Python Gutenberg E-text Project

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2. E-text Files

Project Gutenberg produces versions of literary works that are free of copyright restrictions in the form of e-texts (electronic texts). These e-texts can be downloaded from the Project Gutenberg web site or from any of the many mirror sites that are located worldwide.

2.1. Formats

E-texts can be found in many different formats, some open and some proprietary. PyGEMZ and other applications from the PyGE project are designed to utilize e-text material produced by Project Gutenberg in either of two forms: plain text files and zipped text files. However, some e-text reader programs do not directly read these files, but instead read e-texts that have been converted to the zTxt format. PyGEMZ is a program for converting plain text and zipped text files into zTxt files.

2.1.1. Plain text

From its inception, Project Gutenberg has distributed e-texts as plain text files to maintain maximum compatibility with the many computing platforms and reading programs that were available. Plain text files contain only the words of the original literary work, without any of the illustrations or specialized formatting often found in published material. These files may usually be identified by their .txt file extension.

2.1.2. Zipped text

To reduce the size of files for downloading, Project Gutenberg also distributes plain text files that have been compressed in the zip format. Zipped files can be uncompressed with commonly available utility programs such as unzip and WinZip. These files may usually be identified by their .zip file extension.

2.1.3. zTxt

Programs like PyGERS and Weasel Reader read e-text files that have been converted to the zTxt format. This format uses compression to reduce the size of e-text files, much like zipped text files, while including support for additional features such as user-modifiable bookmarks and annotations. These files may usually be identified by their .pdb file extension.