Disapearing CSS

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by theducks

I have never seen this

I have added a Blank CSS.
Then copied an inline (same book) CSS CODE into the new CSS,
Then Linked the CSS to the file.
Then used the original source Includeing the <style> to S&R (normal) to remove all.
Saved just fine (later edit)


I have seen a couple of mentions of F8 Metadata edit.
That is one step I have not used in this type of CSS situation

I saw the mentions, but I don't understand the CONTEXT, yet. The ePUB is built, the ss is linked, and all that--and the metadata editor is opened, something is changed, and the damn CSS disappears? The whole sheet, or...? Is this before/after a first "version" of the ePUB has been saved, as a XXX.ePUB file?

Hitch

[DiapDealer]

Yeah, I'm still not quite on the same page with how EXACTLY this is manifesting. Not quite sure what's meant by "file jumping" and "blanking on exit" to be frank. I think the suggestion made about a video just may be necessary.

I know I spent the better part of the morning adding existing css files (from the context menu AND from the File menu) linking/unlinking (both with and without a pre-existing css file in the epub), metadata editing--any which way (and any which order) I could think of, and can't get anything weird to happen. I've tried linking the css to one or two files (and then to 50+ files), with all the different Clean Source settings possible. Valid and invalid html/css--I hammered it hard, and I'm drawing a blank.

I hope to heck someone can nail down reproduceable steps to expose this thing.

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

We dont need "workarounds." We need step by step instructions to reproduce the bug, so that it can be fixed. If you haven't had an issue since you started using the workaround, how can you be sure the issue still exists?

Quite right. I was simply stating that I have had this problem for quite some time. I have not been able to track it down to a single step that causes it...or I would have reported it as a bug...and I had tried multiple times to reproduce it intentionally. You are also quite right that I can't be sure it's not still happening because it's fixed...I do know it doesn't happen after I started my workaround. I was hoping by bringing it up that someone more familiar with the code would have a moment when I mentioned how I workaround it...


My methodology is to clean all the goop out of the html files...I know what's in my standard style sheet so I just put the codes into the html. After all that is complete I "add existing files" and put both my styles.css and sgc-toc.css in at the same time (multi-select). Both of these files have passed validation numerous times.

After that, I select all the html files and link them as a group to styles.css. This is where the "jumping files" mentioned before comes in. Sigil appears to process each html file (I assume adding the link tags) rapidly. Depending on how many things I have running in the background this might be slow enough to see the actual pages "flipping" by.

The css sheets import fine. I've never had it import a blank sheet. All the code is present.

I then will add any additional formatting to styles.css needed for that particular book.

I have not created the html toc yet, so there is nothing linked to sgc-toc.css. Somewhere in that process....sometimes.... I would check the sgc-toc.css file and find it blank...even though it imported properly. I USUALLY do not find a problem with styles.css ...but have occasionally found it blank as well. I have deduced that the times I find them blank are when I haven't changed the css files after import...thus my workaround.

I then will run the "Generate Table of Contents", and then "Create HTML table of contents". It seems to link fine, as the html TOC follows the formatting I have in the sgc-toc.

SOMETIMES, I have gotten so far as being finished with a book...checked each page...including the css... hit save and closed sigil. I only realize the blanking css has hit when I go to read the book and there is no formatting. I then go back and open the epub and TaDa....blank css files.

Again...this doesn't happen if I add a space to the css file after importing it....


I hope this helps!


EDIT: FYI, I have not seen this since upgrading to 8.4, but I have been performing my workaround for awhile as a matter of habit. I will stop doing my workaround *shudder* and see if I can get it to reproduce.

[pete6055]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Not quite sure what's meant by "file jumping" and "blanking on exit" to be frank..

css blanking on exit = the stylesheet remains in the styles folder, but no longer has any entries. It is literally blank.

file jumping = when a block of html files is highlighted and linked in the book browser, I see the book browser highlight and move through each file individually and in sequence. When this happens, all css entries are lost upon exit; when this does not occur, css coding is saved as expected in the vast majority of cases.

[DiapDealer]

I don't think I've ever experienced this file jumping, then (no matter how many html files I have selected for linking), but now I know what to look for. Thanks.

I'm assuming you don't really know about the css file being emptied upon exit until you reopen the epub and see that it's empty? Or do you actually SEE its contents disappear when exiting Sigil?

So to your knowledge, has it ever happened when linking a css file to one or two html files, or does it always seem to be several files (where the jumping comes into play)?

