Mobiperl Mobiperl - Perl tools for handling MobiPocket files

[JSWolf]

But you'd think that by now the plugins would be updated,

[tompe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But you'd think that by now the plugins would be updated,

Well, I checked that before making my statement and the web page for PAR looked exactly like before Christmas. It would be nice if you do not indicate that it is harder to install the Perl things than it is. Your problem was because you did not follow the instruction and not because of any problem anybody following the instructions would have. The best thing for people using MobiPerl regularly is to try to get Perl working so they do not have to use the Windows binaries.

[JSWolf]

Before I try to uninstall what I have I wonder if it's good enough to run your code... I'll have to give it a try and see.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Before I try to uninstall what I have I wonder if it's good enough to run your code... I'll have to give it a try and see.

If the PAR module was the only that failed to install thing it probably is. it also seems I added a dependency on the module Encode in mobi2html so you might have to install that also. for me it was already installed so I do not know when it is missing.

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by tompe

If the PAR module was the only that failed to install thing it probably is. it also seems I added a dependency on the module Encode in mobi2html so you might have to install that also. for me it was already installed so I do not know when it is missing.

Uninstalling the 822 build and installing the 820 build from here should get you a working installation. It certainly did in my case.

JSWolf, here's what you do:
Uninstall the 822 Perl build. Download and install the 820 build from the link above, Then follow the instructions on the MobiPerl web site for installing modules with the Perl Package Manager.

In addition to the packages listed there, you also need to install the Encode package. Of the two versions of PAR-Packer available in the Perl Package Manager, be sure to install PAR-Packer-588 and not the other one.

Download nmake 1.5 from Microsoft. Run nmake15.exe and copy nmake.exe and nmake.err to a directory in your path, like e.g. the bin directory of the Perl installation (C:\Perl\bin for me)

You are now ready to go. Building the MobiPerl binaries should now consist of downloading the proper .tar from here, unpacking it, opening a command prompt, navigating to the directory just created by unpacking the .tar, typing "nmake all", and waiting a bit.

(If you want to build the mobiperl 0.0.35 binaries yourself, you also need to use the Makefile attached to this post, as the one in the mobiperl-0.0.35.tar ignores the dependency on the Encode package and thus builds a faulty mobi2html.exe)

[tompe]

I will include the corrected Makefile in the next release. What is the name of the ActivePerl package that contains Encode so I can add it to the documentation?

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by Gudy

Uninstalling the 822 build and installing the 820 build from here should get you a working installation. It certainly did in my case.

JSWolf, here's what you do:
Uninstall the 822 Perl build. Download and install the 820 build from the link above, Then follow the instructions on the MobiPerl web site for installing modules with the Perl Package Manager.

In addition to the packages listed there, you also need to install the Encode package. Of the two versions of PAR-Packer available in the Perl Package Manager, be sure to install PAR-Packer-588 and not the other one.

Download nmake 1.5 from Microsoft. Run nmake15.exe and copy nmake.exe and nmake.err to a directory in your path, like e.g. the bin directory of the Perl installation (C:\Perl\bin for me)

You are now ready to go. Building the MobiPerl binaries should now consist of downloading the proper .tar from here, unpacking it, opening a command prompt, navigating to the directory just created by unpacking the .tar, typing "nmake all", and waiting a bit.

(If you want to build the mobiperl 0.0.35 binaries yourself, you also need to use the Makefile attached to this post, as the one in the mobiperl-0.0.35.tar ignores the dependency on the Encode package and thus builds a faulty mobi2html.exe)

Fantastic installation advice!

The 'nmake' was the missing piece of the puzzle for me as I use Windows.

It worked like a charm for me after using PPM to get HEBCI.pm version 0.02 from Encode-HEBCI (HTML-Entity Based Codepage Inferance).

I had a clean compile using your Makefile. (I even easily tweaked it to compile my mobi2imp )

p.s. somehow I couldn't give you any karma (told I had to spread it around before giving it to you). Anyways, thanks again for your great advice.

[Gudy]

Originally Posted by tompe

I will include the corrected Makefile in the next release. What is the name of the ActivePerl package that contains Encode so I can add it to the documentation?

Its name, rather unsurprisingly, is Encode, although nrapallo mentioned installing Encode-HEBCI instead.

[Darqref]

When I tried to use only the --author and --outfile flags, the title was reset also. I used the following command line


mobi2mobi 0671319612.prc --author "Elizabeth Moon" --outfile Against_the_Odds.prc

The file ended up with correct filename and author, but the title was set to "0671319612".

I re-downloaded the first year's webscriptions (I had them in Rocket format before) and most of them had no author set and the filename was set to the SKU. I want to reset them to a filename that I can identify from a file listing, and also have the correct authors listed. I'm experimenting with the correct format of a spreadsheet to use for a batch file, and discovered the title gets reset if I do not use the --title flag. When I DO use the --title flag, the new file has the correct title listed.

Roger

[mateo]

I've never been able to get --coverimage option to work with html2mobi. Is there some special trick I don't know about? Some special file type? I'm using regular old jpgs.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Darqref

When I tried to use only the --author and --outfile flags, the title was reset also. I used the following command line


mobi2mobi 0671319612.prc --author "Elizabeth Moon" --outfile Against_the_Odds.prc

The file ended up with correct filename and author, but the title was set to "0671319612".

I see what happens. I have used the filename as the default title to set. And here the "title" is in the database name instead. This is a bit hard to know what is best to do. Usually the filename can be a better title since it has no restriction on number of characters. If people think it is better to always take the database name as a default title I can change it. Oherwise I will keep it as it is and for these cases you have to specifiy --title.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by mateo

I've never been able to get --coverimage option to work with html2mobi. Is there some special trick I don't know about? Some special file type? I'm using regular old jpgs.

