Bulk convert HTML characters for epub

christopher88 · 11-14-2013, 12:34 PM

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone knows the best way to batch convert text from a doc file to HTML characters? E.g. for any instance of & to be converted to &?

I’ve tried converting from a txt file through Calibre but I noticed that it didn’t take these into account.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Chris

Doitsu · 11-14-2013, 01:00 PM

You could create a new ePub with Sigil and simply copy and paste the text into the default Section0001.xhtml page in Book View mode. Sigil will automatically convert ampersands and other problematic characters to entities.

AFAIK, Calibre can also convert markdown text files to ePubs.

theducks · 11-14-2013, 01:10 PM

IIRC Writer2EPUB handle this when doing a DOC to EPUB save

Toxaris · 11-14-2013, 03:11 PM

You could also use my macro or add-in.

christopher88 · 11-15-2013, 06:18 AM

Thank you very much for your responses!

I’ve used the Sigil option as I presume that Toxaris, your plugin won’t work on mac?

It does convert characters such as & to & however it doesn’t seem to convert characters: “ ( “ ) ’ ( ’ ) – ( – )

Are these essential for text in pubs or do they not need to be converted?

Thank you.

Doitsu · 11-15-2013, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christopher88

It does convert characters such as & to & however it doesn’t seem to convert characters: “ ( “ ) ’ ( ’ ) – ( – )

Are these essential for text in pubs or do they not need to be converted

AFAIK, only the five pre-defined XML entities (&, <, >, " and ') need to be converted; all other named HTML entities are pre-defined in the xhtml standard.

christopher88 · 11-15-2013, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

AFAIK, only the five pre-defined XML entities (&, <, >, " and ') need to be converted; all other named HTML entities are pre-defined in the xhtml standard.

Excellent! Thank you very much for your help.

Toxaris · 11-15-2013, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christopher88

Thank you very much for your responses!

I’ve used the Sigil option as I presume that Toxaris, your plugin won’t work on mac?

It does convert characters such as & to & however it doesn’t seem to convert characters: “ ( “ ) ’ ( ’ ) – ( – )

Are these essential for text in pubs or do they not need to be converted?

Thank you.

The add-in does not work on Mac, the macro does.

radius · 11-28-2013, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Sigil will automatically convert ampersands and other problematic characters to entities.

Hi Doitsu, by "problematic characters", I imagine you are talking about various quotes and brackets? I can see how they could be an issue in tags, but in what way are they and amperands problematic when they are in the body of the text?

Thanks!

Doitsu · 11-28-2013, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radius

Hi Doitsu, by "problematic characters", I imagine you are talking about various quotes and brackets? I can see how they could be an issue in tags, but in what way are they and amperands problematic when they are in the body of the text?

Since the five pre-defined XML entities are used to define character entities and tags they need to be "escaped" if they're used as regular characters. I.e. they need to be written as entities. For example, single ampersands need to be inserted as & in Code View mode. (If you enter an ampersand in Book View mode, Sigil'll automatically convert it to an entity.)

theducks · 11-28-2013, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radius

Hi Doitsu, by "problematic characters", I imagine you are talking about various quotes and brackets? I can see how they could be an issue in tags, but in what way are they and amperands problematic when they are in the body of the text?

Thanks!

If using Sigil
Use the Omega sign button tool ,to insert special characters, includes many not on the keyboard

radius · 11-29-2013, 12:00 PM

Oh OK. It's obvious why angle brackets need to be escaped, but I have apostrophes, quotes and maybe even ampersands all over the place in HTML and never realized they might cause a problem. Thanks.

Jellby · 11-29-2013, 12:13 PM

Quotes and apostrophes I believe only have to escaped when they are used in some attribute value, as in <h1 title="How to be "smart"">, otherwise they are fine in HTML. Ampersands must be escaped always

Symmetria · 12-02-2013, 01:23 PM

This online WYSIWYG html5 compliant editor also automatically converts special characters (like vowels with umlaut, etc) into name references (HTML entities).
http://htmleditor.in/index.html

Paste your code in it whil it's in source mode, turn it to visual mode and back to source mode and they will be converted.

11-14-2013, 12:34 PM	#1
christopher88 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bournemouth, UK Device: Kindle, iPad	Bulk convert HTML characters for epub Hi there, I was wondering if anyone knows the best way to batch convert text from a doc file to HTML characters? E.g. for any instance of & to be converted to &? I’ve tried converting from a txt file through Calibre but I noticed that it didn’t take these into account. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Chris

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11-14-2013, 01:00 PM	#2
Doitsu Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,763 Karma: 24088559 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle PW2	You could create a new ePub with Sigil and simply copy and paste the text into the default Section0001.xhtml page in Book View mode. Sigil will automatically convert ampersands and other problematic characters to entities. AFAIK, Calibre can also convert markdown text files to ePubs.

11-14-2013, 01:10 PM	#3
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,267 Karma: 61916422 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	IIRC Writer2EPUB handle this when doing a DOC to EPUB save

11-14-2013, 03:11 PM	#4
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	You could also use my macro or add-in.

11-15-2013, 06:18 AM	#5
christopher88 Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bournemouth, UK Device: Kindle, iPad	Thank you very much for your responses! I’ve used the Sigil option as I presume that Toxaris, your plugin won’t work on mac? It does convert characters such as & to & however it doesn’t seem to convert characters: “ ( “ ) ’ ( ’ ) – ( – ) Are these essential for text in pubs or do they not need to be converted? Thank you.

11-29-2013, 12:00 PM	#12
radius Lector minore Posts: 661 Karma: 1738720 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Aura One, Paperwhite Signature	Oh OK. It's obvious why angle brackets need to be escaped, but I have apostrophes, quotes and maybe even ampersands all over the place in HTML and never realized they might cause a problem. Thanks.

11-29-2013, 12:13 PM	#13
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,570 Karma: 20150435 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Quotes and apostrophes I believe only have to escaped when they are used in some attribute value, as in <h1 title="How to be "smart"">, otherwise they are fine in HTML. Ampersands must be escaped always

12-02-2013, 01:23 PM	#14
Symmetria Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: none	This online WYSIWYG html5 compliant editor also automatically converts special characters (like vowels with umlaut, etc) into name references (HTML entities). http://htmleditor.in/index.html Paste your code in it whil it's in source mode, turn it to visual mode and back to source mode and they will be converted.