[brailleblaster] Re: Importing Files
- From: "John J. Boyer" <john.boyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 11:25:33 -0500
Thanks for the info. Do you plan to make TAMC available as Open Source.
If you make it available only as jar files, people can still decompile
it to some extent. It sounds interesting for BrailleBlaster, but if it
isn't Open Source that might be a problem.
What is the opf file?
Thanks,
John
On Tue, Jun 07, 2011 at 07:58:01AM -0700, Chris von See wrote:
> The TechAdapt Accessible Media Center (TAMC) is a free product I built
> back in 2006, when the NIMAS standard was first being rolled out. It
> is used by many state and local education agencies in the US to
> convert NIMAS and DAISY file sets into DAISY, HTML and RTF files.
> Most clients use it to convert Bookshare DAISY files and NIMAS files
> from the NIMAC into HTML and RTF - the HTML has features to facilitate
> use of the material by students who are blind or low vision, and the
> RTF files are used by braille transcribers to import content into DBT,
> Braille 2000 or other braille translation programs. Aside from
> ongoing maintenance TAMC has not been actively developed because I've
> been occupied with other parts of our business that make money :) but
> I've recently performed a complete rewrite of the application and am
> planning to actively develop new conversions from more source and
> target formats. In addition to the complete rewrite, the new version
> is completely accessible and adds support for Microsoft Word input
> files; future versions will add support for audio output, braille
> output, and other features. You can find more info about TAMC at
> http://www.accessiblemediacenter.com
>
> A NIMAS file set is essentially the same thing as a text-only DAISY
> file set. It has the same XML and almost the same OPF but it does not
> contain SMIL or NCX files.
>
>
> Cheers
> Chris
>
>
>
> On Jun 6, 2011, at 10:13 PM, John J. Boyer wrote:
>
> >A couple of questions. What is TAMC? How does NiMAS differ from DAISY?
> >I've never seen a NIMAS file. they seem to be under wraps for only
> >students.
> >
> >You are lucky to have survived the combinatorial explosion of trying
> >to
> >convert various file formats to various others. Converting them
> >first to
> >a canonical form makes a lot more sense.
> >
> >Thanks,
> >John
> >
> >On Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 09:25:30PM -0700, Chris von See wrote:
> >>Yes, I'm very familiar with XSLT, XPath and related XML technologies.
> >>I co-authored a book on XSLT with a friend of mine back in 2002, and
> >>have been working with XML in various ways ever since.
> >>
> >>For what it's worth: The early versions of TAMC converted DAISY and
> >>NIMAS into various other formats without converting first to a
> >>canonical format, and it was admittedly kind of a mess. The new file
> >>import libraries I've written as part of the foundation for the new
> >>version of TAMC convert to a canonical format first and then performs
> >>all operations on that standardized model - much, much cleaner.
> >>
> >>
> >>Cheers
> >>Chris
> >>
> >>
> >>On Jun 6, 2011, at 8:39 PM, John J. Boyer wrote:
> >>
> >>>I have considered leaving all Daisy and html files as is and using
> >>>semantic-action files as liblouisutdml does. However, i think this
> >>>would
> >>>be inadequate for what BrailleBlaster is to do. liblouisutdml
> >>>doesn['t
> >>>manipulate the files, except for adding utdml when requested.
> >>>BrailleBlaster will have the capability to manipulate files. The
> >>>semantic-action-file approach is probably inadequate. Manipulation
> >>>will
> >>>be much easier if all files are converted to a common format. This
> >>>is
> >>>probably not hard to do, if we have someone who really knows xslt. I
> >>>wouldn't be surprised if Chris does. The flavor of the xml or html
> >>>document can be detected while it is being read in as soon as xom
> >>>gets
> >>>the root element. The flavor can also be specified by other means if
> >>>the
> >>>root element is ambiguous.
> >>>
> >>>John B.
> >>>
> >>>On Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 06:49:11PM -0700, John Gardner wrote:
> >>>>I agree, but should we convert them all to a common format? My
> >>>>understanding of UTDML is that it is not necessary. If so then
> >>>>maybe we
> >>>>should just leave all DAISY flavors as is. The idea of UTDML is
> >>>>that the
> >>>>DAISY file is still there but with lots of other content included.
> >>>>In fact,
> >>>>maybe we should leave all standard HTML and XML imports "as is".
> >>>>John B, is
> >>>>this a stupid idea?
> >>>>
> >>>>John G
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>John G
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>-----Original Message-----
> >>>>From: brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>>>[mailto:brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John J.
