Thread: ePub creation tools : what's missing ? wishlist / dialogue
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Old 11-03-2010, 08:35 PM   #82
theducks
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RealImages1 View Post
Well - I've learnt a bit of stuff !

I should probably begin by reiterating that all I'm wanting to do is find a simple way to generate clean, accurate OPF and NCX files once I've got all my xhtml and css done. Since my first post here in September, I have been working on an applescript to make the OPF. I have developed a version that gets me half-way, but still leaves a fair amount of hand coding. As I don't really know applescript (instead relying pretty heavily on snippets picked up from forums such as macscripter.net) I am not able to get it fully functional. Also it's very limited in that it has hard coded POSIX paths which are specific to my machine. I will probably continue to pick away at it as time allows, but for the moment I need something more immediately. Generating an NCX with applescript has defeated me altogether.

So - with Sigil, I decided the simplest way around the multiple css file imports was to make a duplicate of my main project folder (with all relevant sub-folders and files) and then do a multifile Replace to remove all links to the css file from every xhtml file. I can then import this modified version into Sigil with no problems. And Sigil then gives me a very nice OPF, which (after un-zipping the ePub) I can put back into my original project.

But the NCX is still a little problematic in that the TOC Editor in Sigil doesn't seem to allow for re-ordering. In fact it generates the TOC in alphabetical order and I cannot see a way to change this. Please tell me if I'm wrong about this ! The only solution I can think of is to name every original xhtml file with an ascending numeric system based on the order in which I want them to appear in the book - which is, of course, exactly what Sigil does when it's doing the whole job itself. It's important I think, to use a naming convention with increments of 10 (so: Chap010.xhtml, Chap020.xhtml, etc) in order to allow for later changes and additions. For instance an author might decide at the last minute that he or she wants to put in a dedication page.

Thanks to all those who've helped me here and if anyone's got comments or (hopefully, improvements) on this I would love to hear them.

Mike
Just re-order (drag to the proper read order place) your book list and the TOC follows
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