Description of various functions in Obi

Creating a new Project

Every project corresponds to a DTB in Obi. You can create a new project by following the steps given below:

1. From the menus, select File->New Project or press Ctrl+N. A dialog box opens as shown in the figure below:
2. Enter the following details: Field Field Type Description Generates an identifier for your project randomly and fills in the ID field. Opens a Windows file browser to select a directory for your project. If the selected location is not empty, Obi will suggest one. Click Yes or press Alt+Y to accept or click No or press Alt+N to ignore.

   Title	Edit Box	Enter a title of your project. This will be the title of the exported DTB.
   Automatically create a title section with this title	Checkbox	If checked, Obi will create a section (strip) for the title section.
   ID	Edit Box	Enter a unique identifier for the book. This identifier should be compliant with the scheme of allotting identifiers to a book in your organization. You can leave this field with the default value provided, if you are not sure at the moment. ID is stored in the metadata and can be changed any time.
   Generate	Button
   Location	Edit Box	Enter the location where you want to store your project. You can also browse for a location by Clicking the Select button or pressing Alt+S.
   Select	Button

3. Click OK or press Alt+O to create the project. Obi will attempt to create the specified directory, if it does not exist.

A new project will be opened in the work area of Obi, showing the title as the first node of the tree in the TOC View. This means, the title will become the first section of the project at the top-level.

Obi also creates a strip (section) corresponding to it in the Content View, if chosen while creating (in the Create New Project dialog box).

New project from import

Creates a new project by importing the structure and/or audio from an existing DAISY book or file. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+N.

This command presents you with an open dialog that lets you browse for the DTB or file containing the structure of the book. Select the manifest file of the DTB or the XHTML file and click Open.

Obi will extract the metadata elements, structure and audio from the file you selected and create a project containing the imported data.

The formats expected by this command are:

• OPF file in case of DAISY 3 book
• XML file in case of DTBook.xml
• XHTML/HTML/HTM file in all other cases

Working with Sections

A section can be described as a container holding one or more audio clips, termed as phrases. Each section in an Obi project corresponds to a section in the exported DTB, and the phrases are combined to , form the contents of the section.

A section can represent varied parts of a book like a chapter, a topic, a subtopic, table of contents etc.

Obi allows nesting of sections. This means a section can have one or more subsections. This behavior helps you to put all the topics of a chapter under its corresponding section, the sub-topics under a topic and so on.

Obi shows a section in different styles in TOC View and Content View. You can perform the following operations on sections:

Adding a Section

You can create a new section in Obi by clicking Section->Add Section on the menu, or by pressing Ctrl+H.

The newly created section will be selected and editable. Type the name of the section, and press Enter. This section will be empty. This means, it will not have any phrases.

Inserting a Section

If you wish to insert a section before the current one, select Sections->Insert Section from the menu, or press Ctrl+Alt+H.

Adding a Subsection

You can add a subsection of the selected section by clicking Section->Add Subsection on the menu, or by pressing Ctrl+Shift+H.

The newly created subsection will be selected and editable. Type the name of the subsection and press Enter. This subsection will be empty. This means it will not have any phrases.

Note: Obi allows you to create a subsection only if a section is selected.

Section Properties

You can see or modify the properties of a section by clicking View->Section properties on the menu, or by pressing Alt+Enter. A dialog box opens. It has the following fields:

Field Field type Editable? Description

Section title	Edit Box	Read Only	Name of the section.
Level / Depth	Combo Box	Read / Write	Level of the section. The top level section has a level 1, its subsections have level 2 and so on.
Ancestor section (s)	List Box	Read Only	Shows the exact location of the section in the tree by listing the names of its parents starting from the top level.
Duration	Edit Box	Read Only	Total audio content in the section (in terms of time) it is the sum of audio content in all Used and Unused phrases.
Number of phrases	Edit Box	Read Only	Total phrases in the section. It includes both Used as well as Unused phrases.
Used	Check Box	Read / Write	If checked, the section is a Used section, else, it is Unused.

Preferences

Preferences are the settings and adjustments that will be used in all sessions of Obi. These preferences are global. This means they will be used across all projects. However, some of the audio preferences can be set for a single project. For all other projects, global audio preferences will be used.