> >>>>Boyer
> >>>>Sent: Monday, June 06, 2011 6:43 PM
> >>>>To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>>>Subject: [brailleblaster] Re: Importing Files
> >>>>
> >>>>So what flavor of DAISY will BrailleBlaster use as its native
> >>>>format? I
> >>>>suppose the latest. Earlier versions can be converted easily, so we
> >>>>should import all of them.
> >>>>
> >>>>John B.
> >>>>
> >>>>On Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 06:04:16PM -0700, John Gardner wrote:
> >>>>>Chris, I understand the new DAISY format, at least to some
> >>>>>extent. We
> >>>>must
> >>>>>certainly be able to import EPUB 3 into BrailleBlaster. That's
> >>>>>not a big
> >>>>>problem, since it is, after all, HTML. But HTML5 does include
> >>>>>MathML and
> >>>>>SVG, which we already intend to use. No problem there I trust.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>It is not quite so clear that we should also import DAISY 4.
> >>>>>However if
> >>>>>DAISY 4 will be used to author DAISY with braille information,
> >>>>>then we
> >>>>>should support it. It is my understanding that it will be used
> >>>>>for that
> >>>>>purpose, but I not 100% certain I am right.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>John G
> >>>>>-----Original Message-----
> >>>>>From: brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>>>>[mailto:brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chris
> >>>>>von See
> >>>>>Sent: Monday, June 06, 2011 3:50 PM
> >>>>>To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>>>>Subject: [brailleblaster] Re: Importing Files
> >>>>>
> >>>>>The link that Susan references is for the Authoring and
> >>>>>Interchange
> >>>>>format. The next version of DAISY uses ePub 3.0 (aka DAISY 4.0
> >>>>>Part
> >>>>>B) as its distribution format, which is what most end users will
> >>>>>end
> >>>>>up with.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>There's a brief blurb about this in the DAISY Consortium 2010
> >>>>>Annual
> >>>>>Report:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>"The convergence of the DAISY 4 distribution format with EPUB 3
> >>>>>will
> >>>>>open up great opportunities for readers with print disabilities.
> >>>>>It is
> >>>>>our responsibility to continue our involvement in and influence on
> >>>>>the
> >>>>>implementation of fully accessible EPUB 3 in commercial e-books as
> >>>>>well as in non-commercial information such as public information,
> >>>>>information necessary for political decision making, and disaster
> >>>>>preparedness information. The DAISY Consortium's endorsement of
> >>>>>accessible EPUB 3 content will require an even greater effort by
> >>>>>the
> >>>>>Consortium in collaboration with print disability communities
> >>>>>around
> >>>>>the world, to influence the accessibility of mainstream e-book
> >>>>>publications."
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>http://data.daisy.org/publications/docs//ann_report_2010/AnnualReport2010.ht
> >>>>>ml?q=publications/docs/ann_report_2010/AnnualReport2010.html
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>On Jun 6, 2011, at 2:59 PM, Susan Jolly wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>>With a growing number of apps adding "Save as DAISY" options, I'd
> >>>>>>focus first on getting BrailleBlaster to work with DAISY
> >>>>>>files. If
> >>>>>>BrailleBlaster provides unique features that users need and can't
> >>>>>>easily obtain elsewhere then that should motivate them to find
> >>>>>>some
> >>>>>>method to convert any non-DAISY files to DAISY so they can use
> >>>>>>BrailleBlaster.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>Another important consideration is that the next-generation
> >>>>>>DAISY
> >>>>>>XML format known as ZedAI has already been developed and is
> >>>>>>currently under review. So this is not a good time to be
> >>>>>>investing
> >>>>>>a lot of resources in the old DAISY format.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>You can read more here:
> >>>>>>http://www.daisy.org/zw/ZedAI_UserDocumentation
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>SusanJ
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>--
> >>>>John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
> >>>>Abilitiessoft, Inc.
> >>>>http://www.abilitiessoft.com
> >>>>Madison, Wisconsin USA
> >>>>Developing software for people with disabilities
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>--
> >>>John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
> >>>Abilitiessoft, Inc.
> >>>http://www.abilitiessoft.com
> >>>Madison, Wisconsin USA
> >>>Developing software for people with disabilities
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >--
> >My websites:
> >GodTouches Digital Ministry, Inc. http://www.godtouches.org
> >Abilitiessoft, Inc. http://www.abilitiessoft.com
> >BrailleBlaster http://www.brailleblaster.org
> >Location: Madison, WI, USA
> >
> >
>
--
John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
Abilitiessoft, Inc.
http://www.abilitiessoft.com
Madison, Wisconsin USA
Developing software for people with disabilities
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