[Blindtlk] Fwd: Announcing CHM2TXT

Fri Aug 17 22:14:17 CDT 2007

The Russian programmer was arrested in 2001 or 2002, I think.  

Ever since late 2003, there has been an exemption in place that says that if
a document exists as an e-book and its "read aloud" function or access to
its content by means of a screen reader has been disabled, the protection
can be circumvented by a blind person seeking access to the information.
The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress made this ruling, and this
exemption for access by the blind and visually impaired was extended in
2006.  The regulation is somewhere on 
  http://www.copyright.gov
.  

Lloyd Rasmussen, Kensington, Maryland
Home:  http://lras.home.sprynet.com
Work:  http://www.loc.gov/nls

> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of T. Joseph Carter
> Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 2:16 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fwd: Announcing CHM2TXT
> 
> There are also HTML converters for CHM files, and at least one
> crudely-named program for handling Microsoft's LIT file format, with DRM
> decryption if you have the original keys.  (This may not be entirely legal
> to do under the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  I say may
> be because there is supposed to be an exception in the law for
> circumvention devices that provide us with access to material in an
> accessible format.  The last individual who attempted to use that defense
> was a Russian here for a conference named Dmitri...
> 
> Several people, myself among them, routinely remove DRM from media we have
> paid for as an act of civil disobedience.  Companies will continue to
> foist this crap upon us as long as we continue to accept it.  I .. don't.
> I'd be happy to provide links to CHM and LIT tools, though decrypting the
> latter should be done at your own risk.  (I'd advise against sharing the
> decrypted results--that's definitely not legal and LIT files are sometimes
> "watermarked" digitally, which means it can be traced back to you..)
> 
> If anyone's interested, let me know.  I'll look for the tools for Windows,
> and if they're not available, I'll see if I can build them in the next
> week or two.
> 
> On Fri, Aug 17, 2007 at 02:28:41AM -0500, David Andrews wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >Now available at
> > >http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/chm2txt.zip
> > >
> > >I hope this utility increases access to information stored in CHM
> > >archives.  It is explained below.
> > >
> > >Jamal
> > >
> > >----------
> > >
> > >CHM2TXT
> > >Version 1.0
> > >August 16, 2007
> > >Copyright 2007 by Jamal Mazrui
> > >Modified GPL License
> > >
> > >Contents
> > >Description
> > >Operation
> > >Development Notes
> > >----------
> > >
> > >Description
> > >Running on Windows 98 and above, CHM2TXT (chm2txt.exe) is a command
> line
> > >utility that converts a file from Compiled HTML format (.chm) to
> > >structured text (.txt).  Combining multiple HTML and graphics files,
> the
> > >CHM format is commonly used for software documentation, e.g., what is
> > >displayed by pressing F1.  The usual help viewing program, however, can
> be
> > >challenging to search globally or to read continuously.  A single,
> > >structured text file provides an alternative in such cases.  CHM2TXT is
> a
> > >free, open source program that seeks to fill an observed need of many
> > >users.  Note that its present limitations include the fact that topics
> are
> > >ordered alphabetically, rather than according to the outline view of
> the
> > >CHM file.
> > >----------
> > >
> > >Operation
> > >The command line syntax of CHM2TXT is as follows:
> > >chm2txt "SourceFile.chm" "TargetFile.txt"
> > >
> > >A file name should be fully qualified, that is, include a leading path
> --
> > >either absolute or relative -- if not located in the current directory.
> > >Quotes around a file may be omitted if it does not include a space
> > >character.  The target may be omitted to produce one named like the
> source
> > >except for extension.  Status messages are displayed on the console
> (via
> > >standard output) during the conversion process.
> > >
> > >The chm2txt.exe executable may be copied to and run from any directory.
> > >The program creates a workspace in a subdirectory of the user's
> temporary
> > >directory.  Batch files or other applications may invoke CHM2TXT in
> order
> > >to convert multiple files with a single command, or to provide a
> graphical
> > >user interface for specifying source and target files.  For example,
> such
> > >capabilities are included in the EdSharp editor available at
> > >http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/edsetup.exe
> > >
> > >The text file produced by CHM2TXT observes a few conventions that
> > >facilitate navigation in editors that implement the "Homer editor
> > >interface."  Besides EdSharp, TextPal is another such application,
> > >available at
> > >http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/palsetup.exe
> > >
> > >A structured text document is divided into sections separated by a
> > >character sequence consisting of a hard page break and line break
> (ASCII
> > >12, 13, and 10 codes).  The first section is the table of contents, and
> > >remaining sections are the body.  Each topic name in the contents is
> also
> > >a section heading in the body.
> > >
> > >Relevant Homer keys for navigation are as follows.  Press
> Control+PageDown
> > >to go to the next section, or Control+PageUp for the previous one.
> Press
> > >F6 to go from a topic in the contents to its corresponding section in
> the
> > >body.  Press Shift+F6 to reverse that, going from a section in the body
> to
> > >its topic in the contents.  Press Control+F6 to search for a section
> based
> > >on text in its topic name.  Press Alt+F6 to search for the next match.
> > >
> > >A structured text document may also be converted to an equivalent HTML
> > >version, with a table of contents linked to section headings.  Press
> > >Control+H to convert the current document to HTML format.  Press
> Control+S
> > >to save it to disk.  Press F5 to launch it in the default web browser.
> > >----------
> > >
> > >Development Notes
> > >I developed CHM2TXT with the Perl Developer Kit 7.0 from
> > >http://ActiveState.com
> > >It incorporates Perl 5.8, as well as the libraries Text::CHM,
> > >HTML::Stripper, and File::OldSlurp from the Comprehensive Perl Archive
> > >Network at
> > >http://cpan.org
> > >
> > >The distribution archive, chm2txt.zip, contains Perl source code
> > >(chm2txt.pl) and the batch file to compile it (compile.bat).  The code
> is
> > >covered by a modified version of the GNU General Public License (GPL),
> > >which is explained at
> > >http://gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
> > >Essentially, software that uses the code must be open source, except
> that
> > >I am willing to relax GPL conditions in a particular case if persuaded
> > >that a greater good would result.
> > >
> > >I welcome feedback, which helps CHM2TXT improve over time.  When
> reporting
> > >a problem, the more specifics the better, including steps to reproduce
> it,
> > >if possible.  If you happen to be a programmer, please consider
> > >contributing code that fixes a problem or improves functionality.
> > >
> > >The latest version of CHM2TXT is available at the same URL,
> > >http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/chm2txt.zip
> > >
> > >Jamal Mazrui
> > >jamal at EmpowermentZone.com
> > >
> > >----------
> > >End of Document
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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