Editing EPUB content with no extensions

kiwidude · 09-25-2011, 06:10 PM

Some of the epubs that I try to edit in Sigil end up opening with all of their files in the "Misc" folder. This is because they have no extension of .html or .xhtml, their filenames are things like html_split_000, html_split_001 etc. This is probably 1 in 10 of the ePubs I edit, so fairly frequently.

These files appear to be completely uneditable in Sigil (you cannot open in any way). However what is worse is that if you make the mistake of clicking Save on that ePub (thinking you could still safely edit the Stylesheet), Sigil will save the new directory structure it uses, but not update any internal references in those files linking stylesheets or images. So your ePub becomes horribly mangled.

The only approach I have found is to use Tweak ePub in Sigil. But then you cannot do features like merging/splitting which is one of my top reasons for using Sigil.

Are there any plans for Sigil to address these ePubs? I have no idea why they are named in this way (some editing tool or something?). It would be nice to somehow bulk select those files in Sigil and get them renamed to have a Sigil friendly extension (e.g. .xhtml), moved to the "Text" folder and keep all relative references to stylesheets, TOC etc intact. Pretty please

. Or if someone else has an alternate approach please share.

theducks · 09-25-2011, 06:41 PM

@kiwidude
I have seen other cases of naming that Sigil can't deal with.

Code:

.foobar001html

Sigil will not allow or reposition the file if you try and rename it.

The only reason the EPUB works is the Original NCX file matches the naming. Once Sigil tries and standardise the structure is when things go really south.

user_none · 09-25-2011, 09:42 PM

If you could, please open a bug report and attach a sample file.

cybmole · 09-26-2011, 01:39 AM

i've had books like this. i run an epub to mobi then back to epub conversion sequence in calibre. that fixes the file extensions & moves them out of misc.

charleski · 09-26-2011, 05:06 AM

One of my longer-term goals is to change the way Sigil parses the content files so that it sorts them according to the mimetype given in the opf instead of looking at the file extension. The current version should handle files which have a period as the first character if they also have a valid extension further on (e.g. .splitmangle001.html), but it will get confused if there's no proper extension at all.

Unfortunately right now the best solution is to extract the files and rename them from the command line (e.g. ren * *.xhtml in windows) then reinsert them into the epub (Sigil should rebuild the manifest) and do a global replace to resolve any links.

kiwidude · 09-26-2011, 08:19 AM

Thanks all for the responses.

@theducks - yeah I too have seen files named as "just" an extension like .foo_html_split_000

@user_none - next time I come across one I can attach it to a bug report for you.

@cybmole - now that sounds an interesting thing to try in the interim. Obviously multiple calibre conversions isn't "ideal" but it could be worth a go for when I *really* need to do some Sigil editing (keeping a copy of the untouched original of course).

@charleski -indeed, using the opf media-type sounds a more ideal longer term approach. Though I guess that wouldn't work for people building their ePub up as they go by adding in files, since they wouldn't be in the opf yet. So you would be back to having to rename them outside of Sigil before adding them?

user_none · 10-14-2011, 10:19 PM

Fixed for 0.5. The fix allows Sigil to take into account and use the mimetype when available. The file extension will still be used otherwise.

09-25-2011, 06:10 PM	#1
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,728 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	Editing EPUB content with no extensions Some of the epubs that I try to edit in Sigil end up opening with all of their files in the "Misc" folder. This is because they have no extension of .html or .xhtml, their filenames are things like html_split_000, html_split_001 etc. This is probably 1 in 10 of the ePubs I edit, so fairly frequently. These files appear to be completely uneditable in Sigil (you cannot open in any way). However what is worse is that if you make the mistake of clicking Save on that ePub (thinking you could still safely edit the Stylesheet), Sigil will save the new directory structure it uses, but not update any internal references in those files linking stylesheets or images. So your ePub becomes horribly mangled. The only approach I have found is to use Tweak ePub in Sigil. But then you cannot do features like merging/splitting which is one of my top reasons for using Sigil. Are there any plans for Sigil to address these ePubs? I have no idea why they are named in this way (some editing tool or something?). It would be nice to somehow bulk select those files in Sigil and get them renamed to have a Sigil friendly extension (e.g. .xhtml), moved to the "Text" folder and keep all relative references to stylesheets, TOC etc intact. Pretty please . Or if someone else has an alternate approach please share.

09-25-2011, 06:41 PM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,001 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	@kiwidude I have seen other cases of naming that Sigil can't deal with. Code: .foobar001html Sigil will not allow or reposition the file if you try and rename it. The only reason the EPUB works is the Original NCX file matches the naming. Once Sigil tries and standardise the structure is when things go really south.

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09-25-2011, 09:42 PM	#3
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,487 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	If you could, please open a bug report and attach a sample file.

09-26-2011, 01:39 AM	#4
cybmole Wizard Posts: 3,720 Karma: 1759970 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: none	i've had books like this. i run an epub to mobi then back to epub conversion sequence in calibre. that fixes the file extensions & moves them out of misc.

09-26-2011, 05:06 AM	#5
charleski Wizard Posts: 1,196 Karma: 1281258 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-505	One of my longer-term goals is to change the way Sigil parses the content files so that it sorts them according to the mimetype given in the opf instead of looking at the file extension. The current version should handle files which have a period as the first character if they also have a valid extension further on (e.g. .splitmangle001.html), but it will get confused if there's no proper extension at all. Unfortunately right now the best solution is to extract the files and rename them from the command line (e.g. ren * *.xhtml in windows) then reinsert them into the epub (Sigil should rebuild the manifest) and do a global replace to resolve any links.

09-26-2011, 08:19 AM	#6
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,728 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	Thanks all for the responses. @theducks - yeah I too have seen files named as "just" an extension like .foo_html_split_000 @user_none - next time I come across one I can attach it to a bug report for you. @cybmole - now that sounds an interesting thing to try in the interim. Obviously multiple calibre conversions isn't "ideal" but it could be worth a go for when I really need to do some Sigil editing (keeping a copy of the untouched original of course). @charleski -indeed, using the opf media-type sounds a more ideal longer term approach. Though I guess that wouldn't work for people building their ePub up as they go by adding in files, since they wouldn't be in the opf yet. So you would be back to having to rename them outside of Sigil before adding them?

10-14-2011, 10:19 PM	#7
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,487 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	Fixed for 0.5. The fix allows Sigil to take into account and use the mimetype when available. The file extension will still be used otherwise.

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