How to read .chm files in Linux

Overview

.chm is originally MS format and a really nice one: it is just compressed .hmtl files, so text could be easily formated to fit the screen (not scaled like in PDF, but there is just line breaks are moved), it is searchable, there could be (depends on a file creator, only if he did it) index as well which is great.

Windows Platforms

In Windows you don't have to install anything to read .chm files. It is supported starting from Windows 98 by default tool: hh.exe. You can use it to read .chm or to decompile (you'll have a bunch of .html files as the output).

Using Windows Mobile you will have to install third-party software as MS stopped supporting this format, and wasn't interested in developing .chm reading tools for Windows Mobile.

Personally, I like microOLAP's CHM eBook Reader for Pocket PC not only for the fact that I got it for free, but because it is really handy, easy to use. It's got everything required and nothing more.

Linux Platform (Ubuntu 9.04)

Ok. So, enough with Windowses. :)

What about Linux? I got Ubuntu 9.04. So, I installed and tried every chm tool I found in its repositories (chmsee, xchm, kviewchm-nokde, gnochm). Also I googled a bit and found plug-in for reading .chm files in Firefox (CHM Reader).

Here goes pros and cons for every tool as I see them.

chmsee 1.0.3

This tool is small and nice. It is short of some must-have features, but still. Nice. Oficial project's site would be http://code.google.com/p/chmsee



Pros:

• it has tabs
• supports .chm in Russian language
  
• small and fast
• you can create bookmarks
  

Cons:

• no search - this is really bad. There is no Search tab to look through all the pages, neither there is in page search ability
• default font is kinda small for reading, though it is manageable (see this magnifier buttons on the toolbar)
• index isn't supported

GnoCHM (a.k.a. CHM Viewer 0.9.11)

This tool is a bit tougher. Project's site: http://gnochm.sourceforge.net/





Pros:

• general search is supported
• index is supported
  
• it has nice options to choose from
  
• it is fast
• supports Russian language
• it has bookmarks

Cons:

• small font by default, but again - it's manageable
  
• crashes too often: it closes itself without any warning... maybe it's just not my day :)
• Russian book (I used PHP Manual in Russian) was loading tooooooo slow
• no in page search
• result general search results aren't highlighted
• index is buggy

xCHM v. 1.14

XCHM I like most. It's ugly, it has some flaws in supporting Russian, but it does everything I want. Hope they will make it perfect someday. Here's the site: http://xchm.sourceforge.net/






Pros:

• good font size
• general search is implemented
• in page search is implemented as well
• it is fast
• index works
• it supports Russian (but only in pages and search results)
• it also has bookmarks
  

Cons:

• it's ugly
• no Russian support in Contents
• no Russian support in Index
• it cannot search when query is in Russian - no results

kchmviewer version 3.1

Made by some Russian guy, I believe. It has pretty nice functionality. Really ugly, KDE-ugly, actually. The project's site: http://www.kchmviewer.net/





Pros:

• general Search is supported
• Index is supported
  
• good font size
• Russian language support
• you can choose right language and codepage in the settings
• it is fast
• supports tabs functionality
• it has bookmarks

Cons:

• UGLY as hell
• in page search doesn't work good: skips some results or just stuck on something. So, it doesn't work
• Russian words aren't displayed properly in Index tab, but still, it works

CHM Reader 0.2.3

This one is not so handy, but it works. Hasn't some features though. Chinese guy would be the author, here is the homepage: http://sourceforge.net/projects/chmreader/





Pros:

• supports Russian language
• supports Index
• in page search is done by means of Firefox, so I say it is supported

Cons:

• small font but manageable by means of Firefox (e.g. Ctrl+Scroll-Up)
• it is highly uncomfortable to open files
• no general Search support
• I found it uncomfortable to read books in ff, but it's a matter of taste

Conclusion

Most of the work could be done with any of these tools, but every of them is a mess actually. I will stick to chmsee for everything but searching and xCHM if I will need to search. If I'll be able to find the solution for Russian language in Contents and Index tabs in xCHM, it will become my the one and only tool for .chm files.