Maybe. Just to add a cover image first but not add a link to it do:

html2mobi --coverimage Cover.jpg p1.html

This will work on the Cybook but the image will not be displayed using FBReader. To also add a link first to the image do:

html2mobi --addcoverlink --coverimage Cover.jpg p1.html

Then you will see the image using FBReader but you will get double cover images in the Cybook.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

I see what happens. I have used the filename as the default title to set. And here the "title" is in the database name instead. This is a bit hard to know what is best to do. Usually the filename can be a better title since it has no restriction on number of characters. If people think it is better to always take the database name as a default title I can change it. Oherwise I will keep it as it is and for these cases you have to specifiy --title.

I think personally that using the filename as default title is the right course of action, for two reasons:

1. In most cases, the file will be called something "meaningful" and will make a reasonable title.

2. When the file has no metadata, the Gen3 displays the filename. By using the filename as the default title, if someone adds, say, an author name to a file which previously had no metadata, the displayed title won't change.

[tompe]

I did a version 0.0.36 and the only change is that I added the command mobils (triggered by a question from HarryT in another thread and i realized it was something I would find useful). It now lists author, name and filename for the files you give as an argument. Or for all files in a directory if you do not give an argument. It also takes the flag -R for recursive listing.

One obvious use for it is to check which files on my Cybook is missing author information. So what would be useful for other people to have? Which information is useful? What is the best way to display it? Since there are so many way to do things I will add features that people find useful and which I think is sensible.

Let me know if there are some problem under Windows due to filepath things. But as I understood it ActivePerl should handle these kind of things so it should work...

Here is an example of how it works now:

invid:~/mysvn/ebook/mobileread> mobils -R
Chesterton, G.K.: Father Brown Omnibus (./Father Brown Omnibus.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Haggard_Anthology_Vol_1.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Chesterton_Man Thursday.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Sherlock Holmes Omnibus.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Cabell_Jurgen.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Raffles Omnibus.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Puddnhead Extraordinary Twins.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Putnam_Nonsenseorship.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Blue Hand.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./The Council of Justice.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Haggard Anthology Vol 2.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Sayers_Whose Body.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Lady Molly of Scotland Yard.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./The Old Man in the Corner.prc)
Bierce, Ambrose: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (./Bierce, Ambrose_An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.prc)
Bierce, Ambrose: Can Such Things Be? (./Bierce, Ambrose_Can Such Things Be.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Shelley_Frankenstein 1818.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Doctorow Cory_Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Wittgenstein_Tractatus.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./The Uncommercial Traveller.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Austen_LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./Three Men in a Boat.prc)
Watts, Peter: Maelstrom (./Watts - Maelstrom.mobi)
Lovecraft, Howard Phillips: Lovecraft's Fiction Volume II, 1926-1928 (./Lovecrafts Fiction Volume II, 1926-1928_v1.1.prc)
Lovecraft, Howard Phillips: Lovecraft's Fiction Volume III, 1928-1931 (./Lovecrafts Fiction Volume III, 1928-1931_v1.1.prc)
Lovecraft, Howard Phillips: Lovecraft's Fiction Volume IV, 1932-1936 (./Lovecrafts Fiction Volume IV, 1932-1936_v1.1.prc)
Lovecraft, Howard Phillips: Lovecraft's Fiction Volume I, 1905-1925 (./Lovecrafts Fiction Volume I, 1905-1925_v1.1.prc)

./ThorneSmith:
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./ThorneSmith/Smith_Topper.prc)
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./ThorneSmith/Smith_The Night Life of the.prc)

./MarkTwain:
NOAUTHOR: NOTITLE (./MarkTwain/Twain_The Innocents Abroad.prc)

./MurrayLeinster:
Leinster, Murray: Long Ago Far Away (./MurrayLeinster/Long Ago Far Away.prc)

./AustinFreeman:
Freeman, R. Austin: Dr. Thorndyke Omnibus Vol 1 (./AustinFreeman/Dr Thorndyke Omnibus Vol 1.prc)
Freeman, R. Austin: Dr. Thorndyke Omnibus Vol 2 (./AustinFreeman/Dr Thorndyke Om:
.
.
.

[Darqref]

Originally Posted by tompe

I did a version 0.0.36 and the only change is that I added the command mobils (triggered by a question from HarryT in another thread and i realized it was something I would find useful). It now lists author, name and filename for the files you give as an argument. Or for all files in a directory if you do not give an argument. It also takes the flag -R for recursive listing.

One obvious use for it is to check which files on my Cybook is missing author information. So what would be useful for other people to have? Which information is useful? What is the best way to display it? Since there are so many way to do things I will add features that people find useful and which I think is sensible.

One way I think I'd use this it to build lists of the mobi books I have, to manage choosing which books to load on my gen3. One problem with mobipocket reader is that the library wants to stay in one directory unless I'm willing to keep restarting the program after changing the directory. I want to keep files in other directories to keep publishers different, maybe to help sort by author, or otherwise manage a lot of books.

I think I'd pipe the output to a text file and use it to build a spreadsheet.

Other than LibraryThing, does anyone have other thoughts to how they keep track of large numbers of books, possibly of vastly different genre, in a way that would allow you to quickly narrow down what you're interested in reading out of your collection? To date, I've had all my ebooks in Rocket format, and just used the Rocket Librarian (which allowed my to move things around into different folders and subfolders). I'm looking for similar features.

Roger