Business activities and summary of significant accounting policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2014	Oct. 31, 2013
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Income tax expense (benefit)	$ 959,000	$ 1,980,000
Deferred tax assets, net	(395,000)	(455,000)
Inventory, net	5,259,000	5,924,000
Income loss from continuing operations before income taxes minority interest and income loss from equity method investments	2,295,000	6,722,000
Earnings per share, diluted	$ 0.16	$ 0.43
Amortization expense	220,000	220,000
Advertising expense	147,000	195,000
Engineering Expenses	948,000	998,000
Stock based compensation expense	390,000	232,000
Shares excluded from computation of diluted per share amount	328,569	21,177
Understatement
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Income tax expense (benefit)		170,000
Deferred tax assets, net		173,000
Adjustments to additional paid in capital, other		343,000
Deferred tax assets, inventory		52,000
Accrued bonuses		20,000
Overstatement
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Income tax expense (benefit)		150,000
Other prepaid expense current net of tax		11,000
Income loss from continuing operations before income taxes minority interest and income loss from equity method investments		76,000
Other income tax expense (benefit), continuing operations		226,000
Earnings per share, diluted		$ 0.03
Cost of Sales
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Stock based compensation expense	67,000	58,000
Cost of Sales | Understatement
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Inventory, net		71,000
Other prepaid expense, current		15,000
Cost of Sales | Overstatement
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Accrued bonuses current and noncurrent net of tax		15,000
Selling General and Engineering Expenses
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Stock based compensation expense	$ 323,000	$ 174,000
Minimum
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cost and depreciated over their estimated useful lives	3 years
Maximum
Business Activities And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cost and depreciated over their estimated useful lives	5 years