Export Notes from Bookeen Cybook Odyssey

Abstract

In this page I describe a Python script to export notes and highlights from Bookeen Cybook Odyssey eReaders. The script is written in Python 2.x and it works under Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.

Features

With the current version (v. 1.03, 2014-12-28) of export_Odyssey_notes.py, you can:

export your annotations and highlights from your Bookeen Cybook Odyssey eReader
export formats include CSV and human-readable strings

Download

Download export_Odyssey_notes.py.

You need Python version 2.x and module python-lxml installed on your system to run export_Odyssey_notes.

Usage

First, copy the file ebook.epub.annot (corresponding to ebook.epub) from your Odyssey device in the same directory where you downloaded the export script. You can find such a file in the Digital Editions/Annotations/ directory of the USB volume that pops up when you connect your Odyssey to your PC via the USB cable.

Then, open a terminal, go to the directory mentioned above, and issue the command:

$ python export_Odyssey_notes.py -h

to get the list of available options:

$ python export_Odyssey_notes.py [ARGUMENTS]

Arguments:
 -h, --help          : print this usage message and exit
 -f, --file <file>   : <file> is the path to .annot file
 -c, --csv           : output CSV values, instead of human-readable strings
 -o, --output <file> : write output to <file>

Exit codes:

 0 = no error
 1 = invalid argument(s) error
 2 = specified file not found
 4 = provided file is not a valid .annot file
 8 = output file cannot be written

Examples:

 1. Print this usage message
    $ python export_Odyssey_notes.py -h

 2. Print annotations and highlit passages in human-readable form
    $ python export_Odyssey_notes.py -f ebook.epub.annot

 3. As above, but output to output.txt
    $ python export_Odyssey_notes.py -f ebook.epub.annot -o output.txt

 4. As above, but output in CSV form
    $ python export_Odyssey_notes.py -c -f ebook.epub.annot

 5. As above, but output to output.csv
    $ python export_Odyssey_notes.py -c -f ebook.epub.annot -o output.csv

Notes

You must have the Python executable (or a directory containing it) listed in your PATH environment variable, or you need to supply its full path.
Although ebook.epub.annot is opened in read-only mode, it is advisable to make a copy of it on your PC and export your notes from this copy, instead of accessing the file on your Odyssey eReader device.

Support and Contribution

The current version runs under Python 2, and it has been tested under Linux (Debian, Fedora) and Windows (XP, 7). Unfortunately, since I do not have any financial support for the project, I cannot offer support for all the possibile values of the tuple (OS, Python version, console encoding). Therefore, only problems running export_Odyssey_notes in a Linux environment will receive full priority.

If you want to contribute some code or you have suggestions, please let me know by sending an email containing the string "export_Odyssey_notes" in the subject. Thanks!

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Daniel Landau that provided a patch to fix a problem with parsing the dc:date (2014-12-28).