Hacks X-Ray file generator for Kindle Touch

[shinew]

well, not quite... but pretty close

I really like the X-Ray feature on the new Kindle Touch, but it's only limited to Amazon purchased books, and not all the books have it on Amazon(publisher permission required). Last night I decided to look into how X-Ray works and see what I could do to bring similar features to any book.

So after working on it for few hours, I wrote a script to automatically grab the book info from Shelfari, parse it, then write to the X-RAY format. I then just drop it into the Kindle via USB and Bam there is X-RAY like feature for every book I own! Basically it shows:
1) Characters, Settings & Locations, Glossary, Themes & Symbolism sections from Shelfari.com;
2) Optionally shows the introduction paragraph from Wikipedia page and a direct link to the book's Wikipedia page.
The info it gathers is little different from X-Ray in that it grabs all the terms(except the optional Wikipedia intro/link) from Shelfari as opposed to the real X-Ray which queries mostly from Wikipedia. For some books I actually find the results to be more relevant to the real thing!
The only limitation is that it does not display the location of the words/terms. As you can see in the image bellow, the graphic bar is spoofed, not really functioning...

Granted it doesn't really show the "bone" of the book, but all the handy references are there and easily accesible, which is what I mainly use X-Ray for anyway. Overall I'm pretty happy with the result!

::TO SUMMARIZE::

Link to the X-Ray generator -> http://www.xunwang.me/xray/

Features:
- Get Character Info, Seting & Locations, Organization, Glossary, Themes & Symbolism from shelfari.com
- Every character/term gathered above provides a direct wikipedia page link if it's a full match by clicking on "Full Wikipedia Article", otherwise you can browse the relevant wikipedia entries.
- Optionally display the intro for the book's wikipedia page(if it's available), and provide a direct link to its wikipedia entry.
- Works for both Personal Documents & USB side loaded ebooks(MOBI & AZW format).

Limitation:
- it does not provide the book's location info for the characters/terms

===========UPDATE 11/20/11 ==================
I've tested several books without issues, but I can't guarantee it's bug free.
I wrote it in PHP because this way I can access & use it from anywhere with just a browser. I also added a brief instruction on the page but if there're any questions, feel free to ask. You'll most likely need mobi2mobi or Java Mobi Metadata Editor to get the ASIN, GUID & DB name, especially for the GUID.

I've also attached the script, feel free to modify it anyway you want because I'm sure it's kinda sloppy, it was a quick & dirty effort. Just please upload the revision in case anyone feels like making any improvement. Happy reading!

===========UPDATE 11/21/11 v0.2================
- added wikipedia character/term link
- added terms from Organization section from shefari book page
- updated instruction

===========UPDATE 11/22/11 v0.22================
- fixed bug for Calibre generated ASIN
- updated Features
- updated instruction

===========UPDATE 11/26/11 v0.23================
- added built-in decimal to hex converter for the GUID so there is no need to use an external converter. It takes both dec & hex values
- updated REFERENCE to reflect the change

[thebestjeter]

Awesome! Do you think do you is there any way to add the location? That would be great for reference.

[Stingo]

Can you publish the script and source so others can help improve it?

[shinew]

Link to my XRAY generator added to my original post.

[BeccaPrice]

will this work on the k3 or only on the touch?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

will this work on the k3 or only on the touch?

"X-Ray" is not currently supported on the Kindle 3.

[shinew]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

will this work on the k3 or only on the touch?

It's K4 Touch only since it's the only model that is capable of loading the x-ray file. Just updated the page that includes a link to download Kindle Mobi2Mobi GUI for Windows

[Rizla]

The character list and info on x-ray would be handy if reading the Silmarillion

[sucah]

X-Ray generator for Kindle Touch for Mac OS only, wait for PC.

[shinew]

Originally Posted by sucah

X-Ray generator for Kindle Touch for Mac OS only, wait for PC.

Huh? It's OS independent, works as long as you have a browser.

[sucah]

OK, double click 'index.html' under subdir xray, thank you shinew.

[shinew]

Originally Posted by sucah

OK, double click 'index.html' under subdir xray, thank you shinew.

actually that's not how it works. To use it, just go to my site and fill in the proper info and click on "Get X-RAY" button, it'll prompt you to download the x-ray file. All you have to do then is to drop it onto your kindle.

The attached file is really for people who are interested in improving it in anyway. If you really prefer run it locally, you'll need to have an Apache server running on your computer, open the the index.html through the browser and not by double clicking it.

[jinrowang]

I've been trying to get X-ray function with your method for last 3hrs...
Unfortunately, It's not working for me...

I'm using mobi2mobi to get:

ASIN, Database Name, and GUID (convert to hex following your provided link)

ASIN:
EXTH item: 113 - ASIN - 36 - 9f71ae3e-53e8-408a-96e5-3e8f3c323d25
(I delete "ASIN - 36 -" portion and delete "-" from 9f71ae3e-53e8-408a-96e5-3e8f3c323d25)

Database Name:
Database Name: Name_Appears_In_Mobi2mobi

GUID:
MOBIHEADER uniqid: 655219108
(I use decimal to hex converter and get this --> "270DD9A4")

As for Shelfari and Wiki, I just google to link and use the URL.

I get xray file as:
(XRAY.entities.9F71AE3XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX...asc)
and I place them on my document/Book_Title.sdr folder

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I only see "Sync" button instead of "X-ray" button at Kindle touch Menu.

Could you give me some direction to solve the issue?



Thanks

[shinew]

is that from you personal document or you side loaded from USB?
If you don't mind, you can send me your book file(mobi or azw) to my email, I can check it out. Just sent you a PM with my email address in it.

[jinrowang]

I just emailed you with attachment of .mobi file I've been working on.
Thanks for quick reply! you are the best!