You can set or modify preferences by clicking Tools->preferences on the menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F. A dialog box opens with four pages (tabs), one for each type of preference.

Audio Preferences

The Audio Preferences tab allows you to set or modify Obi specific audio settings as well as project specific audio settings. The preferences dialog offers the following options under this tab:

Field Field Type Specific to Description

Input Device Name	Combo Box	Obi	Select an audio input device (sound card input port) to be used for recording.
Output Device Name	Combo Box	Obi	Select an audio output device (sound card output port) to be used for playback.
Sampling Rate	Combo Box	Project	Select a sampling rate for recording. Note: Higher the sample rate, better the quality of audio, and hence, more disk space required. Default sampling rate is set to 44100 hertz.
Audio Channels	Combo Box	Project	Select mono for using a single channel or stereo for two. By default, it is set to mono to save disk space.
Preview Duration	Edit Box	Obi	Set the duration (in seconds) for previewing an audio after the position, where you paused. Default value is 1.5 seconds.
Noise Level	Combo Box	Obi	Reflects the noise level in your recording environment. Select low for a recording studio, medium for silent but not a sound proof room, or high for a noisy background. Note: Obi sets the thresholds for peak meter in accordance with this field.
Audio Clues	Check Box	Obi	If checked, enables the audio clues, disables otherwise. Audio clues provide audio indications for non-visual users.

Keyboard Shortcut Preferences

The keyboard Shortcut tab of the Preferences dialog lets you modify the shortcut keys for operations available in Obi.

The preferences dialog offers the following options under this tab:

Field	Field Type	Description
Select key list	Combo box	Select the scope of the operation. For example, Menu item shortcut keys for New project.
Keyboard shortcut list	List view	Provides the list of operations available in the scope selected in the above combo box. Select the operation for which the keyboard shortcut has to be changed.
Shortcut keys	Edit box	Type in the desired key combination. Please note if you press Enter here, the shortcut will be assigned to the operation selected in the List view.
Assign	Button	Assigns new key combination to the operation selected in the List view.
Remove shortcut	Button	Removes the keyboard shortcut of the operation selected in the List view. Consequently, the selected operation will have no shortcut key combination.

Example:

Let us change the shortcut keys for the operation Select complete waveform of phrase. Its default keyboard shortcut is A. The process of modifying the shortcut is listed in the following steps:

• Select the scope of the operation from the combo box Select shortcuts to view, which is Content/TOC view.
• Now select the operation from the List view beneath it.
• Type in the desired shortcut, say Q. Press Enter or click on the Assign button.

The operation Select complete waveform of phrase will now have a new keyboard shortcut, namely Q.

Live Recording

Audio content can be placed into the project by recording directly in Obi.

There are two ways to do it:

1. Record the entire content as a single phrase and then, perform auto-splitting. The structure editing how ever, has to be done manually.
2. Create the structure of the book while recording using the navigation controls of the Transport Bar.

Before recording, you must make sure to check the microphone settings and sound level to ensure high-quality production.

Pre-recording Tasks

Before recording for the first time, you must perform some pre-recording tasks. These are:

1. Check your microphone settings.
2. Check the audio preferences of Obi.

Checking the microphone settings

Check the system settings for the volume of microphone. It is advisable to maintain a consistent volume throughout the book.

You must ensure that the volume is loud enough to be heard comfortably. At the same time, it should not be so loud as to create clipping and distortion.

You can change the microphone settings from your system’s volume control settings.

Check the audio preferences

Audio preferences can be viewed in the Audio preferences tab of Preferences dialog. You must check the following for recording:

Preference What should be checked?

Input Device Name	The driver corresponding to your microphone should be selected.
Sampling Rate	The default value (44100 hertz) is optimum sampling rate. But, if you want to save the disk space, the lower ones can be selected.
Channel	Specifies whether the recording will be done for a stereo sound or a mono sound.
Noise Level	Indicates the noise level of your recording environment. Select low for recording studio, medium for room that is not sound proof, and high for a noisy environment.

Audio Monitoring for optimum quality

It is a good practice to monitor the audio quality before recording.

To start monitoring, click Transport->Start Monitoring on the menu or, press Ctrl+R. Alternatively, you can click the Start Monitoring button on the Transport Bar.

