Writing an html-ePub converter?

nikkie · 01-31-2010, 03:17 PM

Have any of y'all written an html-ePub converter? My company is considering making our product more mobile-reading-friendly, and I am trying to ascertain the scope of the project.

So, if you have scripted converters:
(1) What are the most difficult parts?
(2) How long did it take you?
(3) Is it necessary to include a tweaking tool, or is it reasonable to expect the final output will be sufficient?
(4) For dynamic content, has anyone considered linking to RSS feeds? What are your thoughts on how you would prefer to have dynamic content introduced to an ePub context?
(5) Has anyone used text fields in ePub (forms)? Is it even allowed?

rmm200 · 01-31-2010, 03:19 PM

Keep in mind an EPub file is just a zipped-up collection of XHTML and CSS - and a few other bits.

Robert

nikkie · 01-31-2010, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmm200

Keep in mind an EPub file is just a zipped-up collection of XHTML and CSS - and a few other bits.

Robert

I realize that. I'm just wondering about the extra details - need to strip any tags not acceptable in ePub, generating the extra files, etc.

frabjous · 01-31-2010, 06:11 PM

You might want to ask in the calibre forum, since it includes such a converter, and I'm pretty sure you can use it with RSS feeds (though I haven't tried personally).

neilmarr · 02-01-2010, 06:03 AM

Hya Nikkie: Our tech chap has been working from Word source material, converting to HTML, adjusting layout where necessary in Dreamweaver, and then converting to ePub using Calibre. The result is superb. Mind you, we're talking the converstion of straight novels; not forms or anything with eccentric layout. Good luck. Neil

01-31-2010, 03:17 PM	#1
nikkie Guru Posts: 614 Karma: 73700 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: WA, USA Device: Android, Kindle Paperwhite, lots of ancient readers	Writing an html-ePub converter? Have any of y'all written an html-ePub converter? My company is considering making our product more mobile-reading-friendly, and I am trying to ascertain the scope of the project. So, if you have scripted converters: (1) What are the most difficult parts? (2) How long did it take you? (3) Is it necessary to include a tweaking tool, or is it reasonable to expect the final output will be sufficient? (4) For dynamic content, has anyone considered linking to RSS feeds? What are your thoughts on how you would prefer to have dynamic content introduced to an ePub context? (5) Has anyone used text fields in ePub (forms)? Is it even allowed?

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01-31-2010, 03:19 PM	#2
rmm200 Groupie Posts: 195 Karma: 414 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bend, OR Device: Sony PRS-600	Keep in mind an EPub file is just a zipped-up collection of XHTML and CSS - and a few other bits. Robert

01-31-2010, 06:11 PM	#4
frabjous Wizard Posts: 1,213 Karma: 12890 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA Device: Sony PRS-505	You might want to ask in the calibre forum, since it includes such a converter, and I'm pretty sure you can use it with RSS feeds (though I haven't tried personally).

02-01-2010, 06:03 AM	#5
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Hya Nikkie: Our tech chap has been working from Word source material, converting to HTML, adjusting layout where necessary in Dreamweaver, and then converting to ePub using Calibre. The result is superb. Mind you, we're talking the converstion of straight novels; not forms or anything with eccentric layout. Good luck. Neil