AZARDI 11 for the desktop is a major feature release.

If you have a previous version of AZARDI Desktop installed, AZARDI Desktop 11 will update next time you open AZARDI.

This April 2012 AZARDI 11 release is a major feature release with  support for ePub3 with SMIL Audio and a major interface update to bring it into alignment with AZARDI Cloud Reader. AZARDI has jumped from version 8.2 to 11 to keep it in alignment with the version of Firefox Mozilla being used internally.

This release has new features and bug fixes and moves forward with improved ePub3 conformance issues.

New Reader Features in AZARDI 11

AZARDI Special Features

For Publishers

Background

Beyond ePub

AZARDI 11 works on all desktops Firefox works on: Linux, Macintosh and Windows.

AZARDI - Main Features

• Supports ePub 3, ePub 2 and the secure AZD format
• Fully HTML5 and CSS3 capable
• Native MathML built-in
• SVG built-in.
• Browser Typography
• Page and flow modes
• Fixed layout capable
• Multiple simultaneous readers can be open, even on the same book.
• Secure Online links
• Built-in AZARDI Interactive Engine
• Runs on Linux, Macintosh and Windows

New ePub3 Features in AZARDI 11

SMIL Audio Overlays. AZARDI DT now supports SMIL audio overlays. Demonstration books are available from the resources page.

Landmarks. If your ePub 3 uses landmarks these can be displayed with the new Landmarks button. (similar to ePub2 guide)

Page Nav. If your ePub 3 uses page navigation this can be displayed with the new Landmarks button and select the Page Navigation option.

New General Features in AZARDI 11

• Customizable interface. The interface options released in AZARDI Online have been rolled into AZARDI Desktop, including the more user friendly reading customization tools and adaptability for any size monitor.
• Hyphenation. 18 new languages now have hyphenation support taking the total to 38. See the complete language list here. Note you must have correct language statements in your XTHML files for this to work.
• F1 Help.
• Drag and Drop ePub Upload. You can now drag and drop multiple ePubs into AZARDI in a single action.
• Library Table View. Presentation improved and it now has Date Added. All columns sort and can be turned on and off. Table now has alternate row shading in all operating systems.
• Page Navigation. You can now navigate pages with Left-Right arrows and PgUp / PgDn keyboard buttons
• Section Navigation. You can now navigate document sections with Shift-Left Arrow, Shift-Right-Arrow, and Shift-PgUp and Shift-PgDn buttons.
• XUL-Runner Version. The framework is now aligned with all the features of Mozilla Firefox 10.
• Image Viewer. You can now click on any image and it will open in a new window. You can zoom the image using the mouse center scroll key, and click and drag the image around in the viewport. 
• Covers. If cover images are available in an ePub3 they can be viewed from a fixed link in the Tables of Content.
• Multi-language Hyphenation. If your ePub is correctly declaring the language in the XHTML file, language specific hyphenation will be applied if CSS -moz-hyphens: auto; is applied.
• AZARDI Interactive Engine. Now supports QAA-Set, Flashcards, Interactive Tutorials and other numerous bug-fixes and improvements.

AZARDI Special Features

• MathML can be directly inserted into pages. MathJax has not been included in this release due to dropping support for Mozilla math rendering increasing package size by 20MB. MathJax is supported in AZARDI Cloud Reader.
• SVG. Including SVG animation using SMIL is supported, although we haven't experimented with this yet.
• Browser typography. OTF properties and hyphenation are supported with the -moz CSS properties. The hyphenation feature uses Mozilla CSS hyphenation.
• Page/Flow. Reading mode can be set to page or flow depending on the type of content. AZARDI tries to maintain the page position while changing modes.
• Fixed layout capable. Pages can be set up with width and height and edge-to-edge. (See User Guide and demonstration books).
• Multiple Readers. You can have multiple readers open at the same time even with the same book. Notes can be made between readers and will reflect in each other.
• Internet Extension Viewport. External links resolve to a protected viewport rather than open a general browser.
• AZARDI Interactive Engine. AZARDI includes an interactive engine for learning and training. This is proprietary and included for general capability demonstration. 

Uninstalling AZARDI 6

If you have installed AZARDI 6 and want to move to the new auto-update version, you will need to uninstall AZARDI 6 before installing AZARDI 7 or AZARDI 8.

