Help! New to Calibre

[JulieMack]

Hi, I am new to Calibre and I found this forum - hoping someone can help! I am trying to convert an .htm file and I keep having problems. I did submit a ticket, but I thought I would come here.

Here is the error:

ERROR: Conversion Error: <b>Failed</b>: Convert book 1 of 1 (SuccessfulBlog)

Convert book 1 of 1 (SuccessfulBlog)
Resolved conversion options
calibre version: 0.7.40
{'asciiize': False,
 'author_sort': None,
 'authors': None,
 'base_font_size': 0.0,
 'book_producer': None,
 'breadth_first': False,
 'change_justification': u'original',
 'chapter': u"//*[((name()='h1' or name()='h2') and re:test(., 'chapter|book|section|part|prologue|epilogue\\s+', 'i')) or @class = 'chapter']",
 'chapter_mark': u'pagebreak',
 'comments': None,
 'cover': None,
 'debug_pipeline': None,
 'disable_font_rescaling': False,
 'dont_package': False,
 'dont_split_on_page_breaks': False,
 'epub_flatten': False,
 'extra_css': None,
 'extract_to': None,
 'flow_size': 260,
 'font_size_mapping': None,
 'footer_regex': u'(?i)(?<=<hr>)((\\s*<a name=\\d+></a>((<img.+?>)*<br>\\s*)?\\d+<br>\\s*.*?\\s*)|(\\s*<a name=\\d+></a>((<img.+?>)*<br>\\s*)?.*?<br>\\s*\\d+))(?=<br>)',
 'header_regex': u'(?i)(?<=<hr>)((\\s*<a name=\\d+></a>((<img.+?>)*<br>\\s*)?\\d+<br>\\s*.*?\\s*)|(\\s*<a name=\\d+></a>((<img.+?>)*<br>\\s*)?.*?<br>\\s*\\d+))(?=<br>)',
 'html_unwrap_factor': 0.4,
 'input_encoding': None,
 'input_profile': <calibre.customize.profiles.InputProfile object at 0x1079fd950>,
 'insert_blank_line': False,
 'insert_metadata': False,
 'isbn': None,
 'keep_ligatures': False,
 'language': None,
 'level1_toc': None,
 'level2_toc': None,
 'level3_toc': None,
 'line_height': 0.0,
 'linearize_tables': False,
 'margin_bottom': 5.0,
 'margin_left': 5.0,
 'margin_right': 5.0,
 'margin_top': 5.0,
 'max_levels': 5,
 'max_toc_links': 50,
 'minimum_line_height': 120.0,
 'no_chapters_in_toc': False,
 'no_default_epub_cover': False,
 'no_inline_navbars': False,
 'no_svg_cover': False,
 'output_profile': <calibre.customize.profiles.KindleOutput object at 0x1079fdf10>,
 'page_breaks_before': u"//*[name()='h1' or name()='h2']",
 'prefer_metadata_cover': False,
 'preprocess_html': False,
 'preserve_cover_aspect_ratio': False,
 'pretty_print': True,
 'pubdate': None,
 'publisher': None,
 'rating': None,
 'read_metadata_from_opf': '/var/folders/7D/7Dkn3HjzHa8yKAMRN3BviU+++TI/-Tmp-/calibre_0.7.40_tmp_CPzBYN/calibre_0.7.40_DfX_yv.opf',
 'remove_first_image': False,
 'remove_footer': False,
 'remove_header': False,
 'remove_paragraph_spacing': False,
 'remove_paragraph_spacing_indent_size': 1.5,
 'series': None,
 'series_index': None,
 'smarten_punctuation': False,
 'tags': None,
 'timestamp': None,
 'title': None,
 'title_sort': None,
 'toc_filter': None,
 'toc_threshold': 6,
 'use_auto_toc': False,
 'verbose': 2}
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [6:2: panose-1]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [7:2: mso-font-charset]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [8:2: mso-generic-font-family]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [9:2: mso-font-pitch]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [10:2: mso-font-signature]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [13:3: mso-style-parent]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [16:2: mso-pagination]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [19:2: mso-fareast-font-family]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [20:2: mso-bidi-font-family]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [22:3: mso-style-link]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [25:2: mso-pagination]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [26:2: tab-stops]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [29:2: mso-fareast-font-family]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [30:2: mso-bidi-font-family]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [32:3: mso-style-link]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [35:2: mso-pagination]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [36:2: tab-stops]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [39:2: mso-fareast-font-family]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [40:2: mso-bidi-font-family]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [42:3: mso-style-name]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [43:2: mso-style-locked]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [44:2: mso-style-link]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [45:2: mso-ansi-font-size]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [46:2: mso-bidi-font-size]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [48:3: mso-style-name]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [49:2: mso-style-locked]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [50:2: mso-style-link]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [51:2: mso-ansi-font-size]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [52:2: mso-bidi-font-size]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [56:2: mso-header-margin]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [57:2: mso-footer-margin]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [58:2: mso-footer]
WARNING	Property: Unknown Property name. [59:2: mso-paper-source]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [63:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [67:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [88:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [109:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [130:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [151:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [172:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [193:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [214:1: @list]
WARNING	CSSStylesheet: Unknown @rule found. [235:1: @list]
Python function terminated unexpectedly: All strings must be XML compatible: Unicode or ASCII, no NULL bytes
InputFormatPlugin: HTML Input running
on /Users/Julie/Calibre Library/Unknown/SuccessfulBlog (11)/SuccessfulBlog - Unknown.htm
Language not specified
Creator not specified
Building file list...
	Found files...
		 HTMLFile:0:a:/Users/Julie/Calibre Library/Unknown/SuccessfulBlog (11)/SuccessfulBlog - Unknown.htm
Normalizing filename cases
Rewriting HTML links
Parsing SuccessfulBlog%20-%20Unknown.htm ...
Initial parse failed:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages/calibre/ebooks/oeb/base.py", line 857, in first_pass
  File "lxml.etree.pyx", line 2532, in lxml.etree.fromstring (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:48634)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1545, in lxml.etree._parseMemoryDocument (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:72245)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1417, in lxml.etree._parseDoc (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:71041)
  File "parser.pxi", line 898, in lxml.etree._BaseParser._parseUnicodeDoc (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:67581)
  File "parser.pxi", line 539, in lxml.etree._ParserContext._handleParseResultDoc (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:64257)
  File "parser.pxi", line 625, in lxml.etree._handleParseResult (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:65178)
  File "parser.pxi", line 565, in lxml.etree._raiseParseError (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:64521)
XMLSyntaxError: AttValue: " or ' expected, line 8, column 11

