Show HN: Chai - remote PDF and Hex Viewer service accessible via remote browser https://ift.tt/VxBNWk9

Show HN: Chai - remote PDF and Hex Viewer service accessible via remote browser I'm really happy with this. It doesn't provide the "best" PDF support (it converts to images, page by page) -- but it does support a bunch of other documen formats supported by the union of LibreOffice, Pandoc and MuPDF -- and it was hella fun to write and get working: a mix of bash scripting glue, nodejs servering, and dependency installation. Next up in the todo for Chai is getting it working on Windows (which will basically involve finding the right dependencies and maybe branching within the bash glue for their different paths from the Windows dimensions haha! :)). I was particularly proud of the hex viewer part. I just felt it was not complete without really being able to see the byte by byte playout of a file. Obviously there are some file size limitations (but the hex viewer is streaming, so should work for any size the underlying system can handle), and therefore optimally efficient. Oh, and it also should handle archives just fine, as in, you can open {zip,tar.gz,... etc ...} archives and inspect them "file viewer" style. Somehow I just felt this kind of capability (remote viewing files, from a safe and secure distance) was absolutely necessary for a remote browser. I often think of these things like a "glovebox"^0 0: https://ift.tt/pjORdW3 specifically designed for handling hazardous materials, including biological, chemical, or radioactive substances. Gloveboxes provide a sealed environment where researchers or technicians can manipulate hazardous substances safely https://ift.tt/fI0TYri January 21, 2024 at 10:13AM