GSoC Idea: ePubKit, an eReader built upon TkHtml3


Areas	HTML Rendering, Web Development
Good if student knows	Tcl, Javascript, C, SQLite
Priority	High
Difficulty	Medium
Benefits to the student	High-quality C/Tcl foundation, High-profile technologies (Javascript, eBooks)
Benefits to Tcl	Maintenance of TkHtml3, Conflation with emerging eReader technology
Mentor	George Jempty, comp.lang.tcl

Project Description

An ebook reader incorporating the TkHtml3 renderer, via the Hv3 browser, and the DeskML platform (for devising desktop applications from web technologies). The name 'epubkit' (for which George Jempty has acquired the .com and .net domains) pays homage to the Starkit and TclKit technologies which are the additional pillars besides TkHtml3, and this will not be "just another" ePub reader. Rather epubKit will strive to innovate in a couple of important ways:

It will allow any epub file to be wrapped with an entire epub reader and distributed as an .exe (ergo "epubkit": an ebook and ereader wrapped together)
It will strive to "disrupt" the epub standard, currently built on XHTML 1.1, by supporting Javascript widgets within pages.

Since epubKit will be built upon DeskML, it will essentially be a web application (albeit an .exe), therefore requiring Javascript, HTML, and CSS, as well as server-side Tcl. There will also be opportunity for contributing to C/Tcl foundation of TkHtml3, written by D. Richard Hipp (of SQLite) and Dan Kennedy, as well as the C-based Simple EcmaScript Engine (SEE)

Please consider George Jempty's recent track record with "DeskML" (a rough equivalent of Adobe AIR prototyped within the past year or so), as evident from comp.lang.tcl, code.google.com, etc.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB
http://tkhtml.tcl.tk/
http://tkhtml.tcl.tk/hv3.html
http://code.google.com/p/deskml/
http://www.chess.com/download/view/stauntons-footsteps ("ebook" prototype using DeskML that incorporates Javascript "PGN" chess widget)
http://pgnview.edicypages.com/ (Javascript PGN viewer)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Game_Notation (PGN: Portable Game Notation)

Comments

The imagination is the only limit as to the applicability of scripting within ePubs, another idea besides chess for instance, being an in-page recipe converter for applying a ratio such as .75 or 2.0 to the quantities called for within cookbooks.

Partial/Tentative "RoadMap"

Address TkHtml3 min-width issue: http://groups.google.com/group/tkhtml3/browse_thread/thread/38f10bfddc4312ac#
Ensure latest Hv3 change works in Linux: http://tkhtml.tcl.tk/fossil/info/4ee7aaa953
Investigate Hv3 issue with "illegal characters" in URL (use Hv3 and visit pixeljoint.com)
Suppress Hv3 right-click context menu allowing re-enabling of GUI including location bar which is undesirable in DeskML
Address DeskML issue where title of initial page displays the default "Blank": http://code.google.com/p/deskml/issues/detail?id=5
Consider "User Guide" as ebook theme: http://www.opendesigns.org/design/user-guide/
Research existing Javascript-implemented eBook readers: http://blog.threepress.org/2010/02/06/three-javascript-epub-readers/
Examine viability of utilizing existing Javascript frameworks such as jQuery
If using an existing Javascript framework is not viable, build out some of the necessary client-side functionality including:
Consider setTimeout as "poor man's" Javascript DOM/readiness check: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1381481/is-checking-for-the-readiness-of-the-dom-overkill
A "poor man's" Javascript console.log for debugging assistance

More generally:

Check code into (fossil) repository
Devise build system with make
Port to Mac platform (DeskML currently runs on Windows & Linux)
Confirm viability on embedded Linux devices

GSOC