Border and text indent problem ePub to mobi

[AlexBell]

I'm not at all sure that this is the right forum for this query; if not, moderator please move.

The background to this query is that I prepare ebooks for the publishers below my signature - the publisher sends me a doc file, I prepare validated XHTML files, package them into an ePub file, and then convert to mobi with calibre.

In the anthology I'm working on now one of the stories contains a 'top secret report' and the publisher wants a border around it. The report contains 'headings' which should be flush left, and are followed by unorganised list.

I've made it work in ePub, as shown by the attached ADE.PNG. But it looks awful in mobi, as shown by the attached K4PC.PNG - there is no border, and the headings are not flush left.

The CSS for the div containing the report is:

div#report { padding: 5px;
margin-top: 2em;
border: 2px black solid; }

The XHTML for the 'headings' is:

<p class="flush">Potential Threat: Ballistic or Death Ray</p>

And the CSS for the 'headings' is:

.flush { text-indent: 0; }

I know mobi is quite limited as to what it can do, and I tend to rely on calibre to modify the ePub file so that the mobi versin will look more or less the same as the ePub - so far as mobi will let it. And I know that the XHTML and CSS above works since it works in other parts of the same ebook.

Is there any way of changing the XHTML and CSS so that calibre can produce the same effect in mobi as in ePub?

[theducks]

I don't think border is allowed at the Paragraph layer in HTML3.2.

Border is allowed for a table 1 column wide?

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by theducks

I don't think border is allowed at the Paragraph layer in HTML3.2.

Thanks

Border is allowed for a table 1 column wide?

So would be the attempt at making a border which is preventing the paragraphs to be flush left/no indent in mobi? I guess the only way to find out is to comment out the border and see if that makes a difference. It's a start.

I've never attempted to do a table in ePub, but there's always a first time.

Regards, Alex

[theducks]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

So would be the attempt at making a border which is preventing the paragraphs to be flush left/no indent in mobi? I guess the only way to find out is to comment out the border and see if that makes a difference. It's a start.

I've never attempted to do a table in ePub, but there's always a first time.

Regards, Alex

Here is a test sample

[HarryT]

Tables in ePub are just normal HTML tables, Alex. Nothing special about them.

[AlexBell]

Thanks to you both, especially for the TestTable.epub

But commenting out the border doesn't make any difference - except of course to remove the border on the ePub. The headings on the mobi are still not flush left. It must be something else.

I think I'm going to take that segment out of the anthology, and make an ebook out of it starting from scratch, testing almost at each line until I find out what's wrong.

I loathe mobi with a passion.

[HarryT]

Indents in Mobi are controlled with the "width=" attribute.

Eg, <p width="1em"> will give you a 1em indent, while <p width="-1em"> gives a 1em "outdent".

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Indents in Mobi are controlled with the "width=" attribute.

Eg, <p width="1em"> will give you a 1em indent, while <p width="-1em"> gives a 1em "outdent".

I'm afraid that's not much help to me, since I markup the doc files to valid HTML, then convert these files to valid XHTML as required by the ePub standards, then package them up to valid ePubs, then convert to mobi with calibre. I doubt that the markup you've suggested will validate in XHTM, but I will try.

[HarryT]

No, I suspect you're right. I do it the other way around; I start with Mobi (which my iPhone insists on wanting to change to "zombie" ) and then convert that to ePub.

[AlexBell]

Thanks, Harry. I have a new respect for your iPhone.

I've got it to work now - so far as I can tell, mobi choked on the div I put around the report, or the padding included in the div, or the fact that I had several tags in the div CSS. Anway, I've dumbed down the markup and it works.

Regards, Alex

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, I suspect you're right. I do it the other way around; I start with Mobi (which my iPhone insists on wanting to change to "zombie" ) and then convert that to ePub.

I have a feeling I'm going to regret asking this, but is "zombie" an iPhone format or a joke I missed?

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I have a feeling I'm going to regret asking this, but is "zombie" an iPhone format or a joke I missed?

I think Harry is experiencing AutoCorrect when he was typing, and when he typed Mobi, AutoCorrect wanted to replace it by Zombie

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I think Harry is experiencing AutoCorrect when he was typing, and when he typed Mobi, AutoCorrect wanted to replace it by Zombie

Doh!



We've had some members post some pretty embarrassing things because of auto-correct.