Sigil has trashed more files

[JimmyG]

Originally Posted by Dillinquent

No idea about the Sigil issue but you can recover your HTML files from your Mobi file using Calibre with the MobiUnpack plugin.

I was wrong the files were already gone when I made the mobi files, but that's good to know for future reference. Thanks.

[adv_dp_fan]

I had a similar situation yesterday. Did a global replace and then opened some other html files. Some were fine, some were truncated, showing only the first paragraph or so. Went back to an earlier version and tried again as I had already saved before noticing the issue. Same replace but this time different truncated files. Finally had one of the truncated files also displayed a message at the top that there was an error in the html and that it was rendering everything up to the error, was looking at them in bookview. But not all displayed that message. Checked in codeview, saw the error and fixed it and things were fine then. I'm sure it was related to some auto clean up of the html that went bad.

[Toxaris]

That is why you should never trust auto cleanup and always take care of your S&R. It can go horribly wrong.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

That is why you should never trust auto cleanup and always take care of your S&R. It can go horribly wrong.

Actually...

This has happened to me. And damned if I know why. I don't believe I was S&R'ing, but...I was working on a file, very short, simple. After I had finished it, I split it into its designated "chapters." For reasons I can't quite fathom, (and, yes: Tidy is never turned on), when I tried to go to BookView, I got an "unresolved error" warning, and then...kablammo, the file was truncated. Content simply disappeared, ala Ye Olden PSO'D (Ye Olden Pink Screen O'Death, for you noobs). I was pretty gobsmacked. And, yes, I then had unresolved links in the ncx, because of course, content had gone MIA.

My comprehension of what happened was that somehow, after doing a simple s&R (not regex), an element did not have a closing tag. When I attempted to go to bookview, I got the error, and the inquiry "clean it or do it manually?" I said manually, but when I got the file "back," half of it was simply GONE, with the big honking pink error message.

I replaced the original (not altered) html content from the source file (pre-sigil) and repaired it the long way round, but honestly--still not quite sure what made it go "hinky." (Wombat: bad, smelly, something rotten. Twisted. ="Hinky.") I stared at it for a while, but never did figure out what made it go bats**t. This happened about 3 times in a row, and I don't know what triggered it, other than an unclosed element that I could not find, but, more importantly, that I was not able to fix manually. When I chose "fix manually," the content had been "cleaned." (And had disappeared). But Tidy is OFF.

So, yes: I've had the PSO'D again, now in the latest version of Sigil. Win7, running the 32-bit version, as there isn't one for those of us with 64.

Hitch

[ghostyjack]

I've had this on occasion as well. I don't have HTML Tidy on, but Pretty Print is.

Because of this (as well as other reasons), I never work on the original file, and before making a significant change have a habit of using Save As so that I have a few copied at different stages, so if it cocks up I can revert back. Once I know the significant change has not had a detrimental effect on the book, I'll save it and delete the extra copies as I now know the file is ok.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by ghostyjack

I've had this on occasion as well. I don't have HTML Tidy on, but Pretty Print is.

Because of this (as well as other reasons), I never work on the original file, and before making a significant change have a habit of using Save As so that I have a few copied at different stages, so if it cocks up I can revert back. Once I know the significant change has not had a detrimental effect on the book, I'll save it and delete the extra copies as I now know the file is ok.

Ditto:

If this helps in the troubleshooting, I have Pretty Print on as well.

H

[Toxaris]

Hmm, it really sounds if there is something peculiar in the source HTML file which makes Sigil to act funny. Strange that you can't find it. Have you tried looking at it via a hex-editor?

[theducks]

+1 to having Pretty Print on.
It is RARE that I have seen this.
Currently, I get random (QT) windows crashes more often. And NO, I have not filed a bug report as I have not identified any sequence.

[mrmikel]

I have had the sense, but never been able to prove it, that manual is not really manual anymore, when you get that error box.

If this a QT5 bug, then I will take the old horrible one in its place. At least it was more predictable in its badness.

[townsend]

Wow-- scary stuff here. Glad I'm in the habit of starting each day with a Save As to make a backup.

I've been working on this book for two months now. I am constantly using the Validate EPUB option to check for errors. And I've had Tidy on on the whole time.

I work predominantly in the Book View; going into code view, only to clear up <div> tags or any Validate errors that crop up. AND I have used search and replace many times, often with the Replace All option.

So far, everything works like a charm. But, hearing all these horror stories, I'm going to be a lot more careful, from now on.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Hmm, it really sounds if there is something peculiar in the source HTML file which makes Sigil to act funny. Strange that you can't find it. Have you tried looking at it via a hex-editor?

Hi, Tox:

No, I have not. Good idea, though. I don't know if I could replicate it. I think that very simply, there was, somehow, via regex, an unclosed tag. I now forget what I was doing (changing spans to...nope. Not that. I was changing a paragraph class to a header class, I think). Yes, I think I likely had an unclosed header tag, i.e. an opening class of h1 and a closer of </p>. Either that, or, I've found that Sigil can get very witchy about improperly called style classes, when I have a brain-fart.

