Can Calibre Strip HTML links when exporting to epub?

Dasun · 11-09-2010, 08:31 AM

A long time lurkers first post, so hi to all.

Now, I am trying to convert some (well lots!) of PDFs to epub format and I need to strip embedded HTML links. Can Calibre do this?

Thanks for any suggestions....

Manichean · 11-09-2010, 08:45 AM

So, if I understand you correctly, you want to remove any parts that contain

Code:

<a href="whatever">text</a>

while preserving the text? You could just abuse the header/footer removal for that. For the given example, something like

Code:

<a href[^>]>|</a>

ought to work. Remember to check you documents' source, though (the magic wand symbol).

Dasun · 11-10-2010, 09:17 AM

Manichean,

Thanks for putting me on the right path....adding

<a href.*</a>

to the header/footer removal sections ripped out all the HTML links and the documents only suffered a little - table of contents is missing in action but I can live with that. As a former software engineer I am surprised I had forgotten how truly ugly regex syntax was until I started doing it again tonight!

kovidgoyal · 11-10-2010, 09:19 AM

You could just put

a[href] { display: none }

into the extra css box.

Manichean · 11-10-2010, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dasun

Manichean,

Thanks for putting me on the right path....adding

<a href.*</a>

to the header/footer removal sections ripped out all the HTML links and the documents only suffered a little - table of contents is missing in action but I can live with that. As a former software engineer I am surprised I had forgotten how truly ugly regex syntax was until I started doing it again tonight!

Well, yeah, small wonder the TOC got wiped out... be aware though that your way deletes the text that contained the hyperlink as well. My expression above should preserve that text.

Dipaksomak · 03-22-2017, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

You could just put

a[href] { display: none }

into the extra css box.

Lifesaver. Thanks mate.

greenpossum · 03-03-2020, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

You could just put

a[href] { display: none }

into the extra css box.

Sorry for reviving an old thread but I tried this and unfortunately it strips the text inside the <a> element. After some searching I found this advice solved the problem:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...57625#27057625

and the command line enhancement to the conversion command is:

--extra-css 'a.disabled { pointer-events: none; cursor: default; } a[href] { class: disabled }'

Posting so that people can do it correctly.

11-09-2010, 08:31 AM	#1
Dasun Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo	Can Calibre Strip HTML links when exporting to epub? A long time lurkers first post, so hi to all. Now, I am trying to convert some (well lots!) of PDFs to epub format and I need to strip embedded HTML links. Can Calibre do this? Thanks for any suggestions....

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11-09-2010, 08:45 AM	#2
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	So, if I understand you correctly, you want to remove any parts that contain Code: <a href="whatever">text</a> while preserving the text? You could just abuse the header/footer removal for that. For the given example, something like Code: <a href[^>]>\|</a> ought to work. Remember to check you documents' source, though (the magic wand symbol).

11-10-2010, 09:17 AM	#3
Dasun Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo	Manichean, Thanks for putting me on the right path....adding <a href.*</a> to the header/footer removal sections ripped out all the HTML links and the documents only suffered a little - table of contents is missing in action but I can live with that. As a former software engineer I am surprised I had forgotten how truly ugly regex syntax was until I started doing it again tonight!

11-10-2010, 09:19 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,839 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You could just put a[href] { display: none } into the extra css box.

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