Format Looks Great in Sigil, but not on Device

[rosshalde]

It opens in my browser (Safari). I can right click and tell it to open in Text Edit.

When I click on the CSS in Sigil it just opens a tab and displays everything right there.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

This might be a file association problem.

I had problems with the Linux version in the past: css files were automatically opened with Geany (a text editor) instead of the web browser. Uninstalling and re-installing Geany fixed the problem.

If you've had success altering/restoring .css file associations, I'll not argue, but that doesn't really jive with what I'm seeing in Sigil's code. The CSS Validation tool in Sigil never tries to open the css file with a default application. It just dumps the contents of the css file to a temporary html file (as form data which will auto-submit to the correct W3C url after 3 seconds), and then opens that temp html file with whatever the default handler for html files is on that system.

[rosshalde]

The only time a .css file opens in a default program (safari) is if I am dealing with a css outside of Sigil...clicking directly on the css in some folder directory.

In Sigil, if I click the css, it just opens a tab in Sigil to display it, but absolutely nothing (that I can see) happens when I try to use the CSS validation tool.

I will wait to hear from a Mac user to see what they are doing differently (besides getting a PC)

[KevinH]

Hi,
I'm away for the weekend without access to anything but my ipad. I will test this on my Mac and fix it (if it needs fixing) and let you know upon my return.

One guess is you have no default set to open .html files as that is what should be launched with the report. Or is is set to some editor and now a web browser that can take arguments to open a file.

Take care,

Kevin

Originally Posted by rosshalde

The only time a .css file opens in a default program (safari) is if I am dealing with a css outside of Sigil...clicking directly on the css in some folder directory.

In Sigil, if I click the css, it just opens a tab in Sigil to display it, but absolutely nothing (that I can see) happens when I try to use the CSS validation tool.

I will wait to hear from a Mac user to see what they are doing differently (besides getting a PC)

[Toxaris]

Kevin, I think it would be better to remove the option from Sigil completely. I will write a CSS validator as plugin instead, just like the epub validator.
That should be more stable and could be used offline.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Kevin, I think it would be better to remove the option from Sigil completely. I will write a CSS validator as plugin instead, just like the epub validator.
That should be more stable and could be used offline.

I see nothing wrong with an alternative CSS validation plugin, but I wouldn't want to see the current feature removed from Sigil's core. Not just yet anyway. Maybe in the future when/if Sigil supports official or internal plugins that can be distributed with Sigil, sure. Doing so now would force new users to 1) find the plugin, and 2) install an interpreter before they could use it.

I'd love to see some alternative validation plugins, though. Whether or not the core feature remains a part of Sigil shouldn't discourage anyone from making those happen.

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I see nothing wrong with an alternative CSS validation plugin, but I wouldn't want to see the current feature removed from Sigil's core. Not just yet anyway. Maybe in the future when/if Sigil supports official or internal plugins that can be distributed with Sigil, sure. Doing so now would force new users to 1) find the plugin, and 2) install an interpreter before they could use it.

I'd love to see some alternative validation plugins, though. Whether or not the core feature remains a part of Sigil shouldn't discourage anyone from making those happen.

You are right.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by rosshalde

The only time a .css file opens in a default program (safari) is if I am dealing with a css outside of Sigil...clicking directly on the css in some folder directory.

In Sigil, if I click the css, it just opens a tab in Sigil to display it, but absolutely nothing (that I can see) happens when I try to use the CSS validation tool.

I will wait to hear from a Mac user to see what they are doing differently (besides getting a PC)

Right click the stylesheet, select Validate with W3C.

NG Macs have a two button mouse - don't they?

BR

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I see nothing wrong with an alternative CSS validation plugin, but I wouldn't want to see the current feature removed from Sigil's core. Not just yet anyway. Maybe in the future when/if Sigil supports official or internal plugins that can be distributed with Sigil, sure. Doing so now would force new users to 1) find the plugin, and 2) install an interpreter before they could use it.

I'd love to see some alternative validation plugins, though. Whether or not the core feature remains a part of Sigil shouldn't discourage anyone from making those happen.

But the problem with the link to the online CSS validator is that it barfs when there are embedded fonts. That's not how a properly working CSS validator should work. And when you up the CSS level, you also validate for things that aren't valid in ePub 2. So it's not as useful as you might think.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But the problem with the link to the online CSS validator is that it barfs when there are embedded fonts. That's not how a properly working CSS validator should work. And when you up the CSS level, you also validate for things that aren't valid in ePub 2. So it's not as useful as you might think.

Issues you may have with WHAT the validator passes/fails, Jon, aren't really appropriate here. We were discussing why the tool might not be working AT ALL, and what might need to be fixed if there's situations/platforms where it's not. Your complaint is something else entirely.

And for the record... it doesn't "barf" with embedded fonts. It correctly notes the fact that the 'font-family" property doesn't exist for the CSS-level it was told to validate against (CSS 2.1). Unfortunate for validating ePubs with embedded fonts? Yes. Barf? No.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Issues you may have with WHAT the validator passes/fails, Jon, isn't really appropriate here. We were discussing why the tool might not be working AT ALL, and what might need to be fixed if there's situations/platforms where it's not. Your complaint is something else entirely.

And for the record... it doesn't "barf" with embedded fonts. It correctly notes the fact that the 'font-family" property doesn't exist for the CSS-level it was told to validate against (CSS 2.1). Unfortunate for validating ePubs with embedded fonts? Yes. Barf? No.

But regardless, the validator doesn't work properly. So it would be best not to include it since it can show errors that are not errors.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Right click the stylesheet, select Validate with W3C.

NG Macs have a two button mouse - don't they?

BR

This brings up a good point. There are two ways to validate css: from the context menu of css files in the Book Browser, and from the Tools menu in Sigil's main menu.

@rosshalde:
Do both methods appear to do nothing?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But regardless, the validator doesn't work properly. So it would be best not to include it since it can show errors that are not errors.

Stop it, Jon. You're butting in and confusing the issue with irrelevant input.

[theducks]

Sigil has never validated to device specific limitations.
MRSDK barfs on allowed codes that it is supposed to ignore.

I can't fault it for intolerance to malformed code (Sigil/Calibre tolerate some errors, thus adding to when it hits the device and fails..)

The above malformed will almost always result in the CSS being ignored by MRSDK (a clue)

CSS quick proof read
a Attribute never has a space (page-break-after)
values with units have no space (5em)

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And when you up the CSS level, you also validate for things that aren't valid in ePub 2.

The problem with CSS is that everything is valid. As long as the syntax is correct, you can add any property you like and it doesn't make it invalid. It may work as expected, or it may be ignored, but it shouldn't harm.

If a CSS validator for epub was to be designed, it could issue warnings for properties or values not specified as required in the spec, or known to be poorly implemented in some readers, but no errors.