README fixes

[fanfix.git] / README.md

# Fanfix

Fanfix is a small Java program that can download stories from some supported websites and render them offline.

![Main GUI](screenshots/fanfix.png?raw=true "Main GUI")

It will convert from a (supported) URL to an .epub file for stories or a .cbz file for comics (a few other output types are also available, like Plain Text or LaTeX).

To help organize your stories, it can also work as a local library.

In this mode, you can:
- Import a story from its URL (or even another file)
- Export a story to a file (.epub or .cbz)
- Display a story from the local library in text format in the console
- Display a story from the local library graphically **by calling a native program to handle it** (though Fanfix can automatically process it into HTML so any browser can open it)

## Supported websites

Currently, the following websites are supported:
- http://FimFiction.net/: fan fictions devoted to the My Little Pony show
- http://Fanfiction.net/: fan fictions of many, many different universes, from TV shows to novels to games
- http://mangafox.me/: a well filled repository of mangas, or, as their website states: most popular manga scanlations read online for free at mangafox, as well as a close-knit community to chat and make friends
- https://e621.net/: a Furry website supporting comics, including MLP

## A note about file support

We support a few file types for local story conversion (both as input and as output):
- epub: .epub files created by this program (we do not support "all" .epub files, at least for now)
- text: local stories encoded in plain text format, with a few specific rules:
  - the title must be on the first line
  - the author (preceded by nothing, ```by ``` or ```©```) must be on the second line, possibly with the publication date in parenthesis (i.e., ```By Unknown (3rd October 1998)```)
  - chapters must be declared with ```Chapter x``` or ```Chapter x: NAME OF THE CHAPTER```, where ```x``` is the chapter number
  - a description of the story must be given as chapter number 0
  - a cover image may be present with the same filename as the story, but a .png, .jpeg or .jpg extension
- info_text: contains the same information as the text format, but with a companion .info file to store some metadata (the .info file is supposed to be created by Fanfix or compatible with it)
- cbz: .cbz (collection of images) files, preferably created with Fanfix (but any .cbz file is supported, though without most of Fanfix metadata, obviously)

## Supported platforms

Any platform with at lest Java 1.6 on it should be ok.

It has only been tested on Linux and Windows for now, but feel free to inform me if you try it on another system.

If you have any problems to compile it with a supported Java version (1.5 won't work, but you may try to cross-compile; 1.6 and 1.8 have been tested and work), please contact me.

## Usage

You can start the program in GUI mode (as in the screenshot on top):
- ```java -jar fanfix.jar```


The following arguments are also allowed:
- ```--import [URL]```: import the story at URL into the local library
- ```--export [id] [output_type] [target]```: export the story denoted by ID to the target file
- ```--convert [URL] [output_type] [target] (+info)```: convert the story at URL into target, and force-add the .info and cover if +info is passed
- ```--read [id] ([chapter number])```: read the given story denoted by ID from the library
- ```--read-url [URL] ([chapter number])```: convert on the fly and read the story denoted by ID, without saving it
- ```--list```: list the stories present in the library and their associated IDs
- ```--set-reader [reader type]```: set the reader type to CLI or LOCAL for this command
- ```--help```: display the available options

### Environment variables

Some environment variables are recognized by the program:
- ```LANG=en```: force the language to English (the only one for now...)
- ```CONFIG_DIR=$HOME/.fanfix```: use the given directory as a config directory (and copy the default configuration if needed)
- ```NOUTF=1```: try to fallback to non-unicode values when possible (can have an impact on the resulting files, not only on user messages)
- ```DEBUG=1```: force the ```DEBUG=true``` option of the configuration file (to show more information on errors)

## Compilation

```./configure.sh && make```

You can also import the java sources into, say, [Eclipse](https://eclipse.org/), and create a runnable JAR file from there.

### Dependant libraries (included)

- libs/nikiroo-utils-sources.jar: some shared utility functions I also use elsewhere
- [libs/unbescape-sources.jar](https://github.com/unbescape/unbescape): a nice library to escape/unescape a lot of text formats; I only use it for HTML

Nothing else but Java 1.6+.

Note that calling ```make libs``` will export the libraries into the src/ directory.

## TODO

Currently missing, but either in progress or planned:
- [ ] A GUI (work in progress)
  - [x] Make one
  - [x] Make it run when no args passed
  - [x] Fix the UI, it is ugly
  - [ ] Work on the UI thread is BAD
  - [ ] Allow export
  - [ ] Show a list of types
    - [x] ..in the menu
    - [ ] ..as a screen view
  - [ ] options screen
- [ ] A TUI reader
- [ ] Check if it can work on Android
- [ ] Translations
  - [x] i18n system in place
  - [x] Make use of it
  - [x] Use it for all user output (some WIP remains)
  - [ ] French translation
- [ ] Allow lauching a custom application instead of Desktop.start ?
  - [ ] Make a wrapper for firefox to create a new, empty profile ?
- [ ] Install a mechanism to handle stories import progress update