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Open Publication Distribution System

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Open Publication Distribution System
Internet media type
application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog
Initial release5 May 2010 (2010-05-05)
Latest release
OPDS 1.1
27 June 2011; 14 years ago (2011-06-27)
Type of formatweb syndication
Extended fromAtom
Free format?Yes
Websiteopds-spec.org/specs/

The Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Catalog format is a syndication format for electronic publications based on Atom and HTTP. OPDS Catalogs enable the aggregation, distribution, discovery, and acquisition of electronic publications. OPDS Catalogs use existing or emergent open standards and conventions, with a priority on simplicity.[1]

The Open Publication Distribution System specification is prepared by an informal grouping of partners, combining Internet Archive, O'Reilly Media, Feedbooks, OLPC, and others.

History

OPDS is based on the initial work done by Lexcycle[2], the company behind Stanza, an eBook reader application for iOS.

All revisions of the specification were produced by an informal group organized around an open mailing list[3].

Version history
Version Date
0.9[4] May 25, 2010
1.0[5] August 30, 2010
1.1[6] June 27, 2011

Example of OPDS 1.1 content

An example of an acquisition feed in OPDS: 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
      xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
      xmlns:opds="http://opds-spec.org/2010/catalog">
  <id>urn:uuid:433a5d6a-0b8c-4933-af65-4ca4f02763eb</id>
 
  <link rel="related" 
        href="/opds-catalogs/vampire.farming.xml" 
        type="application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog;kind=acquisition"/>
  <link rel="self"    
        href="/opds-catalogs/unpopular.xml"
        type="application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog;kind=acquisition"/>
  <link rel="start"   
        href="/opds-catalogs/root.xml"
        type="application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog;kind=navigation"/>
  <link rel="up"      
        href="/opds-catalogs/root.xml"
        type="application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog;kind=navigation"/>
 
  <title>Unpopular Publications</title>
  <updated>2010-01-10T10:01:11Z</updated>
  <author>
    <name>Spec Writer</name>
    <uri>http://opds-spec.org</uri>
  </author>
 
  <entry>
    <title>Bob, Son of Bob</title>
    <id>urn:uuid:6409a00b-7bf2-405e-826c-3fdff0fd0734</id>
    <updated>2010-01-10T10:01:11Z</updated>
    <author>
      <name>Bob the Recursive</name>
      <uri>http://opds-spec.org/authors/1285</uri>
    </author>
    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:issued>1917</dc:issued>
    <category scheme="http://www.bisg.org/standards/bisac_subject/index.html"
              term="FIC020000"
              label="FICTION / Men's Adventure"/>
    <summary>The story of the son of the Bob and the gallant part he played in
      the lives of a man and a woman.</summary>

    <link rel="http://opds-spec.org/image"     
          href="/covers/4561.lrg.png"
          type="image/png"/> 
    <link rel="http://opds-spec.org/image/thumbnail" 
          href="/covers/4561.thmb.gif"
          type="image/gif"/>
 
    <link rel="alternate"
          href="/opds-catalogs/entries/4571.complete.xml"
          type="application/atom+xml;type=entry;profile=opds-catalog" 
          title="Complete Catalog Entry for Bob, Son of Bob"/>
 
    <link rel="http://opds-spec.org/acquisition" 
          href="/content/free/4561.epub"
          type="application/epub+zip"/>
    <link rel="http://opds-spec.org/acquisition" 
          href="/content/free/4561.mobi"
          type="application/x-mobipocket-ebook"/>
  </entry>
 
  <entry>
    <title>Modern Online Philately</title>
    <id>urn:uuid:7b595b0c-e15c-4755-bf9a-b7019f5c1dab</id>
    <author>
      <name>Stampy McGee</name>
      <uri>http://opds-spec.org/authors/21285</uri>
    </author>
    <author>
      <name>Alice McGee</name>
      <uri>http://opds-spec.org/authors/21284</uri>
    </author>
    <author>
      <name>Harold McGee</name>
      <uri>http://opds-spec.org/authors/21283</uri>
    </author>
    <updated>2010-01-10T10:01:10Z</updated>
    <rights>Copyright (c) 2009, Stampy McGee</rights>
    <dc:identifier>urn:isbn:978029536341X</dc:identifier>
    <dc:publisher>StampMeOnline, Inc.</dc:publisher>
    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:issued>2009-10-01</dc:issued>
    <content type="text">The definitive reference for the web-curious
      philatelist.</content>

