Ordinary and Armorial E-books (.epub)

These epub files are conversions from the Ordinary and Armorial database published at http://oanda.sca.org. Epub files are typically generated here within a day of published database updates.

The filenames have keywords hinting at what that edition has:

• Armorial - just the Armorial. This will let you look people up by name, and see their awards and devices.
• Ordinary - Just the Ordinary (with variations; see below). This will let you look upi a given feature, and see the arms associated with this feature; and who they are registered with.
• OandA - This is a combined Ordinary and Armorial, fully crossreferenced. Recommended if you have a device fast enough to handle it; this is the most useful format possible.
• Alphabetical - Heraldic terms in the Ordinary are sorted in Alphabetical order. This means that "bend, charged" comes before "bend, uncharged".
• Heraldic - Heraldic terms in the Ordinary are sorted in the same exact order that they are published by the Morsulus Herald. This means, for example, that "bend, uncharged" comes before "bend, charged".
• BigIndex - The Armorial has just a single feature per page (chapter) in the ebook; making for a very big (but precise) index. "Calibre" reader is known to work well with this index. Some readers may find this difficult to process. This may work for you; you may prefer a regular index.

Please send feedback to jfesler@gigo.com regarding what epub readers you're using; and which files you download; and how well they work. I'll summarize on this page for anyone else considering buying equipment to have digital copies of the OandA.

In service to the dream,
Jason Fesler
"Danaë FitzRobert's Husband"

Source Code

The code to build these epubs is closed source due to my current terms of employment. That doesn't mean I don't want help! Contact me if you want to partner on tis project, or even adopt it.

Device notes - 2013

Based on first-hand experience using SCA_OandA_Alphabetical.epub as the test file (probably the second-hardest test possible).

For Android, I tested with the Google Nexus 7 (2013 model), which is modestly priced and with a decent CPU. Testing is focusing more on apps than hardware though - Android tablets vary a lot OS wise; but the apps should be the same.

Device	App	Load (first time)	Load (second time)	Click Links	Search for FitzRoberts	Other Notes
Apple Macbook Laptop (2013)	iBooks	5 seconds; plus 1.5 minutes for scanning	5 seconds	5 seconds before scanning; 2 seconds after scanning	75 seconds	Very responsive; but search was much slower than iPad. Why?
Macbook Laptop (2013)	Calibre	15 seconds	15 seconds	1 second	1 second; stops at first result until you ask for the next	Ugly but effective. PC users should see similar results.
Apple iPad Mini Retina	iBooks	3 seconds; ~5 minutes for indexing	3 seconds	1 second	15 seconds	Jason's first choice.. Performance should be similar for iPad Air.
Apple iPad Mini (original)	iBooks	5 seconds; ~5 minutes for indexing	5 seconds	2 second	-	Performance should be similiar for iPad 3rd Gen (first Retina), and for the iPad 2nd Gen (same CPU, but non-Retina screen)
Apple iPad First Generation	iBooks	~15 seconds, plus indexing	~15 seconds	Several seconds, painfully slow		Don't use the first gen iPads for this. 2nd gen should be your minimum. Otherwise.. stick to paper, it'll be faster.
Nexus 7 (2013)	Google Play	~30 seconds; ~5 minutes to fully download	~10 seconds	~3 seconds	~1 minute	Jason's First Android Choice
Nexus 7 (2013)	Aldiko	~10; ~1 minute for links to work	~3 seconds; ~2 minute for links	random	~1 minute for full list; shows context (nice!)	Clicking links feels sluggish, inconsistent. Very frusting for jfesler to use, for this kind of book.
Nexus 7 (2013)	FBReader	~3 minutes	~3 minutes	1 second	20 seconds	Does not show colors
Nexus 7 (2013)	Moon+	first	~3 seconds	~5 seconds	could not find search feature	not as polished; but is fast.
Nexus 7 (2013)	Nook	10 seconds; most links missing except index	10 seconds; most links missing except index	~3 seconds	45 seconds	Does not register as an epub reader. Need another app to load .epub files. I used Dropbox.
Nexus 7 (2013)	Universal Book Reader	10 seconds	10 seconds	fast	~20 minutes (guess.. I aborted)
Nexus 7 (2013)	app	first	second	click	search	notes
Nexus 7 (2013)	app	first	second	click	search	notes

Notes:

iBooks: The first time you open the document with iBooks, please allow up to 5 minutes for it to index the book. This will then enable the chapter slider at the bottom of the page. Note that changing font size translates into iBooks reindexing again.

Google Play: Upload the epub to play.google.com/upload. Open it on your tablet; and wait for it to fully download. Opening the combined OandA takes about 10 seconds on a Nexus 7 (2013 model).

Nook App on Android: Looks like this requires a USB cable to transfer files to/from. The reader app does NOT associate itself to the OS as an ePub reader. (more info). Looks like the Dropbox app (if you use Dropbox already) can open DropBox storage files into Nook.

Cool Reader on Android: crashes on load. Also, not registered as an ePub reader, so files have to be brought on a different way.