Recipe request: Cleveland Plain Dealer

Ahroo · 02-18-2011, 10:07 AM

I am totally new to Calibre and recipes and python. I was attempting to create a recipe for my local newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but all I get is either a bunch of HTML coding or a list of articles but no content. Obviously, there is a lot I don't understand!

Could some kind soul help me out with a working recipe?

The RSS link is:
http://www.cleveland.com/rss/

There is also a link to a mobile version of the paper - should this be used instead?
http://mobile.cleveland.com/advcleve/index.htm

Thank you very much in advance!

DTM · 02-19-2011, 08:23 AM

I took a look at that, and I can see why you'd have trouble. Lots of it.

In a typical feed, links to the articles are of a certain format, and you modify part of the link to get the printable article. For example, with my local paper, the Royal Oak Daily Tribune, you simply replace "txt" with "prt", and you're done. Very simple.

The Detroit News made it a bit more difficult, because each feed uses a different subsititution. But that just meant that I needed to work out what that substitution should be for each feed. Straightforward, but a lot more work.

The Plain Dealer uses a different substitution for every article in each feed. I'm new to Calibre, but I've used other similar types of programs for years and have never seen anything like that. On top of that, some of the articles don't use a simple substitution to get to the printable version, and I don't have any idea how to handle that.

So, I'm going to throw up my hands and hope a more advanced user will take this as a challenge. Sorry.

Ahroo · 02-19-2011, 11:08 AM

Thank you very much for the attempt and the explanation, DTM. I'm glad that it wasn't just that I am a complete idiot!

Hopefully someone else will come along with some further assistance and then we both can learn.

spockmay · 03-07-2011, 02:58 PM

I've made a rough hack at a recipe for the Plain Dealer. I've been using it for a while and think I've finally got most of the formatting issues resolved. What a pain. It's slow to run due to the number of tags that have to be searched for and removed. Also, they keep changing the site tag names and classes so it may just stop working one day...

Let me know if it works for you and if you have any problems or changes you'd like to see!

Ahroo · 03-11-2011, 06:18 PM

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! It works great! I really appreciate it.

DTM · 03-12-2011, 08:33 AM

Quite an accomplishment, spockmay! My hat is off!

02-18-2011, 10:07 AM	#1
Ahroo Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3	Recipe request: Cleveland Plain Dealer I am totally new to Calibre and recipes and python. I was attempting to create a recipe for my local newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but all I get is either a bunch of HTML coding or a list of articles but no content. Obviously, there is a lot I don't understand! Could some kind soul help me out with a working recipe? The RSS link is: http://www.cleveland.com/rss/ There is also a link to a mobile version of the paper - should this be used instead? http://mobile.cleveland.com/advcleve/index.htm Thank you very much in advance!

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02-19-2011, 08:23 AM	#2
DTM Intentionally Left Blank Posts: 172 Karma: 300106 Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA Device: Nook STR	I took a look at that, and I can see why you'd have trouble. Lots of it. In a typical feed, links to the articles are of a certain format, and you modify part of the link to get the printable article. For example, with my local paper, the Royal Oak Daily Tribune, you simply replace "txt" with "prt", and you're done. Very simple. The Detroit News made it a bit more difficult, because each feed uses a different subsititution. But that just meant that I needed to work out what that substitution should be for each feed. Straightforward, but a lot more work. The Plain Dealer uses a different substitution for every article in each feed. I'm new to Calibre, but I've used other similar types of programs for years and have never seen anything like that. On top of that, some of the articles don't use a simple substitution to get to the printable version, and I don't have any idea how to handle that. So, I'm going to throw up my hands and hope a more advanced user will take this as a challenge. Sorry.

02-19-2011, 11:08 AM	#3
Ahroo Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3	Thank you very much for the attempt and the explanation, DTM. I'm glad that it wasn't just that I am a complete idiot! Hopefully someone else will come along with some further assistance and then we both can learn.

03-11-2011, 06:18 PM	#5
Ahroo Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3	Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! It works great! I really appreciate it.

03-12-2011, 08:33 AM	#6
DTM Intentionally Left Blank Posts: 172 Karma: 300106 Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA Device: Nook STR	Quite an accomplishment, spockmay! My hat is off!