    <link rel="http://opds-spec.org/image"     
          href="/covers/11241.lrg.jpg"
          type="image/jpeg"/> 
 
    <link rel="http://opds-spec.org/acquisition/buy" 
          href="/content/buy/11241.epub"
          type="application/epub+zip">
      <opds:price currencycode="USD">18.99</opds:price>
      <opds:price currencycode="GBP">11.99</opds:price>
    </link>
  </entry>
</feed>

Comparaison of OPDS clients

In order to test client compatibility, a test catalog is available as a GitHub project[7].

Over a dozen OPDS clients are available on major platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows[8].

This is a comparaison for some of these clients, based on the results published for the test catalog[9].

Core OPDS features

Product Navigation feeds Acquisition feeds Clear distinction between navigation/acquisition Pagination Search Support for full entries
Aldiko Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited to pre-loaded catalog Yes
Mantano Reader Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial support No
FBReader Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial support Yes
Bluefire Reader[10] Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial support No
Moon+ Reader[11] Yes Yes No Yes No No
eBook Search[12], MegaReader[13] & QuickReader[14] Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial support Yes

Metadata and Images

Product Thumbnail Full image Title Author Contributor Language Publication date Summary Description Summary vs Description Rights Category Code vs Label in category
Aldiko Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mantano Reader Yes Yes Yes Yes No Partial No Yes Yes Yes No Partial Yes
FBReader Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Bluefire Reader Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes
Moon+ Reader Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No No
eBook Search, MegaReader & QuickReader Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Content acquisition

Product Generic acquisition Buy Borrow Open Access Subscribe Sample Multiple acquisition types Price and currency Indirect acquisition
Aldiko Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Mantano Reader Yes Yes No Yes No No No Yes No
FBReader Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Bluefire Reader Yes Yes ? ? No ? ? Yes ?
Moon+ Reader Yes No No Yes No Partial support No No No
eBook Search, MegaReader & QuickReader Yes No No Yes No Partial support No No No

Online OPDS Catalogs

  • Feedbooks: http://www.feedbooks.com/catalog.atom
  • Plough Publishing: http://www.plough.com/ploughCatalog_opds.xml
  • Internet Archive: http://bookserver.archive.org/catalog/
  • "The Pragmatic Bookshelf", PragPub Magazine: http://pragprog.com/magazines.opds
  • Project Gutenberg: http://m.gutenberg.org

Non-English catalogs

Personal OPDS Catalogs

  • Calibre – personal e-book converter/catalog including an OPDS server
  • "TinyOPDS", Codeplex, Microsoft – lightweight and simple OPDS server for the home use

References

  1. ^ "OPDS Spec 1.1", OPDS Spec (technical specification), The Open Internet archive, 27 June 2011, retrieved 2013‐5‐7 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help).
  2. ^ "Project Goals". Official OPDS mailing list. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  3. ^ "Official OPDS mailing list". Google Groups. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  4. ^ "OPDS Spec 0.9". Official OPDS Website. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  5. ^ "OPDS Spec 1.0". Official OPDS Website. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  6. ^ "OPDS Spec 1.1". Official OPDS Website. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  7. ^ "OPDS Test Catalog". Feedbooks. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
  8. ^ "eBook Reading Software Supporting OPDS". MobileRead Wiki. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
  9. ^ "OPDS clients compatibility". Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  10. ^ "Bluefire Reader". Bluefire Productions, LLC. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  11. ^ "Moon+ Reader". Moon+. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  12. ^ "eBook Search". Inkstone Software, Inc. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  13. ^ "MegaReader". Inkstone Software, Inc. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  14. ^ "QuickReader". Inkstone Software, Inc. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
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