pdb to epub (encoding issue)

lamzor · 08-02-2010, 07:52 AM

hello all.
i was trying to use calibre to convert my pdb into epub format. only problem is that i do not know encoding of pdb source file.

because its slovak books with slovak chars, there are 3 possibilities - unicode(utf-8), ISO8859-2 or Windows-1250.

i tried unicode(selected utf-8 in look&feel -> input char encoding) but output was incorrect. leaving blank field(default calibre option) also produced incorrect output(special characters were just nonsense chars).
so i tried ISO8859-2 with same result.
then i tried Windows-1250 and output was OK (tried with calibre reader and epub reader firefox addon).

is there any way how can i find source(pdb) encoding so i wont have to try 3 different encodings before producing correct output?

thanks.

kovidgoyal · 08-02-2010, 11:24 AM

No, I'm afraid trial and error is the only way. As far as I know the pdb format doesn't always specify the encoding it uses, which is why you have to guess it manually.

Riva3000 · 05-13-2013, 06:38 PM

All PDB files with European national characters I have encountered were in Windows-1250 (in Calibre CP1250) encoding.
Also all those files were without encoding specification and/or Calibre was not able to detect the encoding.

I have books in Czech, Slovak, Polish.

So now setting "input encoding" to "CP1250" for conversion from non-english PDB (to any ebook format) is my 1st bet.

08-02-2010, 07:52 AM	#1
lamzor Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: none	pdb to epub (encoding issue) hello all. i was trying to use calibre to convert my pdb into epub format. only problem is that i do not know encoding of pdb source file. because its slovak books with slovak chars, there are 3 possibilities - unicode(utf-8), ISO8859-2 or Windows-1250. i tried unicode(selected utf-8 in look&feel -> input char encoding) but output was incorrect. leaving blank field(default calibre option) also produced incorrect output(special characters were just nonsense chars). so i tried ISO8859-2 with same result. then i tried Windows-1250 and output was OK (tried with calibre reader and epub reader firefox addon). is there any way how can i find source(pdb) encoding so i wont have to try 3 different encodings before producing correct output? thanks.

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08-02-2010, 11:24 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	No, I'm afraid trial and error is the only way. As far as I know the pdb format doesn't always specify the encoding it uses, which is why you have to guess it manually.

05-13-2013, 06:38 PM	#3
Riva3000 Calibre fan Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Europe Device: iRex 800SG, iPhone 3GS (shelved: iRex iLiad, KindleDX, Adam tablet)	All PDB files with European national characters I have encountered were in Windows-1250 (in Calibre CP1250) encoding. Also all those files were without encoding specification and/or Calibre was not able to detect the encoding. I have books in Czech, Slovak, Polish. So now setting "input encoding" to "CP1250" for conversion from non-english PDB (to any ebook format) is my 1st bet.

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