can anyone build pdb viewer for ubuntu pls...

[manuvaidya]

hi guys, i am really upset with this issue. we have lot of alternative softwares compared to windows in ubuntu,,,, but when it comes to the pdb viewer, linux is lagging behind from windows. atleast anyone build a simple software to open a pdb files.... i have a lot of text books in pdb format, i am very much annoyed to use windows just to read books in pdb format...

i am requesting all of u guys to give a simple pdb viewing software..... i am a ubuntu newbie... i dont know how to build it... thats why i am requesting all of u guys..... pls....

[loell]

protien data bank viewer!?

[nhasian]

pdb is for palm pilot ebooks.

a quick check on google didnt reveal anything either for me.

[loell]

ah.. for palm.. LOL

you can use pyrite-publisher to convert it to text and from there probably convert the text to pdf.

[manuvaidya]

what do i do now????? i am desperate to use these books in pdb format.... i dont wanna go back to windows just for this one reason....

why no one has built a software to view pdb files in ubuntu???? nobody with ubuntu uses palmtop devices/ pdb files???? very strange.... come on guys.... no isilo alternative in ubuntu???? i am begging u people to build a software alternative to isilo pls....

[loell]

or actually use abiword

[manuvaidya]

ah.. for palm.. LOL

you can use pyrite-publisher to convert it to text and from there probably convert the text to pdf.
hi loell, i installed it from synaptics packet manager... but its not launching from terminal/ its not present in office group... how do i launch it/ use it????

simple guide will be appreciated much... pls...

[kingswood71]

yeah I have encountered the same issue... I am overcoming it by:
1. opening up the pdb book in isilo using wine.
2. coping entire document.
3. pasting it to open office word doc.
4. exporting from there as a pdf

seems to work, but a lot of rooting around!!
Anyone find a good pdb reader native to linux/ubuntu..let me know!!

[oliwek]

hello kingswood71,
I've tried to use iSilo™ 5.06 for Windows (http://www.isilo.com/download/iSiloW32.htm) but couldn't get anything readable from it ;

with this free pdb ebook for example : http://www.ebooksgratuits.com/newsendbook.php?id=139&format=pr

I get this result :

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2041/isilopdb.png

any advice?



or actually use abiword

abiword can't open this kind of file


edit : I had to use eReader Pro for Windows (http://www.ereader.com/ereader/softw...09_pro_win.htm) in wine

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8397/ereader.th.png (http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ereader.png)

[chitowner2]

This topic is of interest to me also. I just spent the last several hours trying the following *possibilities*:

abiword- doesn't work on .pdb files. just hangs; my cpu usage goes >90% and I have to reboot to get out of it.

PDBEditor- can't figure how to get it to work. Extracted the files from a .jar archive, but find no executable.

kpalmdoc- also a loser. does nothing.

FBReader- kinda doubt it will work. Most sources discussing it say it only works on "some" pdb files.

iSilo + WINE ? Oh come ON guys! Can't we get something native to Debian?

DISCUSSION WELCOME!

[chitowner2]

>> Tested FBReader. I have ~40 .pdb titles; FBReader only found *one* and displayed open text mixed with non-alpha characters.

[Excedio]

what do i do now????? i am desperate to use these books in pdb format.... i dont wanna go back to windows just for this one reason....

why no one has built a software to view pdb files in ubuntu???? nobody with ubuntu uses palmtop devices/ pdb files???? very strange.... come on guys.... no isilo alternative in ubuntu???? i am begging u people to build a software alternative to isilo pls....


Do you really think that it's as simple as "just make a program?" Not everyone here is a programmer, and those that are, may not have a need for this type of program thus do not make one. I do understand your frustrations, but still .....relax.

[Excedio]

This thread may be useful.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=270133

[chitowner2]

This thread may be useful.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=270133

Ya, I tried that one too. Couldn't it to work at all. Command would not run from Alt+f2 or shell:

~$ guipdb
bash: /usr/local/bin/guipdb: Permission denied

[Jive Turkey]

Ya, I tried that one too. Couldn't it to work at all. Command would not run from Alt+f2 or shell:

~$ guipdb
bash: /usr/local/bin/guipdb: Permission denied


sudo guipdb???
just a thought, though a document reader should not require sudo AT ALL, it may be just a bug that you even need it I dunno. PDB could stand for a few different things though. I think one of the "pdb" related programs mentioned so far was for designing circuitboards, not reading documents.

[cariboo]

Have a look at calibre, an ebook manager. It is available for Jaunty and Karmic, It will convert from other formats, manage your library, up load to devices and more. Calbre is in the repositories.

[roger_1960]

Hi

Ereader software www.ereader.com runs fine under wine.