You can see the amplitudes in Textual peak Meter (Left and Right controls of Transport Bar). The values will range from -90(minimum) to 0(maximum) decibels. But these values will rarely be seen, if your microphone volume has been set. Obi will warn you long before reaching these extremes.

If you want to monitor graphically and check for overloads, open the Graphical Peak Meter.

Note: If you press Ctrl+R again, Obi will start recording.

Advanced Recording mode

Obi provides an advanced recording mode that enables the following options:

Start recording from cursor erasing the following audio: Delete the audio content after the cursor position in the selected phrase and start recording in a new phrase next to it. Always record directly from transport bar: Deactivate the toggling behavior of Start monitoring/Record button of the Transport bar and always record directly for each click on the button. Allow overwrite option: Record at a selection point inside a phrase as per the rules described in the topic Allow overwrite option.

You can enable the advanced recording mode using the Enable advanced recording mode button in Audio preferences tab of the Preferences dialog.

Recording toolbar

Recording toolbar is devised to facilitate book narrators to record the contents displayed on their computer screen conveniently. It provides an exhaustive set of controls required for recording book contents and marking structure at the same time.

It is not a component of the application window, but is a vital tool of Obi. Its miniature appearance is deliberated to leave maximum space for the resource being read. The figure below illustrates how the Recording toolbar looks:

The buttons presented by the Recording toolbar can be categorized as follows:

• Audio controls
• Navigation and Mark-up Controls

Recording toolbar can be in any of the following states:

• Idle: No operation is taking place.
• Playing: Playback is in progress
• Monitoring/Recording: Audio monitoring/recording is in progress

The Recording toolbar can be shown or hidden by selecting View-> Show Recording toolbar from the menu or pressing Ctrl+Alt+R. It is hidden by default.

Please note that Obi opens Graphical Peak Meter automatically with the initiation of the Recording toolbar.

Recording into a Phrase

To record in a blank phrase, select it first. To start recording directly, click Transport->Start recording directly on the menu or, press Ctrl+Shift+R.

If you want to monitor before recording, press Ctrl+R. if you press Ctrl+R again, recording will start.

Obi will continue recording into the phrase till you stop by clicking Transport->Stop on the menu or, press Ctrl+Space.

Now, the phrase will display the duration of audio content just recorded into it, and draw a waveform of audio beneath it.

If you pause instead of stopping by clicking Transport->Pause on the menu or pressing Space, recording will stop, and the point of recording will be saved. This means the phrase currently being recorded will be marked as a start-point for recording. Whenever you start recording again, Obi will create a new phrase next to the start-point and start recording into it. To remove the start-point, simply press Ctrl+Space.

Audio Clues

Audio clues are the voice indications provided by Obi for the confirmation or warnings. The following table lists these audio clues:

Audio Clue Purpose Significance

Single Knock	Confirmation	Beginning of the audio selection has been marked.
Double Knock	Confirmation	End of the audio selection has been marked.
“Low”	Warning	Amplitude of the audio being played is low.
“High”	Warning	Amplitude of the audio being played is high.
“Good”	Confirmation	Amplitude of the audio being played is of good quality. This means that it is neither low nor high.

Note: The items in double quotes are spoken in Obi.

You can disable the audio clues in the audio preferences tab of the Preferences dialog. By default, they are enabled.

Changing the Todo or Used Status

The phrases in Obi, can also hold some special status. These phrases require special attention of the book editor, and are listed below:

Changing the Todo status

Todo phrases are the ones on which work has to be done. You may want to mark the current phrase as Todo due to many reasons like you made a mistake while reading some text, etc. Once you have done the necessary corrections, you would like to change its status back to normal

It is a good practice to mark the incomplete phrases as Todo so that you do not miss the minute details before publishing the book.

You can change the Todo status of the phrase by clicking Phrases->Phrase is Todo on the menu or by pressing F9.

Changing the Used status

The audio of the phrase is included or excluded from the exported DTB depending on the Used status of the phrase.

You can set the status to Used or Unused by clicking Phrases->Phrase is Used on the menu or by pressing Ctrl+K. If the checkbox in front of the menu item is checked, the phrase is Used and vice versa.