Parsing file 'SuccessfulBlog%20-%20Unknown.htm' as HTML
Forcing SuccessfulBlog%20-%20Unknown.htm into XHTML namespace
File 'SuccessfulBlog%20-%20Unknown.htm' missing <title/> element
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Applications/calibre.app/Contents/Resources/Python/lib/python2.7/site.py", line 147, in main
    return run_entry_point()
  File "/Applications/calibre.app/Contents/Resources/Python/lib/python2.7/site.py", line 116, in run_entry_point
    return getattr(pmod, func)()
  File "site-packages/calibre/utils/ipc/worker.py", line 107, in main
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/convert/gui_conversion.py", line 24, in gui_convert
  File "site-packages/calibre/ebooks/conversion/plumber.py", line 855, in run
  File "site-packages/calibre/customize/conversion.py", line 216, in __call__
  File "site-packages/calibre/ebooks/html/input.py", line 295, in convert
  File "site-packages/calibre/ebooks/html/input.py", line 374, in create_oebbook
  File "site-packages/calibre/ebooks/oeb/base.py", line 224, in rewrite_links
  File "lxml.etree.pyx", line 821, in lxml.etree._Element.text.__set__ (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:33308)
  File "apihelpers.pxi", line 646, in lxml.etree._setNodeText (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:15287)
  File "apihelpers.pxi", line 1295, in lxml.etree._utf8 (src/lxml/lxml.etree.c:20212)
ValueError: All strings must be XML compatible: Unicode or ASCII, no NULL bytes

Looks pretty bad, but I have no idea what it means. The document was created in Word, and then saved as a .htm before I added to Calibre.

Thanks!

Julie

[Manichean]

MS Office notoriously produces lots of cruft in HTML documents. Try saving it as a "filtered web page". Also, try enabling the preprocessing option in the structure detection part of the conversion settings.

[JulieMack]

Okay, I am not sure how to do that - LOL

I did enable the preprocessing option though!

I am using a Mac version of Office if that matters. I think you may be right about the problem being with .doc. What would you say is the best way to convert. I thought of text, but I have hyperlinks in my doc.

Thanks!!

Great forum BTW.. I am also an avid Kindle reader - so I think in the future I can use Calibre for that as well!

[Starson17]

.....

[jackie_w]

On my Windows copy of Word (admittedly pretty old), its under File - SaveAs - Save as Type - Webpage, filtered

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by JulieMack

I am using a Mac version of Office if that matters. I think you may be right about the problem being with .doc. What would you say is the best way to convert. I thought of text, but I have hyperlinks in my doc.

I don't use MS Office myself, but I believe it should be in the "save as"- options where you selected HTML as a format. Try to look for something like "web page, filtered" or "HTML, filtered" or anything like that.
Edited to add: You could also try RTF, Calibre supports that as well. I don't know if it allows for links, though.

