ePub Zip/Unzip AppleScript application for Mac OS X

[Jim Lester]

I've automated this a bit by adding the following to my .bash_profile

#Create ePub file from exploded directory at CWD
# USAGE: zipub Path  (shouldn't be under CWD)  ie do zipub ../test.epub
zipub () {
    zip -X0 $1 mimetype
    zip -rDX9 $1 * -x "*.DS_Store" -x mimetype
}

[ronmartinez]

Originally Posted by MichaelGray

Hi there
Hope somebody can help with this - I've been using ePub zip for a while and it's been a fantastic saviour, but suddenly it doesn't seem to work any more. When I try to zip my folder into epub I get an error message: "Can't make <<class ctnr>> of item 1 {alias "Macintosh HD:Users:Mini25esktop:nameofmyfolder:"} into type text." I can OK this or press an "Edit" button, which opens the Apple Script Editor (beyond me!)
Not sure what changed on my system or in my epub - it just seems to have changed from one day to the next. Any ideas?
Thanks very much
Michael

Hi! Not sure if you've gotten this sorted out. I had the same experience with this wonderfully useful script when I tried to use it on a different machine (Mac Pro, fine, Macbook, exact same error). Odd.

I was able to work around it with a hack to the Applescript. It's not a fix, just a way to keep working. You're going to delete the troublesome code and hardwire the result it's attempting to produce - a path (i.e., location on your hard drive) to place the finished ePub file.

The steps:

- Open the script in the Applescript Editor
- Run the script from the Editor, using the green run button, and select your ePub folder
- It should fail with error message once you have selected the folder
- Note at the bottom of the Editor there is an Event Log. You should see something like this:

error "Can’t make «class ctnr» of alias \"home:Users:ronmartinez:a_yo_iBookC:\" into type text." number -1700 from «class ctnr» of alias "home:Users:ronmartinez:a_yo_iBookC:" to text

(The error apparently has something to do with the attempt to re-type the alias so it can be used in a variable. Needs some investigation and puzzling out, but this is happening in the 5th line of the script:

set ePubParent to (container of ePubFolder) as text

The workaround: hardwire the ePubParent variable. This will be the location your newly created ePub will be placed in. To do the hardwiring, you'll put a properly formatted path into the variable. I just used the same folder the ePub is in, but you can use another.)

- Note the correct form of the path in the second line of your error message in the Event Log. In my example:

"home:Users:ronmartinez:a_yo_iBookC:"

- Copy that string of text, including the quotes.
- Replace the troublesome line 5 with a line of text that says the following:

set ePubParent to "home:Users:ronmartinez:a_yo_iBookC:"

Of course, using your own path, and not my example path!

- Save As the script with a new name.
- Run the script
- It should work, and deposit the finished ePub at the destination indicated by the path. Note that you can use any destination folder on your hard drive volume, as long as the proper format is used.

Hopefully this helps. Back up your work before you do anything, natch. But should be pretty innocuous, and hopefully provides the OP with some clues as to the bug. (And thank you for this script, again!).

- Ron

[MichaelGray]

Thanks Ron
I've slightly lost track of what happened, but as it's working again now and I can't remember what (if anything) I ended up doing to fix it (maybe I downloaded anew?) Perhaps it was just having a bad day. It's a great script I use a lot despite the odd hiccup –*thanks for you reply though!
Michael

[Fern]

Thanks a lot pdurrant for the little app! It works beautifully!

Now, just out of curiosity (and because I'm interested in learning the nuts and bolts of the epub creation process), if I were to do in Terminal what your app does for me, which commands wound I have to enter? The ones in the first post of this thread don't seem to work. Sorry, I'm a UNIX noob. I keep getting messages such as "name not matched: mimetype" or "zip error: Nothing to do!"

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Fern

Now, just out of curiosity (and because I'm interested in learning the nuts and bolts of the epub creation process), if I were to do in Terminal what your app does for me, which commands wound I have to enter? The ones in the first post of this thread don't seem to work. Sorry, I'm a UNIX noob. I keep getting messages such as "name not matched: mimetype" or "zip error: Nothing to do!"

If you use Script Editor to open the script up, you'll be able to see exactly what commands are needed and how they're issued. It's quite a bit of hassle to issue them manually, especially as you need to escape path and file names that contain spaces and other awkward characters.

[Fern]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

If you use Script Editor to open the script up, you'll be able to see exactly what commands are needed and how they're issued.

Thanks for the tip pdurrant. Just shows I have still a lot to learn before I can mess around in Terminal. Great stuff!

[noteon]

Evening!

Thanks for making these scripts available. I've got a head-scratcher with ePub Zip that I'm hoping someone recognizes. I've unzipped an ePub with ePub Unzip, did a GREP alteration of some div tags in Text Wranger, and when I try to zip it back up, I get this:

zip warning: name not matched: mimetype
zip error: Nothing to do! (/Users/keithsnyder/Desktop/OEBPS.epub)

I'm certain I didn't alter anything but the div tags; what else could be causing this?

Thanks!

(MacOS 10.5.8, Intel Core 2 Duo)

EDIT: I'm an idiot. I was trying to zip the contents of the folder instead of the folder itself. Never mind...

[dejiridoo]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Extracting the files from an ePub is easy - you can just unzip the file and then you get a folder full of the contents of the ePub.

But zipping the folder of files back up into an ePub isn't as easy - it needs to be zipped in a specific way.

Here's an AppleScript application that does all the hard work for you - just drag the folder of files onto the Applescript application, and your epub will be created.

For those interested in what's going on, it's just issuing two zip commands to create the epub, one that zips up the mimetype file without compression, and the second that zips up the rest of the files with compression, skipping the mimetype file and any .DS_Store files or empty directories. The actual commands are

zip -X0 "full path to new epub file" mimetype

and

zip -rDX9 "full path to new epub file" * -x "*.DS_Store" -x mimetype

Thanks to Abecedary and Jellby for help getting the magic incantations right.

Comments, bug report, etc, welcome.

Edit: Bug Fix 1: Using Jellby's suggestion, 1.0.1 now excludes .DS_Store files in subdirectories too

Edit: Enhancement: 1.0.2 now checks for the presence of an existing zip file, and gives the user the option to replace the file or stop. And the old file really does get replaced, as it's moved to the trash before the new one is created. Previously, files left over from the old file could end up being left in the new file.

Fantastic. I had the same problem after trying to edit an EPUB. I successfully edited the book but then when I rezipped, I encountered many problems. (Oddly enough, Calibre could read it.) This little tool instantly solved my problem. Thanks so much for all your help -- one year after you posted.

[MignonK]

It is a great little tool, thank you.
And my rezipped ePub is working in the various readers I've been working with (Bookworm, Calibre, Ibis) but is now crashing Adobe Digital Editions (the original ePub file doesn't do that). Wondering if anyone else is experiencing this and what the problem may be.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by MignonK

It is a great little tool, thank you.
And my rezipped ePub is working in the various readers I've been working with (Bookworm, Calibre, Ibis) but is now crashing Adobe Digital Editions (the original ePub file doesn't do that). Wondering if anyone else is experiencing this and what the problem may be.

The problem is probably in one of the bits you changed. So look there first. (It's probably also worth checking that the new version passed epubcheck, not that passing or failing epubcheck actually indicates whether any particular renderer will render it well.)

[deb248211]

Thank you so much for the Applescript - I agree with David Derrico - you definitely rock super, super hard!

I'd spent the morning trying various zip commands, resulting in failed epubs, but now all is well. You are a star!

[creativeshark]

I downloaded the zip 1.02 script app, but I've not yet found the unzip 1.0 script app... I've been watching the training videos on Lynda.com but don't have access to the exercise files and scripts and they recommend this site! Can someone please point me to the download link... ty so much in advance!

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by creativeshark

I downloaded the zip 1.02 script app, but I've not yet found the unzip 1.0 script app...

You don't need an special unzip script. ePubs are just ordinary zip files, arranged in a certain way. You can unzip them using your regular unzip tool ("unzip" in the Terminal, or just add a .zip extension to the filename and double-click in the Finder).

Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

[danrodney]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

You don't need an special unzip script. ePubs are just ordinary zip files, arranged in a certain way. You can unzip them using your regular unzip tool ("unzip" in the Terminal, or just add a .zip extension to the filename and double-click in the Finder).

Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

The Finder doesn't always properly unzip scripts, and it's tedious renaming files or using the Terminal. I wrote the unzip script to make it faster and it always works. So to answer the question of where to download the unzip script. It's here (on page 2 of this thread):
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...4&postcount=19

[Bretperry]

danrodney,,

Love this script. On a Mac, and thought I was going to have to buy Oxygen ($$$) just to fix epubs.

This does all I need for now!

Even better, it works great with InDesign CS5 .idml files (under the hood, a flavor of epub).

Do you mind if I adapt it to make a script that fixes "stuck" unused colors in InDesign (you save as .idml, edit the graphics file and re-open)?

Shall I credit you in the scripts header, want a link to this or just your name?