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Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

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Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#11

Post by smackfu »

mofle wrote: post #9
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #7

I had no idea epub allowed js in the spec. My reactionary opinion on this is negative. Why do we need this? What reason is there to have js in epub when we already have js in html? What distinction will there be between html and epub if they are both just document formats that can also execute js?

JavaScript isn't in the current ePub 2.0 spec. Though it is suggested in the 3.0 draft. Like Apple extended ePub 2.0 with audio/video support, they seem to either support it or not prevent it.

Does the standard even really matter, since the content is wrapped in DRM anyways and can only be played in the eBooks app?

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#12

Post by tobylane »

rm-rf wrote: post #6
rakkhi wrote: post #5

Hm... interesting security implications depending on how the code executes, what external info/code it can call

So my ebooks can now contain executable root kits. Cool.

Javascript is pretty well jailed up, you can't communicate with local and remote files in the same javascript file.

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#13

Post by MatthewPhillips »

tjogin wrote: post #8
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #7

I had no idea epub allowed js in the spec. My reactionary opinion on this is negative. Why do we need this? What reason is there to have js in epub when we already have js in html? What distinction will there be between html and epub if they are both just document formats that can also execute js?

So the good thing about ePub was that it was less capable than HTML, and now they've made ePub worse by making it better?

Possibly, like I said it was my reactionary opinion. However being limited by design can be a good thing.

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#14

Post by daeken »

tobylane wrote: post #12
rm-rf wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So my ebooks can now contain executable root kits. Cool.

Javascript is pretty well jailed up, you can't communicate with local and remote files in the same javascript file.

That sort of protection has nothing to do with js, but rather the browser, which isn't in play here.

Edit: It's implemented via Mobile Safari, as pointed out by justincormack -- this comment is invalid.

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#15

Post by d0m »

joshuacc wrote: post #3

This brings a lot of interesting possibilities to technical books. End-of-chapter review questions that are automatically graded being the most obvious.

Or background/animated images in children' books. Or dynamic content adjusting to what you already know / had already read. I.e. I know what a prototype is, automatically, all the chapters/paragraphs explaining it could be hidden.

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#16

Post by glhaynes »

smackfu wrote: post #11
mofle wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

JavaScript isn't in the current ePub 2.0 spec. Though it is suggested in the 3.0 draft. Like Apple extended ePub 2.0 with audio/video support, they seem to either support it or not prevent it.

Does the standard even really matter, since the content is wrapped in DRM anyways and can only be played in the eBooks app?

It does to producers, who often target multiple ebook platforms.

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#17

Post by BasDirks »

nivals wrote: post #10

This is fantastic. I'm glad to see Apple doing what they do best... enabling content developers to be creative. Adobe has a long way to go.

"Photoshop CS4 supports scripts written in AppleScript, JavaScript or VBScript. ..."

etc.. :)

What would you like to see from Adobe to change your mind?

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#18

Post by justincormack »

daeken wrote: post #14
tobylane wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Javascript is pretty well jailed up, you can't communicate with local and remote files in the same javascript file.

That sort of protection has nothing to do with js, but rather the browser, which isn't in play here. Edit: It's implemented via Mobile Safari, as pointed out by justincormack -- this comment is invalid.

iBooks is implemented using mobile Safari, so the security model is the same.

It uses CSS3 columns to make the pages going across.

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#19

Post by evinfinite »

daeken wrote: post #14
tobylane wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Javascript is pretty well jailed up, you can't communicate with local and remote files in the same javascript file.

That sort of protection has nothing to do with js, but rather the browser, which isn't in play here. Edit: It's implemented via Mobile Safari, as pointed out by justincormack -- this comment is invalid.

I find it rather silly to be worried about security given that Apple's one of the largest browser vendors in the world, directly or indirectly via WebKit.

More accurately: all increasing of capabilities in non-immediately-apparent sources IS cause for concern. But that has to be weighted against the exhibited competence of the vendor. I find it unlikely that we-vet-everything our-brand-name-is-safe-computing-experiences Apple wouldn't have considered security in this move.

Re: Apple accepts Javascript in EPUB ebooks in iBookstore

#20

Post by evinfinite »

BasDirks wrote: post #17
nivals wrote: post #10

This is fantastic. I'm glad to see Apple doing what they do best... enabling content developers to be creative. Adobe has a long way to go.

" Photoshop CS4 supports scripts written in AppleScript, JavaScript or VBScript. ... " etc.. :) What would you like to see from Adobe to change your mind?

Not rendering magazines as 500MB packs of PNGs would be a start.
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