Newbie Question re txt File Conversion

GJN · 08-30-2009, 09:32 AM

Hi folks,

I'm a relatively new calibre user who's been using the software primarily as an eBook database manager for his Kindle. Now I'm trying to convert some .txt files to .mobi format and have run into a problem.

Paragraphs in my .txt files end with a new line, so I've checked the "Treat each line as a paragraph" option under "TXT Input". This part works well. Each new line, however, (i.e. each paragraph) also begins with a tab and this causes calibre to switch to a Courier-style font and a shortened line length. If I delete the tab, the conversion proceeds normally.

Is there a way I can get calibre to ignore the tab at the beginning of each paragraph? I guess I could reformat the whole document, but that would be a great deal of tedious work and there must be a smarter solution.

I run calibre 0.6.10 on a Mac under OS X 10.5.8.

Oh, and is there something I can insert between sections to force the conversion to begin a new page?

Thanks very much for your help.
George

GRiker · 08-30-2009, 10:35 AM

GJN,
If you're using a text editor with reasonable search/replace functionality, you can easily run a macro to replace tabs.

In order to take advantage of formatting, you will want to migrate the files to HTML format. In HTML, you can format the section heads as <h1> or <h2>, which will force page breaks at those locations.

G

GJN · 08-30-2009, 10:41 AM

Thanks, GRiker. I'll have to find another text editor. Mac's TextEdit doesn't do find/replaces.

GRiker · 08-30-2009, 11:29 AM

Take a look at TextWrangler - it's free, and very capable.

G

user_none · 08-30-2009, 04:04 PM

Calibre runs all text files though markdown. Markdown is a simple format that allows some basic formatting to be added to a text file. During conversion the markdown syntax is converted to the appropriate HTML equivalent. A tab at the beginning of the file is a markdown marking for a code block. If you could open a ticket requesting an option to remove whitespace from the beginning of lines for TXT input. That way I won't forget about adding it.

TMF · 08-30-2009, 04:36 PM

This has caused problems for me too. I've opened a ticket at http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/ticket/3359. Thanks!

user_none · 08-31-2009, 09:12 PM

I've made the changes for markdown to be optional (to enable markdown use the--markdown option). It's just waiting merging to trunk. It still defines paragraphs as being separated by a blank line. If your input file treats each line as a paragraph use the --single-line-paras option.

GJN · 09-04-2009, 07:40 AM

Thanks, all. I've gotten and successfully used TextWrangler and I appreciate knowing about markdown.

08-30-2009, 09:32 AM	#1
GJN Guilty Bystander Posts: 104 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Florida Device: MacBook Pro, Kindle, iPad, and other gadgets	Newbie Question re txt File Conversion Hi folks, I'm a relatively new calibre user who's been using the software primarily as an eBook database manager for his Kindle. Now I'm trying to convert some .txt files to .mobi format and have run into a problem. Paragraphs in my .txt files end with a new line, so I've checked the "Treat each line as a paragraph" option under "TXT Input". This part works well. Each new line, however, (i.e. each paragraph) also begins with a tab and this causes calibre to switch to a Courier-style font and a shortened line length. If I delete the tab, the conversion proceeds normally. Is there a way I can get calibre to ignore the tab at the beginning of each paragraph? I guess I could reformat the whole document, but that would be a great deal of tedious work and there must be a smarter solution. I run calibre 0.6.10 on a Mac under OS X 10.5.8. Oh, and is there something I can insert between sections to force the conversion to begin a new page? Thanks very much for your help. George

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08-30-2009, 10:35 AM	#2
GRiker Comparer of the Ephemeris Posts: 1,496 Karma: 424697 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: iPad	GJN, If you're using a text editor with reasonable search/replace functionality, you can easily run a macro to replace tabs. In order to take advantage of formatting, you will want to migrate the files to HTML format. In HTML, you can format the section heads as <h1> or <h2>, which will force page breaks at those locations. G

08-30-2009, 10:41 AM	#3
GJN Guilty Bystander Posts: 104 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Florida Device: MacBook Pro, Kindle, iPad, and other gadgets	Thanks, GRiker. I'll have to find another text editor. Mac's TextEdit doesn't do find/replaces.

08-30-2009, 11:29 AM	#4
GRiker Comparer of the Ephemeris Posts: 1,496 Karma: 424697 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: iPad	Take a look at TextWrangler - it's free, and very capable. G

08-30-2009, 04:04 PM	#5
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,487 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	Calibre runs all text files though markdown. Markdown is a simple format that allows some basic formatting to be added to a text file. During conversion the markdown syntax is converted to the appropriate HTML equivalent. A tab at the beginning of the file is a markdown marking for a code block. If you could open a ticket requesting an option to remove whitespace from the beginning of lines for TXT input. That way I won't forget about adding it.

08-30-2009, 04:36 PM	#6
TMF Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Device: PRS-505	This has caused problems for me too. I've opened a ticket at http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/ticket/3359. Thanks!

08-31-2009, 09:12 PM	#7
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,487 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	I've made the changes for markdown to be optional (to enable markdown use the--markdown option). It's just waiting merging to trunk. It still defines paragraphs as being separated by a blank line. If your input file treats each line as a paragraph use the --single-line-paras option.

09-04-2009, 07:40 AM	#8
GJN Guilty Bystander Posts: 104 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Florida Device: MacBook Pro, Kindle, iPad, and other gadgets	Thanks, all. I've gotten and successfully used TextWrangler and I appreciate knowing about markdown.

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