A rather frustrating mystery

pops1959 · 05-09-2011, 04:30 AM

The guys in the white coats will be coming to take me away soon....

(long post alert)

Here's the scenario: I downloaded a classic novel recently and I wished to make some changes in the formating. All of the chapters were in html. I needed to add a chapter to the book in order to add some critical information which I wanted included in my copy. I added a new chapter (which was in xhtml), added the text that I wanted, renamed the chapter in the left hand column, dragged that chapter to the top and inserted in where I wanted it, then added a line on the content page and added the necessary link. The link worked well in Sigil, so I saved the file. After loading it on my Nook Color via Calibre I discovered that the book hung on the chapter I added. Not sure why. So I removed if from my Nook, and from my book file and returned to my edited version. The chapter I added was back down at the bottom of the chapter listing (it's an 86 chapter book).
Being that I know next to nothing about the coding of these book I figured that perhaps the fact that that chapter was xhtml and rest of the book was html was causing the problem.
So I set about changing that. Basically I placed my cursor on the top of each chapter and did a command/return which opened the chapter in a new page with an xhtml extension. The now empty html chapters were deleted. I edited the content page and made sure the chapter links all pointed to their proper chapter. I tested each and every one of them to make sure that everything worked and looked proper. So far, so good. Then I did a final save on the book and closed sigil. Prior to loading it on my Nook I decided to double check everything and opened the epub file with Sigil one last time. And, to my dismay, the entire book was exactly as it was prior to all the editing work I did. Complete with all chapters as html, and one that I added as xhtml. A couple hours of work down the drain.
So can anyone give me a clue as to what caused this to happen? Is there some code hidden in the book which causes everything to revert to the original format?
I don't mind re-doing what I did, but I don't want to attempt this if in the end I'm going to get the same results. I just don't get it.

huebi · 05-09-2011, 06:24 AM

Are you using ß3 or RC1 040? If yes, go back to 034

theducks · 05-09-2011, 09:49 AM

I concur with hubie.
4 RC has random (can't always duplicate) errors.

pops1959 · 05-09-2011, 02:45 PM

Thanks for the advice. 040 gone, 034 loaded, and I'm starting all over again. Much caffein and pipe tobacco will be consumed this afternoon.

05-09-2011, 04:30 AM	#1
pops1959 Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Everywhere I am. Device: Kindle Oasis	A rather frustrating mystery The guys in the white coats will be coming to take me away soon.... (long post alert) Here's the scenario: I downloaded a classic novel recently and I wished to make some changes in the formating. All of the chapters were in html. I needed to add a chapter to the book in order to add some critical information which I wanted included in my copy. I added a new chapter (which was in xhtml), added the text that I wanted, renamed the chapter in the left hand column, dragged that chapter to the top and inserted in where I wanted it, then added a line on the content page and added the necessary link. The link worked well in Sigil, so I saved the file. After loading it on my Nook Color via Calibre I discovered that the book hung on the chapter I added. Not sure why. So I removed if from my Nook, and from my book file and returned to my edited version. The chapter I added was back down at the bottom of the chapter listing (it's an 86 chapter book). Being that I know next to nothing about the coding of these book I figured that perhaps the fact that that chapter was xhtml and rest of the book was html was causing the problem. So I set about changing that. Basically I placed my cursor on the top of each chapter and did a command/return which opened the chapter in a new page with an xhtml extension. The now empty html chapters were deleted. I edited the content page and made sure the chapter links all pointed to their proper chapter. I tested each and every one of them to make sure that everything worked and looked proper. So far, so good. Then I did a final save on the book and closed sigil. Prior to loading it on my Nook I decided to double check everything and opened the epub file with Sigil one last time. And, to my dismay, the entire book was exactly as it was prior to all the editing work I did. Complete with all chapters as html, and one that I added as xhtml. A couple hours of work down the drain. So can anyone give me a clue as to what caused this to happen? Is there some code hidden in the book which causes everything to revert to the original format? I don't mind re-doing what I did, but I don't want to attempt this if in the end I'm going to get the same results. I just don't get it.

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05-09-2011, 06:24 AM	#2
huebi Zealot Posts: 121 Karma: 5070 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: none	Are you using ß3 or RC1 040? If yes, go back to 034

05-09-2011, 09:49 AM	#3
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,818 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	I concur with hubie. 4 RC has random (can't always duplicate) errors.

05-09-2011, 02:45 PM	#4
pops1959 Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Everywhere I am. Device: Kindle Oasis	Thanks for the advice. 040 gone, 034 loaded, and I'm starting all over again. Much caffein and pipe tobacco will be consumed this afternoon.

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