Using oReader ER

Getting Ready

oReader is a standalone java program that requires no installation. Simply download and unzip oReader into its own directory. The Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.5 is required to run the program. Newer systems come with this already installed. If yours does not, it's available from Sun MicroSystems free of charge.

The program consists of 3 files: oReader.jar, settings.properties & entity.properties. Settings.properties is used to store your default choices for fonts, margins, look & feel, etc. Entity.properties contains data used to translate special characters into printable PDF. Future update downloads of the Entity.properties will allow oReader to handle different language sets. The oReader.jar is the actual program file. Double click it to start the program.

Once the oReader has been run it creates 3 folders: oBooks, eBooks & temp. oBooks and eBooks are the default folders for storing .obf and .pdf files (though you can put these files anywhere you like). Temp is used by the system and never needs to be accessed. The 3 files and 3 folders need to remain in the same directory for the oReader to function properly.

Creating oBooks & eBooks (You must be online when using oReader)

You first select a publisher and library from the Browse menu. This presents you with a list of available oStories sorted alphabetically. Use the arrows under the library window to navigate through the titles. When you find an oStory you'd like to include, either select it and press the > arrow or double click to move it to the Table of Contents window. Conversely, select and press < or double click a title in the Table of Contents to remove it from your oBook. You can change libraries or publishers anytime from the Browse menu. If you want to change the order your titles appear in the Table of Contents, select the oStory to move and press + or - to move them up or down in the TOC.

Once all your oStories are in place, enter a title for your oBook in the box over the TOC. Select Publish oBook from the Publish menu and enter the file name you want to use. This makes the actual .obf oBook. You can e-mail this to a friend or add it to your website for people to download. Anyone with an oReader can convert this .obf to a PDF eBook. Simply select Publish eBook on the Publish menu and then pick the .obf you want to convert. The oReader pulls the oStories live from the web as its creating the eBook. This may take a few minutes depending on the speed of your connection. The .pdf is put in the eBooks folder with the same name as the .obf and can be opened to read with Adobe Acrobat.

Extra Features

The Fonts selection on the Options menu let's you chose any installed font on your computer and set the font size for your pdf.
Page Setup let's you set the margins (in points or inches) and your paper size (letter or A4).
Look & Feel let's you change the skin of the oReader to any available skin your JRE has installed. This requires restarting the oReader.

Fonts and Page Setup need to be set BEFORE creating the eBook. Your last selections for these are stored, so you can set defaults you like and forget them.

You can read the live content of the oStory by single clicking a title in the library window and selecting View oStory on the Browse menu. An HTML window will pop-up and you can look the oStory over before you add it to your oBook.

There is currently only one story site publishing oStories, The New Absurdist. Hopefully, this will change in the near future. If you have a story site or a personal website of your stories you'd like to make available in oStory format, see How can I oPublish? or write opublish@obook.org for more information.