Importing Audio Files

You can import pre-recorded audio files into your project if they are in the following formats:

• WAV/RIF format (having .wav extension)
• MP3 format (having .mp3 extension)

Follow the steps given below to import audio files:

1. Select the section where the audio files should be placed.
2. To import audio files, click Phrases-> Import Audio Files on the menu, or press Ctrl+I. An open dialog gets displayed that lets you browse for the files to be imported.
3. Select your files and click on the Open button. A dialog box opens.
4. If you want Obi to create a section for each audio file you selected, click on the combo box Create section for each file.
5. The check box Sort files (ascending) indicates that the files will be sorted in ascending order before importing. If you want their order to match the order in which you selected the files, uncheck this checkbox.
6. You may also choose to limit the size of the phrases by checking the combo box Split phrases on import. Enter the time (in minutes) after which each phrase should be split in the numeric edit box Phrase size.
7. Click on the OK button.

Obi will create a phrase for each audio file at the end of the selected section or after the selected phrase. The phrase will contain entire audio from the audio file. If the format or audio settings (channel and sampling rate) of the audio files are different from that of the project, the audio files will be converted before importing.

If you opted to create a section for each audio file, new sections will be created after the selected section, with the same name as that of the audio file. The phrase containing audio content of the audio file will also be copied in the respective section.

If you instructed Obi to limit the size of the phrase, it will split the phrases at a point where their length exceeds the value provided in the numeric edit box Phrase size.

The phrases just created may contain a large chunk of audio and should be split into small phrases using auto-splitting or by manual editing.

Auto-splitting using Phrase Detection

When you import an audio file, it is brought into the project as a single phrase. This contradicts the definition of phrase and will not provide the reader with a rich reading experience. To support the full capabilities of DAISY players, the phrase must be split into smaller parts to represent a small paragraph, a sentence, or a part of a sentence.

This can be a very tedious job. However, Obi empowers you to do this in three steps by using phrase detection as described below:

1. Select the phrase which you want to split using phrase detection.
2. Click Phrases->Apply Phrase Detection on the menu, or press Ctrl+Shift+P. A dialog appears as follows:
3. Change the values, if you wish to do so and press OK.

The following table lists the fields in the Phrase Detection Settings dialog and their description.

Field Field Type Description Duration (in milliseconds) of a little part of silence to be kept at the beginning of each split phrase.

Silence threshold	Edit Box	Sets maximum amplitude for silence.
Gap between sentences	Edit Box	Sets minimum duration (in milliseconds) of silence.
Leading silence	Edit Box

Phrase Detection uses a preceding silence phrase to determine the parameters given in the above table. Whenever a portion of audio meets the first two parameters, it is split at a position decided using the third parameter.

If there is no silence phrase preceding the current phrase, default parameters are shown in the dialog.

You can create a silence phrase by recording audio of silence. This is important as the background noise varies in different recording environments. For example, silence means a pin drop silence in a recording studio, whereas it means clock ticks, if your room has one.

You can create a silence phrase by creating a blank phrase before the current phrase and recording without speaking anything. Then, assign a silence role by clicking Phrases->Assign Role->Silence on the menu. Note here, the duration of the silence phrase is important as it represents the pause in the sentence (may be a comma or a full stop).

Working with Phrases

A phrase is a single unit of audio content representing a sentence or a part of a sentence. As one or more sentences combine to form a topic in a book. Similarly, one or more phrases are combined to form a section in an Obi project.

There is no restriction on the length of the phrase, and hence, it can hold the audio content of any duration. But you must formulate the definition of the phrase for your project, and make full use of the capabilities of DAISY players.

Since you can navigate among phrases in a DAISY DTB, you must answer a simple question before recording: What will a single phrase hold? For a mathematical book, a phrase may contain a single expression, whereas, for a novel it may contain two or three lines.

The above question should be answered very judiciously, as this will form the basis of the kind of navigation you want to provide in your DTB.

Pictorial representation A phrase is only visible in Content View. Its pictorial representation has 2 parts:

1. label containing the phrase number with respect to total phrases of the section, and duration of audio content in the phrase.
2. A graph displaying the waveform of audio of the phrase.

A single section may contain a large number of phrases, as they hold the actual content of the topic. The content of the book can be recorded directly in Obi or, audio files can be imported into the project.

You can create blank phrases that act as placeholders of audio to be filled later. Some other semantics can also be added to the phrases, like a page phrase, a silence phrase, etc. This is discussed in more detail in the topic: Pages and Special Roles.

