Sigil file crashes Sony software

[Quiss]

Hi

I was doing fine converting MS word files into ePub using encore.

But I wanted a cleaner code, so I started using Sigil.

Trouble is that the Sony Reader software crashes as soon as I try to import the newly created Sigil ePub into to it for download to my reader.

I went right back to saving a totally unaltered file. Just opened the HTM file, saved as ePub in Sigil, and that's it. No images in there, just plain text, one long file but the overall file size is only 263 kb

What the heck am I doing wrong?

[mmat1]

Originally Posted by Quiss

What the heck am I doing wrong?

Do you get the same results if process your html with callibre to an epub ??

[Doitsu]

If you converted a large doc file to a book and your epub contains only one large .html file with all chapters in it, the file is most likely too big for the RMSDK engine in your Sony.
In that case it might help to import the book to Calibre and to do an epub to epub conversion. (Calibre will automatically break up the file into smaller chunks.)

Alternatively, you can insert Sigil chapter marks and have Sigll split the .html file into several smaller files.

For example, if your chapter headings are enclosed by <h3>...</h3> tags, you could use the following search and replace parameters:

Find:<h3>
Replace: <hr class="sigilChapterBreak" /><h3>

Then select Split at Chapter Markers from the Edit (F6) menu.

However, you might end up with some chapters that are larger than 260KB, which most older readers can handle.

[Quiss]

Thanks.
Mmat1 - encore-produced files work just fine. I'm only using Sigil now because some here told me it produces cleaner code.

Doitsu - I have used the chapter marks to split up the files in Sigil. Originally I suspected that that caused the crash, which is why I went back to a clean HTM file.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by Quiss

Doitsu - I have used the chapter marks to split up the files in Sigil. Originally I suspected that that caused the crash, which is why I went back to a clean HTM file.

Have you checked your file with the IDPF validator?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Quiss

Thanks.
Mmat1 - encore-produced files work just fine. I'm only using Sigil now because some here told me it produces cleaner code.

Doitsu - I have used the chapter marks to split up the files in Sigil. Originally I suspected that that caused the crash, which is why I went back to a clean HTM file.

Chapter Marks are not the same as Chapter Breaks... which are Separate files.

[Quiss]

Okay now this is weird.

I took the original file and moved all CSS to a linked style sheet (so that when I break it into chapters I don't end up with the style sheet in every section).

Now the ePub no longer crashes my Reader software.
(when moving the style sheet, the only change I made was to remove that endless list of font definitions that Word adds - I have a lot of fonts)

I have lost the page breaks, though, for some reason. Seems that as soon as I track down one issue a new one pops up!

Oh, and now the fonts are all freakishly large in my reader, even though the style sheet says 12pt. Frankly, I'm tired of Sigil now.
Things were working just fine when I just converted in caliber.


Q.

[mmat1]

Originally Posted by Quiss

Mmat1 - encore-produced files work just fine. I'm only using Sigil now because some here told me it produces cleaner code.

Yes, that's nearly true....
Sigil does not produce much code but it's a clean code.
The rest is up to you. You can tweak the code which you import to sigil in any way, if you are experienced enough...

Originally Posted by Quiss

Seems that as soon as I track down one issue a new one pops up!

That's part of the fun No one becomes an expert in few hours.

Originally Posted by Quiss

Things were working just fine when I just converted in caliber.

Maybe the day comes, where you miss some details with your books made with calibre ....

[Quiss]

Okay, I got it! I hope.

I took Word's original htm file, converted it in encore and then tweaked it with Sigil. (I dream in HTML and CSS, so that's a breeze)

Encore actually got rid of a lot of the code that MS Word put in there and created the breaks.

The book now looks exactly the way I want to in my Sony reader (except for the annoyance of having a page number on the cover) and I'll have to take my chances with other readers.
The doc is really just a cover page and a whole lotta text with very little formatting, so I am feeling confident.

Now let's hope Lulu will accept the ePub as is...

Q.

[Toxaris]

Don't use font sizes in pt. If you do, you cannot resize in readers. You should put it in em or percentages.

[Quiss]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Don't use font sizes in pt. If you do, you cannot resize in readers. You should put it in em or percentages.

Yep, I noticed encore changed that over to em.

Thanks for your help

[Quiss]

Originally Posted by Quiss

Yep, I noticed encore changed that over to em.

Err, I mean calibre.

Well, Lulu rejected the file even though it validated.
And once again, back to the drawing board.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Quiss

Err, I mean calibre.

Well, Lulu rejected the file even though it validated.
And once again, back to the drawing board.

You're trying to get a Calibre ePUB to validate? Is that right? Lulu, fwiw, uses the old 1.1 ePUBcheck, so you can get some odd errors. No one here can help you if you don't specify the ePUBcheck errors.

Hitch