BSDCan2011 - Final (with audio).5

BSDCan 2011
The Technical BSD Conference

Speakers
Benedict Reuschling
Schedule
Day Talks - 1 - 2011-05-13
Room Tutorial
Start time 13:30
Duration 01:00
Info
ID 224
Event type Lecture
Language used for presentation English

Converting the FreeBSD Documentation to the EPUB format

A Prototypical Implementation

The FreeBSD Documentation Project uses the SGML-based DocBook format to render the project's documentation into various output formats. With the widespread use of mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers, the need for a proper format arises to make the documentation available on these gadgets as well. Although the documentation is available in omnipresent PDF, it can bring its own issues like horizontal scrolling or constant zooming in and out. An emerging standard for digital publications is EPUB, which is currently not available in the documentation project.

This talk gives an introduction to the EPUB format, the internal container structure and the underlying concepts that are based on open web standards. Building and validating EPUB files will also be explained. Converting the FreeBSD documentation set is described, along with problems that came up doing so. Three approaches at conversion are described and their results are analyzed for feasibility. Possible workarounds to the encountered problems are discussed. Attendees and future eBook authors with basic knowledge of web design should be able to follow this talk easily.