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting the Phrases

Cut: You can cut a phrase by clicking Edit->Cut on the menu or pressing Ctrl+X.

Copy: Similarly, a phrase can be copied by clicking Edit->Copy on the menu or by pressing Ctrl+C.

Obi stores the phrase you have just cut or copied in the clipboard.

Paste: You can paste the phrase you have just cut or copied after the selected item by clicking Edit->Paste on the menu or by pressing Ctrl+V. How the phrase will be pasted depends on the item you have selected:

 If the selected item is a section, the phrase will be pasted at the end of the list of phrases. This means this phrase will be the last phrase of the section.   If the selected item is a phrase, the phrase from the clipboard will be pasted after it.   If the selected item is a phrase separator, the phrase will be pasted in its place. 
• If you have made an audio selection, it will be replaced by the audio contained in the phrase from the clipboard.

Splitting a phrase

Any phrase can be split into two by following the steps given below:

1. Select a phrase you want to split.
2. Set the audio cursor at the point of the desired split:
   1. Play the audio of the phrase.
   2. Pause at a point where you want to split.
   3. Alternatively, you can mark the point of the split on the waveform by clicking on it.

3. Click Phrases->Split Phrase on the menu, or press Ctrl+Q.

A new phrase will be created after the current phrase containing the audio after the selection point.

For example: A phrase contains an audio “At a time when the spirit of adventure was strong, the literature of travel naturally flourished”. Now, if you set the audio cursor after “strong”, the phrases will be split as:

1. “At a time when the spirit of adventure was strong”
2. “The literature of travel naturally flourished”

Note: Splitting can also be performed on the fly by simply giving the Split Phrase command during playback.

Merging the phrases

Obi enables you to merge any number of contiguous phrases in a single section. To perform the merge operation on the phrases, three types of merge commands are provided:

• Merge with the next phrase
• Merge with following phrases
• Merge with preceding phrases

Merge with the next phrase: In this mode, the merge command attaches the subsequent phrase to the selected phrase.

Follow the steps given below to merge a phrase with the next one:

Select the former phrase of the two that you want to merge. Click Phrases->Merge->Merge Phrase with Next on the menu, or press Ctrl+M.

The audio of the subsequent phrase is appended to the one you selected. This is the converse operation of Split Phrase.

Merged phrase will be assigned a role according to the following rules:

If any of the phrases is a page phrase, the merged phrase will hold a page role. If any of the phrases has a heading role, the same will be assigned to the merged phrase. In all other cases the merged phrase will have the role held by the first phrase of the two.

Merge with following phrases: This command merges all the phrases following the selected phrase in a section, in the same order as they appear in the section.

To merge all the successive phrases with the current one, follow the steps listed below:

Select the foremost phrase from the list of phrases to be merged. Click Phrases-> Merge-> Merge with following phrases from the menu.

Obi will start appending all the phrases subsequent to the selected phrase till the end of the section is reached. The selected phrase will become the last phrase of the section containing the audio of all the phrases that have been merged.

Merge with preceding phrases: You may also choose to merge all the phrases prior to the current phrase in a single section.

Follow the steps given below to merge the phrases with the preceding phrases:

Select the last phrase from the list of phrases to be merged. Click Phrases-> Merge->Merge with preceding phrases on the menu.

In this mode of the merge command, Obi will start from the beginning of the section, merging all the phrases one by one, till the selected phrase is encountered. After the merge, the first phrase of the section will contain audio from all the merged phrases.

Remarks: If you merge phrases using the command Merge following phrases or Merge preceding phrases, the merged phrase will be assigned a role according to the following rules:

If any of the phrases has a heading role, the merged phrase will hold a heading role. In all other cases the merged phrase will have the role held by the first phrase.

Deleting a phrase

A phrase can be deleted by selecting it and then, clicking Edit->Delete or by pressing Del. The phrase is removed from the section, and the phrase following it takes its position.

Pages and Special Roles

In general, phrases hold the contents of a topic. But they may be used to portray some special role.