In addition you will have to delete the AZARDI 6 databases due to incompatible versions. Unfortunately the AZARDI 6 Library will NOT migrate to AZARDI 7 or AZARDI 8. You will have to reload your books. This will not be required in the future. We apologize for this inconvenience.

These are located in your user data location. If you used the default installations these are: 

1. Linux - /home/%username%/Infogrid Pacific/AZARDI
2. Mac -  /Users/%username%/Infogrid Pacific/AZARDI
3. XP/Vista/ -  C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Infogrid Pacific\AZARDI
4. Windows 7 - C:\users\%username%\Infogrid Pacific\AZARDI

There are three files in this directory: 

1. azardi.azd
2. azd_search.azd
3. cdp_master.azd

Delete all three files. You can leave or delete the Infogrid Pacific and Azardi folders.They will be recreated.

From this version AZARDI will automatically update and you will not have to reinstall again.

For Publishers

AZARDI is available for customization and branding for licensed IGP:Content Fulfilment Systems users. This gives publishers of appropriate content access to the AZD secure package format.

AZARDI is designed for massively interactive training and learning content. The AZD format allows the delivery and control on the desktop of subscription content such as rich and interactive courseware learning, education and training content. An AZD format can support presentation of SWF, PDF and Silverlight modules, and work seamlessly with online resources.

The new page sizing feature is ideal for training material, as is the built-in secure Internet Extension Viewport. Link to resources from within the reader and stay in a controlled delivery context.

the AZD format unleashes new levels of dynamic interactive content under Rights and Agreements control. The powerful subscriptions model allows any business on any content directly from publisher to consumer. 

IGP:Content Fulfilment Systems allows the same content to be made available as WebApps optimized for mobile devices and online sites. Downloadable desktop content packages using AZARDI as the delivery platform.

Background

Shift in Philosophy

Since AZARDI was released in March 2008 a lot has happened with digital content. In 2008 ePub was just emerging as a and HTML5 was of mild interest. Here we are in 2011 and the technology game has changed in many ways, primarily with the advent of tablet computing.

Webkit to Firefox. AZARDI is a desktop reader. There was no particular requirement to stay with Webkit. With the exception of audio and video, Firefox features are more closely matched to learning content presentation requirements, with native MathML support a significant decision maker. AZARDI supports WebM, a high-quality, non-proprietary, free video and audio format provided by Google.

Ree-lax-ed. The 2008 version of AZARDI was strictly strict - the need of the day with ePub just emerging. AZARDI is now relaxed and tolerant of a lot of non-standard components in your ePubs. Why? There is a massive transition going on in digital publishing and users who download something expect it to work, and publishers need an environment to experiment and push the limits of digital content.

Beyond the Novel. The primary purpose of AZARDI has always been to provide an e-book reader that addresses the widest possible range of books and documents. That especially means handling complex layouts for education, training, business books and documents. With the 2011 release of AZARDI we have reached that goal.

Beyond ePub

The requirement for digital content on the desktop has gone well beyond ePub. ePub books have to be created to the lowest common denominator of readers, or made many times for different devices. While that is not an issue if the production environment is IGP:Digital Publisher (which can create multiple variants with a click), it is still a problem managing and maintaining multiple ePub variants through the supply chain.

There is going to be a focus of ePub on mobile devices and readers in the commercial hardware market which leaves the desktop relatively empty. That is why AZARDI exists. AZARDI supports corporate documentation, including dynamically changing corporate documentation.

In the commercial version, AZARDI is publisher brandable, supports user-oriented channel controlled content and highly advanced interaction with the AZARDI Interactive Engine. The interface is austere and vanilla because it is customization ready and of course because the content is more important. 

AZARDI is designed as a working ePub reader for content authors and user of academic, reference, education (textbooks), instruction manuals, business publications, interactive content and much more. In the free release AZARDI lets the end-user control all aspects of presentation and flow. In the commercial version publishers have control to ensure content presentation matches the subject matter, especially when it incorporates XY layout components.

The name AZARDI

AZARDI is an expression of the Hindi word "azadi"  meaning freedom. The "R" is included to provide pronunciation guidance for those of us who are not skilled in linguistics and phonetics and to make it a trademark.

AZARDI is licensed at no charge but this version is not open-source.