But I think I recall that I was changing paragraph classes to header classes, and then I was changing a named para class to another named class--just a name swap. Then, kablammo! PSO'D. I was seriously bummed. I was extremely glad that I'd had my html editor (NoteTab Pro) open with the originally-cleaned file in it...so I swapped out the ending html. It occurred a second time, so...obviously, I'd screwed the pooch somewhere, but the issue is, I never got the chance to "manually clean" the errata; what happened is when I endeavored to pop over to BookView (not yet in habit of using "preview" mode, TBH), we had error message--answer "manual"--and PSO'D, no "manual cleaning" option. Somehow, the combination of an error, and what seems to be an "auto-clean" when you slide over to BV, causes this to occur. That's my best remembrance right now.

Hitch

[ghostyjack]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Hi, Tox:

No, I have not. Good idea, though. I don't know if I could replicate it. I think that very simply, there was, somehow, via regex, an unclosed tag. I now forget what I was doing (changing spans to...nope. Not that. I was changing a paragraph class to a header class, I think). Yes, I think I likely had an unclosed header tag, i.e. an opening class of h1 and a closer of </p>. Either that, or, I've found that Sigil can get very witchy about improperly called style classes, when I have a brain-fart.

But I think I recall that I was changing paragraph classes to header classes, and then I was changing a named para class to another named class--just a name swap. Then, kablammo! PSO'D. I was seriously bummed. I was extremely glad that I'd had my html editor (NoteTab Pro) open with the originally-cleaned file in it...so I swapped out the ending html. It occurred a second time, so...obviously, I'd screwed the pooch somewhere, but the issue is, I never got the chance to "manually clean" the errata; what happened is when I endeavored to pop over to BookView (not yet in habit of using "preview" mode, TBH), we had error message--answer "manual"--and PSO'D, no "manual cleaning" option. Somehow, the combination of an error, and what seems to be an "auto-clean" when you slide over to BV, causes this to occur. That's my best remembrance right now.

Hitch

That's basically what happended to me.

I was cleaning out messy Calibre code and replacing <p> tags with proper heading tags when I must have missed something and then it all disappears with an auto-clean.

[JimmyG]

Originally Posted by townsend

Wow-- scary stuff here. Glad I'm in the habit of starting each day with a Save As to make a backup.

I've been working on this book for two months now. I am constantly using the Validate EPUB option to check for errors. And I've had Tidy on on the whole time.

I work predominantly in the Book View; going into code view, only to clear up <div> tags or any Validate errors that crop up. AND I have used search and replace many times, often with the Replace All option.

So far, everything works like a charm. But, hearing all these horror stories, I'm going to be a lot more careful, from now on.

I've gotten religion on the backup front myself.

I'm just the opposite, I always work in code view. The only time I look at book view is to make sure something looks the way I want it to. The other day I was doing just that when I noticed a misplaced apostrophe and deleted it. When I went back to the code view, it yammered at me for a nbsp entity. What? The only entity I use is amp. Where was that nbsp? Right where I had deleted that apostrophe. Sigil put it there and then complained to me about it! LOL.

[townsend]

Originally Posted by JimmyG

I've gotten religion on the backup front myself.

I'm just the opposite, I always work in code view.

I've heard that many times. I don't know how you guys do it. At best, I can do maybe 30 words a minute. I don't stop for spelling, or even to correct errors in tense or punctuation. When the ideas are flowing, I just want to get them out. Then later, during the rewrite, I correct all that stuff.

If I were in Code View, adding tags along the way, that would really put a wrench in my creative process.

When it comes to the whole data loss problem, the Book View seems to be is a LOT safer. I've never lost anything! As a word processor, Sigil's Book View is pretty robust. And--that Table of Contents window is great as an outline processor.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by townsend

I've heard that many times. I don't know how you guys do it. At best, I can do maybe 30 words a minute. I don't stop for spelling, or even to correct errors in tense or punctuation. When the ideas are flowing, I just want to get them out. Then later, during the rewrite, I correct all that stuff.

If I were in Code View, adding tags along the way, that would really put a wrench in my creative process.

Very simply, because most of us just don't use Sigil as a word-processor. I wouldn't, and I live with the thing daily.

When it comes to the whole data loss problem, the Book View seems to be is a LOT safer. I've never lost anything! As a word processor, Sigil's Book View is pretty robust. And--that Table of Contents window is great as an outline processor.

If you have/use Word, I have to say that its outlining mechanisms are fabulous. I use Outline View, but I also love the Document Nav view, which rocks. It's one of Word's little secrets (View-->Navigation Pane). Use headers for structure, not styling, and the Nav Pane is an outline. Significantly less data loss, as well.

Hitch