These roles are defined in the table below:

Role Description

Page	Indicates that the phrase corresponds to a page and will be skippable in the exported DTB. A page number is associated with each page phrase.
Heading	Indicates that the phrase contains the audio for the heading of the section. There can be only one heading phrase in the section. If not specified explicitly, the first one will be considered as a heading.
Silence	Indicates that the phrase contains audio representing silence in the recording environment. This will always be an Unused phrase.
Custom	Custom roles can also be assigned to a phrase. But they are not exported to the DTB.

The phrases with special roles have an extra tag in their label indicating the type of role they are portraying.

Pages

Pages are a special type of phrases that contain audio pertaining to the page number. For example, a page phrase contains an audio “Page 34”.

The label of page phrase will have an extra tag indicating the page number, such as Page Number 1.

There are three kinds of pages in a DAISY book:

• Page Front: The pages in front of the book containing the table of contents, a preface, etc.
• Page Normal: Normal pages containing the actual content of the book.
• Page Special: Special pages at the end of the book containing Appendix etc.

When you assign a page role to a phrase, you must specify what kind of page it is.

Cleaning Unreferenced Audio

Whenever you delete some audio content, its entry is removed from the project file. However, the physical data corresponding to it still exists on the disk. Obi keeps a record of this operation so that it can be undone later.

The audio content that neither has an entry in the project file nor corresponds to the Undo record is known as unreferenced audio.

Note: This is done especially to reduce disk operations and Improve upon turn around time.

Clean Unreferenced Audio is a very simple command that cleans all the unreferenced audio (physical audio files or some of their parts) by a single command. Click Tools->Clean unreferenced Audio on the menu, or press Ctrl+L.

Obi performs this operation automatically when the project is closed. It also checks the consistency of physical data with the project file at the beginning of each session.

Metadata View

The Metadata View allows you to view or modify book metadata. It is divided in two parts:

• A list that shows all the entries of metadata.
• Edit area that lets you modify the entry selected from the list.

Show/Hide Metadata View

The Metadata View can be shown or hidden by selecting View->Show Metadata View from the menu or pressing Ctrl+Alt+M. It is hidden by default.

Exporting as DAISY DTB

This is the last step of creating the DAISY DTB. You must ensure the following things before exporting:

• All the contents of the book have been entered correctly.
• The structure of the book is in sync with the physical book.
• Metadata entries are filled properly.

Click Tools->Export as DAISY on the menu, or press Ctrl+E. A dialog box pops up that allows you to select the DAISY standard to which the exported DTB should comply. Select the appropriate radio button and click on the OK button. The export dialog opens.

Obi suggests a path for the export directory in the dialog box. But you can change it if you want to store the exported DTB somewhere else. You can also browse for a location by clicking the Select button.

While exporting, Obi creates one audio file per section. But you can restrict this behavior to a certain level (depth of section) by choosing an appropriate value from the combo box named Create one audio file per section till. All the sections after that level will be clubbed into one file. For example, if you choose level 4 in the combo box, Obi will create one file per section till level 4. The subsections of the section at level 4 will be appended in the same file as the section at level 4. A new file will only be created when the section with level 4 or less is encountered. If you want to have audio files in MP3 format in your exported DTB, check the checkbox Encode to MP3. In this case, you must select a suitable bit rate for MP3 files; the higher values ensure better quality and more disk space. If this checkbox is unchecked, the exported audio files will be in WAV format. Click on the OK button to start exporting.

Obi creates a subdirectory of your project directory and exports the files into it. The files will be exported according to the DAISY standard chosen before exporting. For example, if you chose DAISY 2.02, the files will conform to DAISY 2.02 specifications.

Please note that while exporting according to DAISY 2.02 specifications, Obi will shift any page phrase appearing at the beginning of a section to the last position of the prior section.

Checks performed before exporting Before exporting, Obi checks for the following:

• Duplication of page numbers for each kind of page: Obi allows you to have the same page numbers across different kinds of pages, but not within a page kind. For example, you can have page number 4 in page front, as well as in page normal. But if page number 4 is encountered twice in page normal, a message will be displayed with a warning.
• Empty sections or phrases: Obi does not export empty sections or phrases to the DTB. But during DAISY 2.02 export, Obi will permit blank page phrases to exist in exported DTB. This is done purposefully to provide flexibility to the publisher in the scenario where the indented audience does not wish to hear page numbers while listening to audio of the book.

