Description:

penelope 3.1.3.0

Penelope is a multi-tool for creating, editing and converting
dictionaries, especially for eReader devices.

Version: 3.1.3
Date: 2016-09-23
Developer: Alberto Pettarin
License: the MIT License (MIT)
Contact: click here

With the current version you can:

convert a dictionary from/to the following formats:

Bookeen Cybook Odyssey (R/W)
CSV (R/W)
EPUB (W only)
MOBI (Kindle, W only)
Kobo (R index only, W unencrypted/unobfuscated only)
StarDict (R/W)
XML (R/W)


merge several dictionaries of the same type into a single dictionary
merge several definitions for the same headword
sort by headword and/or by definition
define your own input parser to merge/sort/edit definitions
define your own collation function (bookeen output format only)
output an EPUB file containing the dictionary (e.g., to cope with the
lack of a search function of your eReader)
output a MOBI (Kindle) dictionary


Important Update

2016-04-17 Sadly, I can no longer afford to spend time working on
Penelope, as my other FLOSS projects take 100% of my FLOSS time, and
I still need to pay rent and bills, spend time with family and
friends, etc., as anyone else. Therefore, I will not work on issues
or pull requests, please do not expect they will be dealt with at
all. I am actively looking for other developers to take this
project over. (This notice should be removed when the changeover
happens.) If you need to convert a dictionary and the current version
of Penelope does not work for you, you might want to have a look at
**PyGlossary**. My most
sincere apologies for the inconvenience.


Installation



Using pip

Open a console and type:
$ [sudo] pip install penelope

That’s it! Just run without arguments (or with -h or --help)
to get the manual:
$ penelope


This procedure will install lxml and marisa-trie. You might need
to install dictzip (StarDict output) and kindlegen (MOBI output)
separately, see below.


From source code

Get the source code:

clone this repo with git:
$ git clone https://github.com/pettarin/penelope.git

or download the latest
release and
uncompress it somewhere,
or download the current master
ZIP
and uncompress it somewhere.


Open a console and enter the penelope (cloned) directory:
$ cd /path/to/penelope

That’s it! Just run without arguments (or with -h or --help)
to get the manual:
$ python -m penelope


This procedure will not install any dependencies: you will need to do
that manually, see below.


Dependencies

Python, version 2.7.x or 3.4.x (or above)
to write StarDict dictionaries: the dictzip executable, available
in your $PATH or specified with --dictzip-path:
$ [sudo] apt-get install dictzip

to read/write Kobo dictionaries: the Python module marisa-trie:
$ [sudo] pip install marisa-trie


or MARISA executables
available in your $PATH or specified with --marisa-bin-path

to write MOBI Kindle dictionaries: the
kindlegen
executable, available in your $PATH or specified with
--kindlegen-path
to read/write XML dictionaries: the Python module lxml:
$ [sudo] pip install lxml



Usage
usage:
$ penelope -h
$ penelope -i INPUT_FILE -j INPUT_FORMAT -f LANGUAGE_FROM -t LANGUAGE_TO -p OUTPUT_FORMAT -o OUTPUT_FILE [OPTIONS]
$ penelope -i IN1,IN2[,IN3...] -j INPUT_FORMAT -f LANGUAGE_FROM -t LANGUAGE_TO -p OUTPUT_FORMAT -o OUTPUT_FILE [OPTIONS]

description:
Convert dictionary file(s) with file name prefix INPUT_FILE from format INPUT_FORMAT to format OUTPUT_FORMAT, saving it as OUTPUT_FILE.
The dictionary is from LANGUAGE_FROM to LANGUAGE_TO, possibly the same.
You can merge several dictionaries (with the same format), by providing a list of comma-separated prefixes, as shown by the third synopsis above.

optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-d, --debug enable debug mode (default: False)
-f LANGUAGE_FROM, --language-from LANGUAGE_FROM
from language (ISO 639-1 code)
-i INPUT_FILE, --input-file INPUT_FILE
input file name prefix(es). Multiple prefixes must be
comma-separated.
-j INPUT_FORMAT, --input-format INPUT_FORMAT
from format (values: bookeen|csv|kobo|stardict|xml)
-k, --keep keep temporary files (default: False)
-o OUTPUT_FILE, --output-file OUTPUT_FILE
output file name
-p OUTPUT_FORMAT, --output-format OUTPUT_FORMAT
to format (values:
bookeen|csv|epub|kobo|mobi|stardict|xml)
-t LANGUAGE_TO, --language-to LANGUAGE_TO
to language (ISO 639-1 code)
-v, --version print version and exit
--author AUTHOR author string
--copyright COPYRIGHT
copyright string
--cover-path COVER_PATH
path of the cover image file
--description DESCRIPTION
description string
--email EMAIL email string
--identifier IDENTIFIER
identifier string
--license LICENSE license string
--title TITLE title string
--website WEBSITE website string
--year YEAR year string
--apply-css APPLY_CSS
apply the given CSS file (epub and mobi output only)
--bookeen-collation-function BOOKEEN_COLLATION_FUNCTION
use the specified collation function
--bookeen-install-file
create *.install file (default: False)
--csv-fs CSV_FS CSV field separator (default: ',')
--csv-ignore-first-line
ignore the first line of the input CSV file(s)
(default: False)
--csv-ls CSV_LS CSV line separator (default: '\n')
--dictzip-path DICTZIP_PATH
path to dictzip executable
--epub-no-compress do not create the compressed container (epub output
only, default: False)
--escape-strings escape HTML strings (default: False)
--flatten-synonyms flatten synonyms, creating a new entry with
headword=synonym and using the definition of the
original headword (default: False)
--group-by-prefix-function GROUP_BY_PREFIX_FUNCTION
compute the prefix of headwords using the given prefix
function file
--group-by-prefix-length GROUP_BY_PREFIX_LENGTH
group headwords by prefix of given length (default: 2)
--group-by-prefix-merge-across-first
merge headword groups even when the first character
changes (default: False)
--group-by-prefix-merge-min-size GROUP_BY_PREFIX_MERGE_MIN_SIZE
merge headword groups until the given minimum number
of headwords is reached (default: 0, meaning no merge
will take place)
--ignore-case ignore headword case, all headwords will be lowercased
(default: False)
--ignore-synonyms ignore synonyms, not reading/writing them if present
(default: False)
--include-index-page include an index page (epub and mobi output only,
default: False)
--input-file-encoding INPUT_FILE_ENCODING
use the specified encoding for reading the raw
contents of input file(s) (default: 'utf-8')
--input-parser INPUT_PARSER
use the specified parser function after reading the
raw contents of input file(s)
--kindlegen-path KINDLEGEN_PATH
path to kindlegen executable
--marisa-bin-path MARISA_BIN_PATH
path to MARISA bin directory
--marisa-index-size MARISA_INDEX_SIZE
maximum size of the MARISA index (default: 1000000)
--merge-definitions merge definitions for the same headword (default:
False)
--merge-separator MERGE_SEPARATOR
add this string between merged definitions (default: '
| ')
--mobi-no-kindlegen do not run kindlegen, keep .opf and .html files
(default: False)
--no-definitions do not output definitions for EPUB and MOBI formats
(default: False)
--sd-ignore-sametypesequence
ignore the value of sametypesequence in StarDict .ifo
files (default: False)
--sd-no-dictzip do not compress the .dict file in StarDict files
(default: False)
--sort-after sort after merging/flattening (default: False)
--sort-before sort before merging/flattening (default: False)
--sort-by-definition sort by definition (default: False)
--sort-by-headword sort by headword (default: False)
--sort-ignore-case ignore case when sorting (default: False)
--sort-reverse reverse the sort order (default: False)

examples:

$ penelope -i dict.csv -j csv -f en -t it -p stardict -o output.zip
Convert en->it dictionary dict.csv (in CSV format) into output.zip (in StarDict format)

$ penelope -i dict.csv -j csv -f en -t it -p stardict -o output.zip --merge-definitions
As above, but also merge definitions

$ penelope -i d1,d2,d3 -j csv -f en -t it -p csv -o output.csv --sort-after --sort-by-headword
Merge CSV dictionaries d1, d2, and d3 into output.csv, sorting by headword

$ penelope -i d1,d2,d3 -j csv -f en -t it -p csv -o output.csv --sort-after --sort-by-headword --sort-ignore-case
As above, but ignore case for sorting

$ penelope -i d1,d2,d3 -j csv -f en -t it -p csv -o output.csv --sort-after --sort-by-headword --sort-reverse
As above, but reverse the order

$ penelope -i dict.zip -j stardict -f en -t it -p csv -o output.csv
Convert en->it dictionary dict.zip (in StarDict format) into output.csv (in CSV format)

$ penelope -i dict.zip -j stardict -f en -t it -p csv -o output.csv --ignore-synonyms
As above, but do not read the .syn synonym file if present

$ penelope -i dict.zip -j stardict -f en -t it -p csv -o output.csv --flatten-synonyms
As above, but flatten synonyms

$ penelope -i dict.zip -j stardict -f en -t it -p bookeen -o output
Convert dict.zip into output.dict.idx and output.dict for Bookeen devices

$ penelope -i dict.zip -j stardict -f en -t it -p kobo -o dicthtml-en-it
Convert dict.zip into dicthtml-en-it.zip for Kobo devices

$ penelope -i dict.csv -j csv -f en -t it -p mobi -o output.mobi --cover-path mycover.png --title "My English->Italian Dictionary"
Convert dict.csv into a MOBI (Kindle) dictionary, using the specified cover image and title

$ penelope -i dict.xml -j xml -f en -t it -p mobi -o output.epub
Convert dict.xml into an EPUB dictionary

$ penelope -i dict.xml -j xml -f en -t it -p mobi -o output.epub --epub-output-definitions
As above, but also output definitions
You can find ISO 639-1 language codes
here.


