APIs

kXML2

It's a BSD-licensed XML pull parser, especially adequate (or so they say) for Java Mobile. It's small and unobtrusive. You can read more at kXML2.

AlbiteZIP

It's a Java Mobile port of Classpath's java.util.zip package using the AlbiteRandomReadingFile API, which implements a RandomAccessFile with writing capabilities stripped away. Reading EPUB files relies on AlbiteZIP to work with their archives. AlbiteZIP's sources and some sample code are available at AlbiteZIP.

AlbiteCharacterDecoder

Provides the ability read characters not natively supported by Java's InputStreamReader. The API is based on some code from libiconv. Sources, examples, tests and binaries are available at AlbiteCharacterDecoder.

AlbiteUnits

A simple Java API for converting various physical units. Sources and binaries at AlbiteUnits.

ZLTextTeXHyphenator

I've made a port of zlibrary's hyphenator used in FBReaderJ. Licensed under GPL 2.

Fonts

Droid Serif

That's the font used on Android devices. It's really nice and it's built with the idea to render well on small screens and at small sizes. It supports some good amount of glyphs (around 500) and character ranges. It's licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.

Building fonts

In order to use the font in AlbiteREADER you need to build it in the right format.

Firstly, install BFG. Now, you need to create a bitmap font using the app. We need a bitmap font with xml descriptor, so BFG will produce a png with a xml file. Take care to hold all the glyphs on a single page and make the page's area as small as possible.

Then, you need to manually edit the newly created xml file in a suitable form. This time you need to use AlbiteFontBuilder, which will produce the final files. See its page for more info.

Note that in order to implement italic text you need to have two fonts, i.e. two versions of the same font.

If the process is still unclear, you'd better explore the files of the font resources used in AlbiteREADER.

Hyphenation patterns

The used hyphenation patterns are the ones from TeX's site or some modified versions from FBReaderJ.

Building the patterns

For every language you need to have the patterns in a separate txt file. Each patterns should be on a separate line. Then run AlbiteTeXBuilder to build the file that will be used in AlbiteREADER.

Dictionaries

There are some dictionaries ready for download!

• Merriam-Webster 1913, Abridged version (5.5 MB) based on OPTED. Abridged using the 3esl wordlist.
• Merriam-Webster 1913, Full version (13.6 MB) based on OPTED. Note that the index alone is 1.5MB large, so you need a device with loads of free memory and fast implementation of the File API.
• Some glossaries from Wiktionary. Include: Architecture Terminology, British Firefighters Jargon, Chess Terms, Irish Slang and Jargon, Library and Information Science, Military Slang, Nautical terms, Scottish Slang, South-African Slang, Truckspeak, US Navy Slang.

Note that the in order to be used in AlbiteREADER the dictionaries must be unzipped first.

Building your own dictionaries

Dictionaries are prepared as XML files that are then converted into binary files using AlbiteDictionaryBuilder. Dictionary entries can also be filtered against a wordlist so that one can automatically create abridged editions. See the page of the tool for some more exhausting information.

Graphics

Most graphics are made by me, except for the book icon that is made by SimioGraphics and the tiny icons of the folders, files, the check icon and the broken image icon that I downloaded from the internet.

Building the graphics

You need to use AlbiteImageBuilder to build the images into the binary format.