Originally Posted by Starson17

It would also help to give more details than "I keep having problems."

Well, to be fair, she did attach the conversion log. In principle, you're right, though. I was actually considering if we shouldn't, in some way, create a guide not dissimilar to this, but I thought it would be too condescending. And we lose the ability to make snide remarks about how people need to give more details

[JulieMack]

Thanks! I thought the error would be the easiest than trying to explain. I understand the whole "I am having problems" with no explanation thing works.

Thanks for your help. I think I may have to think this about this one. There is no option in Mac Word for saving that way - only .htm. I did manage to change a few things under option, it converted it, but in Chinese letters! Strange! I will let you know if I figure it out, in case others have the same problems.

UPDATE: Sorry to be a pain. I am getting closer - the error is smaller. I changed it to a .doc and checked off "Save only display information in HTML"

Here is what i have now:

ERROR: ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>TypeError</b>:'NoneType' object is not subscriptable

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/__init__.py", line 306, in dispatch
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/actions/convert.py", line 175, in book_converted
  File "site-packages/calibre/library/database2.py", line 945, in add_format
  File "site-packages/calibre/library/database2.py", line 383, in path
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable

Anyone?

[Manichean]

That sounds like you messed with the codepage settings. If you're just clicking things at (mostly) random, try having a look at the manual before you do.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by JulieMack

Here is what i have now:

ERROR: ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>TypeError</b>:'NoneType' object is not subscriptable

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/__init__.py", line 306, in dispatch
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/actions/convert.py", line 175, in book_converted
  File "site-packages/calibre/library/database2.py", line 945, in add_format
  File "site-packages/calibre/library/database2.py", line 383, in path
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable

Anyone?

That error indicates that you have a seriously disturbed library. There are books in the library for which there are no corresponding data folders.

I recommend that you run Check Database Integrity, then check library. Both are under 'library maintenance' on the dropdown menu for the library toolbar button.

By any chance to you use two different operating systems to access the same calibre library? You can get problems similar to the one you are seeing if both Windows/Mac and Linux are used on the same library, because the first two are case-insensitive but linux is not.

[JulieMack]

Originally Posted by chaley

That error indicates that you have a seriously disturbed library. There are books in the library for which there are no corresponding data folders.

I recommend that you run Check Database Integrity, then check library. Both are under 'library maintenance' on the dropdown menu for the library toolbar button.

By any chance to you use two different operating systems to access the same calibre library? You can get problems similar to the one you are seeing if both Windows/Mac and Linux are used on the same library, because the first two are case-insensitive but linux is not.

I checked the library, it looks okay... although I have to look further into the author thing. Because many files download without an author - how do you add that?

Here is what I did to fix it (mostly).

I finally found the best solution to get hyperlinks correctly moved over - Open Office. From Open Office, I can save as .pdf. THEN, I uploaded it to Calibre. It converted pretty good. The hyperlinks work, although the anchor text is a little off. But, for now, I think this may work best.

Thanks everyone for your help. Now, I can move on the rest of the forum!

[Manichean]

Try to avoid PDF as a source format for conversion. The native OpenOffice format should work as well. PDF is really only suitable for print prestage and such things.

[JulieMack]

Originally Posted by Manichean

Try to avoid PDF as a source format for conversion. The native OpenOffice format should work as well. PDF is really only suitable for print prestage and such things.

Thanks for all your help - I appreciate since I an new to Calibre. In your opinion, what is the best way to convert a doc with hyperlinks that work if not PDF?

[Manichean]

Like I said, try the native OpenOffice format (I believe it's called ODT), Calibre supports that as well. The problem with PDF is that it saves fixed formatting very well, like in a page layout for print, but it often seriously falters when getting converted into reflowable text, like ebooks.

[JulieMack]

Originally Posted by Manichean

Like I said, try the native OpenOffice format (I believe it's called ODT), Calibre supports that as well. The problem with PDF is that it saves fixed formatting very well, like in a page layout for print, but it often seriously falters when getting converted into reflowable text, like ebooks.

Thanks again - I will write these steps down to share with others once it all works!

Okay, I did the .odt, but when I convert it, it adds all the <Document Properties> at the front of the ebook. But, it does convert the hyperlinks well!

Here's just part of it...

<oocumentProperties>

<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>

<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>

<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>

<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>

<o:Words>2311</o:Words>

<o:Characters>11093</o:Characters>

Man, so close!!

[Manichean]

That's kinda strange. Are those things at the front of the ODT, then?

By the way, if the PDF route works well for you, then by all means, use it. I was just trying to give the general hint that most of the time, PDF converts rather bad.