.
hah. i was going to ask you why the deploying didnt work, because it constantly said 'cannot detect which importer to use for ''name of ebook''...' , but then i realised that you HAVE to switch build action to none and copy to output directory to copy if newer. i had to do it 3 times, everytime i opened it up to add more books. thanks for the app though, its awesome!!
Finally got around to downloading. It is just ok for me. It is much faster than the original, but the lack of bookmarking feature pretty much ruins all functionality because there is no way I'm going to remember what line I am on and I'm not going to put a sticky note on my Zune. Also a scroll feature would have been nicer rather than the arrows on the side which skips down a page. It throws me off a lot...but that's just me.
Bottom line:
Even if I don't particularly like the app I am still going to end up using it, its not like I have a choice.
Finally got around to downloading. It is just ok for me. It is much faster than the original, but the lack of bookmarking feature pretty much ruins all functionality because there is no way I'm going to remember what line I am on and I'm not going to put a sticky note on my Zune. Also a scroll feature would have been nicer rather than the arrows on the side which skips down a page. It throws me off a lot...but that's just me.
Bottom line:
Even if I don't particularly like the app I am still going to end up using it, its not like I have a choice.
Yeah, I agree; the bookmarking (or rather, lack thereof) gets on my nerves, too. I'm gonna try to add that later by a simple line-rememberer. As for the scroll, that was my original intent, but I couldn't get it to work and, I admit, I gave up. I'm working on some other projects, but I'll see if I can get around to improving the functionality a bit later down the road.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alexmadrzyk
hah. i was going to ask you why the deploying didnt work, because it constantly said 'cannot detect which importer to use for ''name of ebook''...' , but then i realised that you HAVE to switch build action to none and copy to output directory to copy if newer. i had to do it 3 times, everytime i opened it up to add more books. thanks for the app though, its awesome!!
yeah, unfortunately, you do have to do it once you add more. You can lessen the pain of having to switch all of them one at a time by doing a simple shift-click: click on the first book then shift-click on the last and then set the options. That way, it sets all of them.
<GPL3> [AS] Book Reader HD 1.0.0.0
