Using DTP as a eBook/eNews reader

[valente]

Hi there –

I normally use DTP to store and organize data/research or organize projects, but recently I also started to use it as a ebook reader of stored html files or browsing online (e.g. using Project Gutenberg or other open-source ebook sites or even news that I normally import to DTP via the html or bookmark bookmarklet).

Basically I gather all my html files and urls in a database that I called ebook_library. I organize the files/urls by authors and tag each file/url accordingly with their genre.

I also collect a good deal of RSS news files within a DTP database, mostly connected with my professional life. I don’t tag these, but I could also do so if needed.

To read the html files or the websites opened on the DTP browser I use:

1. a script that Christian helped me to built which basically allows the usage of the Readability bookmarklet inside DTP. (Note: just copy the code to AppleScript Editor and then name+save the script inside the Script Folder of DTP; click it when you have the html/url opened.)

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2. the full screen feature of DTP (view > full screen, cmd+F7, or icon in toolbar).

I then get something like this (html file):

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Or like this (RSS feed > URL opened in DTP browser):

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(Note: the top of the window — the titlebar w/ the ebook file name — doesn’t show up in the actual full screen.)

DTP is a great tool to organize ebook html files or urls and now I can easily read them with a very nice display.

[korm]

Thanks for this.

I like Readability, and often use it in Safari to prepare a document before I print it as PDF to DT’s inbox. It’s useful to have it available as a script in DT. A couple of tweaks would be useful. One is that the Readability-generated display is not persistent - if we navigate away from the document it disappears. If the script saved an RTF or web archive or PDF then that would not happen. Second is the same shortcoming that Readability has in the browser - only the visible page is processed and Readability does not fetch the remaining pages. That probably cannot be fixed as collecting all pages is beyond the ken of a simple Javascript like Readability.

[darwin]

This Readabillity-Thing was new to me. This is cool, thanks for the tip.
It’s also nice for copy the text from the generated side to DTPO instead of activating the printer-friendly text version.

[valente]

You are both welcome.

@korm

One is that the Readability-generated display is not persistent - if we navigate away from the document it disappears. If the script saved an RTF or web archive or PDF then that would not happen. Second is the same shortcoming that Readability has in the browser - only the visible page is processed and Readability does not fetch the remaining pages. That probably cannot be fixed as collecting all pages is beyond the ken of a simple Javascript like Readability.

Yes, I agree with both your lines of thought. On the first one — ideally someone would make a permenent script that would allow a permanent non-cluttered display of a webpage. As for the second idea I also find it very difficult to solve with a javascript; maybe a another kind of script? (Alas, my Applescript abilities are minimum.)

@darwin

It’s also nice for copy the text from the generated side to DTPO instead of activating the printer-friendly text version.

I sometimes do this too, using the white background javascript from Readability. Works great on complicated webpages if the javascript is well processed.