Files exported by Obi: The following types of files are exported by Obi:

• WAV files: Audio files containing the actual content of the book.
• SMIL files: Synchronization file to relate markings in the text file with time points in the audio file.
• OPF file (in case of DAISY 3 export): Manifest file that acts as an entry point for accessing the contents of the DTB. You have to give the path of this file to play the book using a DAISY player or for performing operations like validation etc.
• NCX file (in case of DAISY 3 export): navigation control file which enables the user to move smoothly between files while synchronization.
• NCC document (in case of DAISY 2.02 export): The entry point and provides navigation control.

The exported DTB can be played using a DAISY player.

You can hear the contents of the DTB in any player that supports WAV/MP3 file formats, missing the salient feature of a DAISY book - keyboard navigation. Each audio file contains one or more sections of the DTB and the audio files are named with a number suffix. If you play these files in an increasing order of their number suffix, it will be like hearing the contents in the same order as they appear in the book.

Validating the Exported DTB

After exporting, you must validate the book to ensure its compliance with DAISY standards.

Follow the steps given below to validate the exported DTB:

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Click Tools-> DAISY 3 Validator on the menu to validate the exported DTB according to the DAISY 3 standard, or Tools-> DAISY 2.02 Light Validator to validate according to the DAISY 2.02 standard. A dialog box opens.

Enter the following fields:

Field	Field Type	Description
Select the input package file / input NCC document	Edit Box	Enter the full path of OPF file of exported DTB (in case of DAISY 3 Validator), or NCC document (in case of DAISY2.02 Light Validator). To browse for the file, click on the browse button.
Validation Report	Edit Box	If you want to store error log in XML format, enter full path of the file. To browse for the file, click on the browse button. Note: If you leave this field blank, errors will not be copied, but only show on the screen.
Time Tolerance	Edit Box	Sets the threshold for time tolerance to be used for validating SMIL files.

Click on the OK button.

Obi’s DTB Validator will start checking for errors in the exported DTB and report the errors, if any. Errors can be viewed by clicking the Details>> button.

If you selected a path for an error log, errors will be saved into a file in that location.

You must correct the errors and export the DTB again, and continue the process of validating and exporting till all the errors have been removed.

Encoding DTB Audio to MP3

You may want to encode the book to a compressed audio format, as WAV files are quite large.

Obi allows you to encode the audio files to MP3 by following the steps given below:

1. Click Tools->Convert audio to MP3.
2. Select the DAISY standard to which the exported DTB conforms by clicking on the respective radio button in the dialog box just opened.
3. Click on the OK button. A dialog box opens.
4. Enter the following fields:

   Field	Field Type	Description
   Input export directory	Edit Box	Full path of the .opf or .ncc file of DTB. You can also browse for the file by clicking on the Browse button.
   Output directory	Edit Box	Full path of the directory to store the encoded files. You may also browse for a location by clicking on the Browse button.
   Bit rate	Combo Box	Select the bit rate for the MP3 files. Higher the bit rate, higher the quality and hence, more space required.

5. Click on the OK button.

Obi will encode the wav files to MP3 and store them in the output directory specified by you. It will also make necessary changes in other files and copy them to the same directory.

Please note that if you opted to encode the exported audio files in MP3 format during the Export to DAISY operation, you should omit this step.

Backup and Recovery

Obi provides an Auto Save option to reduce the risk of losing important data to a great extent. This option can be turned on or off using the Auto Save settings in the Project preferences tab of the Preferences dialog.

When you choose to save automatically, all the modifications made in the project will be saved in a backup file. The backup file will be named as Backup_project-file-name.obi, where project-file-name is the existing name of the project file. This file will be created in the subdirectory of your project directory named Backup.

In case the project file gets corrupted or you find any inconsistencies, you can recover your project by clicking File-> Restore from backup on the menu.

Obi will close the current project and reopen it from the backup file. Now, administer the contents thoroughly and save the project to instate the backup file as the main project file.

But if you wish to reinstate the original project, click File->Restore from original project on the menu.

Remarks:

The menu item File->Restore from Backup toggles with each click; it shows Restore from backup and Restore from original project alternatively.

See also

• Visit theObi Project Home for software downloads, documentation and the development site
• Obi Forum
• Obi Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
• Get started with Obi
• Obi: Various methods for authoring content
• Obi Training Videos
• Description of various function in Obi