[Shelleyleo]

The subject says most of it - and I have a tendency to type a ton without realizing how long a post has gotten - so...count on this being a long post, but it does contain a number of questions I've often wondered about in Sigil. I also want to add that I know my questions/concerns aren't shared by everyone and that I may do things a ton differently than most people, but I try to keep it simple.

My process is to edit an html file to be squeaky clean with a very minimal CSS. One file for the entire book - including cover, title page, dedication, acknowledgement, epigraphs/preface/prologue, chapters, epilogue, and a TOC at the end of the file that is referenced via link at the beginning of every chapter heading.

My HTML "all in one file" is used for converting to several different formats, but I've added in the Sigil specific chapter break tags and the "sigilNotInTOC" bits for ease of ePub creation with Sigil. So far, no problems with the book-builds...but a few questions:

Previously (to 0.4.0's official release) I would start my Sigil session by dragging my html file onto the Sigil desktop icon to get Sigil to auto-import that file to begin with (so as to not have a Section0001.xhtml file to have to remove and such). I would then rename my all in one html file to "Section0001.xhtml" and rename my cover image to "cover.jpg" just to make all my files consistent and shortened filenames that were easily identified (and to avoid my original filenames - which have numerous spaces). Then I would hit F6 to split my HTML file on Sigil chapter markers. (reordering the file list so it was all in order, then generate TOC, save epub, and validate)

Now - and I do understand and have had it explained that Section####.xhtml naming on splits wasn't really clear for IDing what file was what or for Sigil's sequencing cues. My questions now though...

1. Why does each file-split numbering convention start with "0002" still - if that is the case, can/should the original of the split file be renamed during split to have "0001" added for similar naming?

2. Is there any way for Sigil to incorporate - along with the Sigil chapter markers - defined filenames upon split? If none are specified the filenames could do as they do now and append a number after the starting filename.

The main reason I ask is this - I'm now at a loss for what to name my starting file to get all my files to "line up" with same-length and same-format names. The new naming is supposed to make it easier to perhaps see what a file is based on a name - but for me, the starter file containing the first section - my cover image imbedded with my title page - is whatever my starting filename choice is. Then my dedication/acknowledgements/epigraph/and so on start numbering with filename+_0002. So "Chapter 1" usually ends up someplace around filename_0004 or so - making the filenames for the splits just as "useless" as naming them by section numbers. All I've really gained by changing the method for split-naming myself (aside from the files being in order due to better sequence queues?) is the necessity to re-normalize all my already made ePubs if I want their internal bits to be consistently named going forward and using Section.xhtml for the first file then renaming it to Section_0001.xhtml post-split to make it more "inline" ordered. (Even if I made the first split never happen before the chapter 1 began, my chapter numbers would never start at "1" from the original file...they would begin at "2".)

I guess maybe a auto-split like now, but with finer control - so I can name file 1 "cover", do the first split and rename the "cover_0002.xhtml" file to 'dedication.xhtml', do another single-split and rename "dedication_0002.xhtml" to 'ack.xhtml', then when I split it off and can rename the resulting file 'chapter.xhtml' (to be renamed after splitting all the other chapters off it to "chapter_0001.xhtml") and renaming the final few split files to epilogue and toc as needed - but that's really not any different than doing an auto-split and renaming every file created to make it usefully named. When I tried doing a manual split, I ended up with chapter 1 being in the proper place on the file-tree - in order between my dedication file and my chapter 2 file for that book - but the TOC generation window insisted that Chapter 1 was the last file in the list no matter how I attempted to re-order files to reset it to knowing that chapter 1 was really in the right place. I'm used to having to re-order my splits around to get them in the right order for the TOC with an older release candidate for 0.4.0 from March, but apparently dragging the files into order doesn't quite work that way for the toc generation anymore?

I really want to understand all this - and I really would like a way to make my files have nice pretty well-formed and informative names, without having a multitude of "starter" files for each section to import instead of splitting off a master single file like I have now - but barring that, having a way to easily and consistently name the files along the same scheme without renaming the starting file to include the "_0001" bit that gets added to all the split files would even be a help for my OCD. I'm just hoping to offer ideas to help match up the changes so the file list is both useful/meaningful and provides Sigil with the sequence cues needed for ordering the final file list.

I use a template file to put all my new texts into - so putting in specific naming schemes for section splits would be a simple matter for me anyway - particularly if the "sigilChapterBreak" were able to accept title or id attributes afforded to whatever the class was "attached" to somehow but I'm REALLY not clear on how that all would work since it is a "class"...

Anyway - I know this has gotten long, and I know this can just all get filed as "user wants too much customization" or something...I'd just keep using the old release candidate version, but doing that means I have to re-order my files after splitting (which I do understand was part of the new naming structure for splits reasoning). I'm not a programmer so I have no idea how impossible the things I'm curious about really would be to implement.

I do appreciate the work of everyone who contributes to the Sigil project though - I do want that clear at the very least - it has been a HUGE time saver for me.