Installing the Dictionaries



Bookeen Odyssey Devices
For example, suppose you want to use an IT -> EN dictionary.

On your PC, produce/download the IT -> EN dictionary files
it-en.dict and it-en.dict.idx.
Connect your Odyssey device to your PC via the USB cable.
Using your file manager, copy the two files it-en.dict and
it-en.dict.idx from your PC into the Dictionaries/ directory
on your Odyssey device.
Reboot your Odyssey, open a book in Italian and select a word: the
definition in English should appear. (For this test, select a common
word so you are sure it is present in the dictionary!)

Note that the Bookeen dictionary software will select the dictionary to
use by reading the dc:language metadata of your eBook. Make sure
your eBooks have the proper dc:language metadata, otherwise the
correct dictionary might not be loaded.


Kobo Devices
At the time of this writing (2016-02-16), Kobo devices will load
dictionaries only if the files have a file name of an official Kobo
dictionaries, which are:

dicthtml.zip (EN)
dicthtml-de.zip (DE), dicthtml-de-en.zip (DE -> EN),
dicthtml-en-de.zip (EN -> DE),
dicthtml-es.zip (ES), dicthtml-es-en.zip (ES -> EN),
dicthtml-en-es.zip (EN -> ES),
dicthtml-fr.zip (FR), dicthtml-fr-en.zip (FR -> EN),
dicthtml-en-fr.zip (EN -> FR),
dicthtml-it.zip (IT), dicthtml-it-en.zip (IT -> EN),
dicthtml-en-it.zip (EN -> IT),
dicthtml-nl.zip (NL)
dicthtml-ja.zip (JA), dicthtml-en-ja.zip (EN -> JA),
dicthtml-pt.zip (PT), dicthtml-pt-en.zip (PT -> EN),
dicthtml-en-pt.zip (EN -> PT)

(see this MobileRead
thread)
Hence, if you want to install a custom dictionary produced with
Penelope, you must choose to overwrite one of the official Kobo
dictionaries, effectively loosing the possibility of using the latter.
For example, suppose you want to use a Polish dictionary
(dicthtml-pl.zip), while you are not interested in using the
official Portuguese one (dicthtml-pt.zip).

On your PC, produce/download the Polish dictionary
dicthtml-pl.zip.
In your Kobo device, go to the settings and activate the Portuguese
dictionary.
Connect your Kobo device to your PC via the USB cable.
Using your file manager, copy dicthtml-pl.zip from your PC into
the .kobo/dict/ directory on your Kobo device. (Note that
.kobo is a hidden directory: you might need to enable the “show
hidden files/directories” setting of your file manager.)
Rename dicthtml-pl.zip into dicthtml-pt.zip.
Reboot your Kobo, open a book in Polish and select a word: the
definition should appear. (For this test, select a common word so you
are sure it is present in the dictionary!)

Note that if you update the firmware of your Kobo, the custom
dictionaries might be overwritten with the official ones. Hence, keep a
backup copy of your custom dictionaries in a safe place, e.g. your PC or
a SD card.
You can find a list of custom dictionaries, mostly done with Penelope,
in this MobileRead
thread.

License
Penelope is released under the MIT License since version 2.0.0
(2014-06-30).
Previous versions, hosted by Google
Code, were
released under the GNU GPL 3 License.


Limitations and Missing Features

Bookeen has no official documentation for its dictionary format (it
has been reverse-engineered), YMMV
Kobo has no official documentation for its dictionary format (it has
been reverse-engineered), YMMV
Reading Kobo dictionaries is partially supported (the index is read,
the definitions are not, as they are encrypted/obfuscated)
Reading EPUB (3) dictionaries is not supported; the writing part
needs polishing/refactoring
Reading PRC/MOBI (Kindle) dictionaries is not supported
There are some limitations on StarDict files that can be read (see
comments in format_stardict.py)
Documentation is not complete
Unit tests are missing



Sponsors

December 2015: IngleseXpress.it,
“Grazie per averci aiutato a pubblicare per Kindle il Dizionario
Inglese-Italiano della Pronuncia Scritta
Semplificata!”



Acknowledgments
Many thanks to:

uwelovesdonna for contributing ideas for improving the code and for
setting up many pages of the project wiki;
Jens Sadowski for pointing out a bug with Unicode file names and
for suggesting using multiset dict() instead of set dict();
oldnat for pointing out a bug under Windows and Python 3;
Wolfgang Miller-Reichling for providing the code for reading CSV
dictionaries;
branok for providing the idea and initial code for German collation
function;
pal for suggesting passing -l switch to MARISA_BUILD;
Lukas Brückner for suggesting escaping & < > when outputting in
XML format;
Stephan Lichtenhagen for suggesting forcing UTF-8 encoding on
Python 3;
niconavarrete for pointing out the dependency from $CWD (issue #1),
solved in v2.0.1;
elchamaco for providing a StarDict dictionary with a .syn file
for testing.

License

For personal and professional use. You cannot resell or redistribute these repositories in their original state.

Share

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter