Possible bug: Generating TOC deletes Pagelist from NCX

Doitsu · 08-29-2013, 06:52 AM

I did some experiments with Pagelists and might have found a bug in the 0.73 Windows version. Since I was wrong the last time I thought I had found one, I'd appreciate it, if someone else could verify this.

Please open my test file and have a look at the .ncx file. Notice the Pagelist section at the end. Press CTRL+T to generate a new TOC and click OK.

On my machine the Pagelist sections gets deleted.

Since my test epub passed both epubcheck and FlightCrew I'm wondering if there is a problem with my Pagelist syntax that neither checker has caught or if Sigil cannot handle Pagelist sections in NCX files.

mrmikel · 08-29-2013, 09:43 AM

Seems like when I have encountered a construction like this:

#page-1

I have run into trouble. Could this be a problem?

RbnJrg · 08-29-2013, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

I did some experiments with Pagelists and might have found a bug in the 0.73 Windows version. Since I was wrong the last time I thought I had found one, I'd appreciate it, if someone else could verify this.

Please open my test file and have a look at the .ncx file. Notice the Pagelist section at the end. Press CTRL+T to generate a new TOC and click OK.

On my machine the Pagelist sections gets deleted.

Since my test epub passed both epubcheck and FlightCrew I'm wondering if there is a problem with my Pagelist syntax that neither checker has caught or if Sigil cannot handle Pagelist sections in NCX files.

Yes, I could reproduce that behaviour even with Sigil 0.72. I think is not a bug but that Sigil, when is generating a new TOC, doesn't include a Pagelists. In others words, if we want a pagelists, we'll have to do it by hand.

Doitsu · 08-29-2013, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmikel

Seems like when I have encountered a construction like this: #page-1
I have run into trouble. Could this be a problem?

I don't think so, because Sigil uses the same syntax when generating multiple chapter links in one physical .xhtml file.
Just to be on the safe side I changed all ids from page-1 to p1 etc. but they still got deleted.

Did the Pagelist entries get deleted on your system, too, when you regenerated the TOC?

mrmikel · 08-29-2013, 03:37 PM

Yup, it deletes them. What I was thinking of the # character.

st_albert · 08-29-2013, 06:39 PM

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that Sigil builds a new toc.ncx from scratch when you generate a new toc. The pre-existing one gets blown away.

I think there was some discussion about being able to preserve an existing toc.ncx, but I don't recall what the outcome of that was.

Albert

DiapDealer · 08-29-2013, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by st_albert

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that Sigil builds a new toc.ncx from scratch when you generate a new toc. The pre-existing one gets blown away.

It does. Sigil doesn't care what was in your ncx before you generated a new one. It just builds a brand-new one ... with no consideration for Pagelists whatsoever.

Quote:

I think there was some discussion about being able to preserve an existing toc.ncx, but I don't recall what the outcome of that was.

Sigil does currently preserve your pre-existing ncx upon opening/saving.

mrmikel · 08-29-2013, 08:45 PM

It seems like mostly this is desirable behavior, allowing to get of a terribly messed up file and replacing it with a valid one.

But it would seem worthwhile to make it an option in preferences for those who are rolling their own and don't want it completely blown up.

But why would you want a new one if you are doing it on your own?

DiapDealer · 08-29-2013, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmikel

But it would seem worthwhile to make it an option in preferences for those who are rolling their own and don't want it completely blown up.

But why would you want a new one if you are doing it on your own?

Exactly. It makes no sense to set a preference to keep from messing up your existing NCX when all you have to do to NOT mess up your NCX is NOT try to generate a new one.

Note that the graphical "Edit Table of Contents" tool is also incapable of maintaining the pageList entries. Basically, if your ncx is going to contain much of anything other than a navMap, you're going to need to edit your NCX file manually (if you need to modify it all).

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08-29-2013, 09:43 AM	#2
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	Seems like when I have encountered a construction like this: #page-1 I have run into trouble. Could this be a problem?

08-29-2013, 03:37 PM	#5
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	Yup, it deletes them. What I was thinking of the # character.

08-29-2013, 06:39 PM	#6
st_albert Guru Posts: 696 Karma: 150000 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: none	I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that Sigil builds a new toc.ncx from scratch when you generate a new toc. The pre-existing one gets blown away. I think there was some discussion about being able to preserve an existing toc.ncx, but I don't recall what the outcome of that was. Albert

08-29-2013, 08:45 PM	#8
mrmikel Color me gone Posts: 2,089 Karma: 1445295 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Oregon Coast Device: PRS-300	It seems like mostly this is desirable behavior, allowing to get of a terribly messed up file and replacing it with a valid one. But it would seem worthwhile to make it an option in preferences for those who are rolling their own and don't want it completely blown up. But why would you want a new one if you are doing it on your own?