[I WILL DO IT]

you should try and install some wine weaks

[t0p]

what do i do now????? i am desperate to use these books in pdb format.... i dont wanna go back to windows just for this one reason....

why no one has built a software to view pdb files in ubuntu???? nobody with ubuntu uses palmtop devices/ pdb files???? very strange.... come on guys.... no isilo alternative in ubuntu???? i am begging u people to build a software alternative to isilo pls....

Why don't you write isilo for linux? It's your itch, you scratch it.

[niteshifter]

Hi,


why no one has built a software to view pdb files in ubuntu????
nobody with ubuntu uses palmtop devices/ pdb files???? very strange.... come on guys.... no isilo alternative in ubuntu???? i am begging u people to build a software alternative to isilo pls....

I use a Palm TX w/ ubuntu daily. I just didn't fall for the plucker db universal reader line of bull. Mainly because - as you've just discovered - it's not so universal.

Use PDFs, friend. Get PalmPDF from here (http://metaviewsoft.de/). Based upon Xpdf, it beats the crap out of the "toy" PDF reader Palm supplied you.

Next, reacquire what ebooks you have in .pdb as .pdf files. Most free ebooks are available as both. Those you can't reacquire do as kingswood71 suggested - copy and paste, make your own .pdf file.

PDF is truly universal and you're using an OS that can let you do pretty much anything with a pdf file once you've installed the tools you need (most of which you already have).

Now, as to writing a viewer - as another poster already put it "scratch your own itch". I'm busy writing one to scratch mine: an app that gives a GUI front end for these tools: pdftk, pdftotext, pdfinfo, pdfimages, pdffonts, pdftops, gv (pdf2ps) and a few more. But it's slow going - that paying job of mine keeps eating time. My wife would occasionally like to see me also ;)

Point is, as the other poster and I are trying to make is a goodly amount of the software in FOSS comes from people working to fix their own problems. That's not to knock corporate sponsored work (which has been a huge help) but rather to point out it's free-market approach. So, if you have programming skills - get to work. If you don't that's fine as well. Just have a little patience - and hope for a bit of luck that some dev with spare time will undertake the task.

But I've got to say that honestly I think you'll be waiting a long time. PalmOS is dead. The new Palm programming paradigm (WebOS) doesn't seem to be looking back much. Hence my advice to move to PDF.

[chitowner2]

I installed calibre from the repos. It sees PDF's just fine, but none of the PDB files, so that's a dud.

Converting the PDB's to PDF's would frst require being able to open and read those files. But if I/we could do that, then what would a PDF reader be needed for? Duh!

:(

[peterthinking]

gotta be a palm emulator somewhere.
Pretty sure with the palm desktop you could read palm files....still got a disk?

[peterthinking]

http://kb.palm.com/wps/portal/kb/common/article/33529_en.html

to download palm desktops.

http://3d2f.com/programs/27-289-gemini-download.shtml

Some program that can convert palm files...never heard of it but a quick google found it.

http://www.netmeister.org/palm/POSE/POSE-HOWTO.html

a thing on palm desktop emulator software

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/palm/emulator

and partway down this page something called "Palm Desktop Utilities" sounds like it could save your stuff.

I didn't check what OS they ran on...probably Windows but if you just wanna save some files it's easy enough to get your hands on one. I hear Windows was quite popular in it's day. You can probably get a copy of Windows at surplusscomputers or tiger direct, they sometimes sell older legacy software pretty cheap.

[superJoel]

calibre does work for .pdb files, but not ones with DRM... you just have to go out to the website and install the newest version

[crimius]

To update this: you can install eReader Pro under WINE, and it should be able to read the B&N .pdb ebooks just fine. download the .zip and extract the setup.exe file, then run it with wine.
URL to download zip file:

http://www.ereader.com/ereader/software/product/15009_pro_win.htm


wine setup.exe

[JEREMIAHBARLOW]

I love Ubuntu 9.10 ... I have tried all the major linux flavors off and on over the year. Never having the time to make the learning curve all the way. But this time when my Windows Vista pooped out on me, I chose Ubuntu. So I am somewhat new to Linux but really impressed with what I have going now.

I just loaded up my iSilo 5.05 and Wine just loads it and runs it fine. My files all pull up fine with the right fonts, etc.

I love Ubuntu 9.10 ,,,
cool, cool, cool!

That is after I did some internet sharing with my Verizon 959 Air Card (now that could be made easier, but there is a lot of help online for Internet Connection Sharing)

:D

[daveshep]

hey thanks for the tip about calibre, i just used it to convert a .pdf to an .epub for my eslick reader. sweet as. nice work.

although there's a couple of funny things about the epub file, eg "Los ngeles" instead of Los Angeles...

[dnprastowo]

with crossover add this archive :http://hotfile.com/dl/127163521/08b06e9/isilo.cxarchive.html already activated