[Turtle91]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm assuming you don't really know about the css file being emptied upon exit until you reopen the epub and see that it's empty? Or do you actually SEE its contents disappear when exiting Sigil?

It's never disappeared while I had the page open and watching it.

After noticing there was no formatting on some of my books, I investigated why and noticed the blank css. Then I started checking before, during, and after saving...and found it missing while I was still working on books. As I stated above, it was more often the sgc-toc file that went blank, but occasionally the styles.css would go too. I deduced it was because I had made no changes to the file.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

So to your knowledge, has it ever happened when linking a css file to one or two html files, or does it always seem to be several files (where the jumping comes into play)?

I almost always link multiple files at the same time to a single style sheet - the sgc-toc is linked automatically when I use the "create html toc" function. I never thought that the "jumping" was a problem...I figured it was just the symptom of an overburdened cpu...or a book with particularly large chapters.

I didn't make a connection between the jumping and the blanking. That would be helpful if that was the case.

[pete6055]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I don't think I've ever experienced this file jumping, then (no matter how many html files I have selected for linking), but now I know what to look for. Thanks.

I'm assuming you don't really know about the css file being emptied upon exit until you reopen the epub and see that it's empty? Or do you actually SEE its contents disappear when exiting Sigil?

So to your knowledge, has it ever happened when linking a css file to one or two html files, or does it always seem to be several files (where the jumping comes into play)?

Thank you for looking into this problem.

1. Before you exit Sigil the css is always present, even after "jumping",
but goes missing when you exit Sigil. I've cofirmed this using Winzip. That's why I originally thought the Clean Source settings were responsible for the problem, but my testing didn't prove that.

2. I've seen this problem with 2 or more files that have been linked.

[theducks]

Never seen jumping (I assume there is some sort of flicker in the file browser)

I have linked sheets: 1 (sheet) -1 (HTML), 1 - most, 2 - most

I have seen just about every kind of incorrectly specified file, end up in Misc

I have definitely seen @media styles mangled after 'delete unused...' (I think a remnant of this is '[NEW_LINE]' appearing)

[pete6055]

Originally Posted by theducks

Never seen jumping (I assume there is some sort of flicker in the file browser)

No, It's not a flicker; Sigil actually moves from file to file and I see this with each file increment.

[BetterRed]

Feels like some 3rd party program is 'sticking its oar in' and broadcasting messages to current application (Sigil) that for some reason are being 'mishandled'.

I suggest the people getting the behaviour post a list of what other programs they might have running when they're in Sigil. That might identify commonality, and allow others to say "I use the superduper RSS gadget too, and I don't get this jumping behaviour".

And is this happening on just one OS or all of them?

BR

Nota Bene : I have such a program(click.to), it interferes with Word. Not drastically, just takes focus away from where it ought be. Irritating but not enough to warrant 'fixing' it by telling it to keep it's oar out of the water when Word's driving the boat.

IMO the problem is in Word because its the only program that 'mishandles' messages that click.to sends. Other programs (eg Notepad++ and Sigil) see the same messages but they don't 'misbehave' like Word does - nor do Excel and OneNote.

[MickiTee]

I've been having this problem for a while also. Certainly while using versions 0.7.#.

Before I discovered that Sigil can link a CSS file to the HTML files, I was writing the link style sheets code manually & I thought that I was making a mistake here. However it continued to happen after I found the Link Styles sheets option on the context menu.

For me the code in the CSS is deleted when I Save the epub before linking the CSS to one or more HTML files or without opening it and it happens even if I've used a style in the code. If I have the CSS file open when I perform a Save or Save as then the code is still there then the save has been completed.

[DiapDealer]

I'm utterly baffled.

[theducks]

So far not one person with this issue has even listed what OS they are useing

+1 on listing the other running programs


I regularly run Sigil on Win XP and W7

Never seen the issue

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm utterly baffled.

Ditto.

I don't think I've ever linked SS's using the feature, TBH. I always regex it in. I wonder if that's the difference?

My darling Ducky:

Win7, 64-bit, currently running 0.7.2. No, no, I don't want to hear it, we're a production house, I like to stick with stuff that works. I'll move up to the 8's when I'm feeling brave-ish. ;-) I think that everyone here is currently running Win7, 64-bit, but the Sigils may run into the 8's on some of the other machines. I've never heard this. Doesn't mean it's not happening elsewhere, just...not here. But we're all regexers.

Hitch

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

So far not one person with this issue has even listed what OS they are useing

+1 on listing the other running programs


I regularly run Sigil on Win XP and W7

Never seen the issue

In defence of those with the problem, those without it never asked what OS they were using.

Someone did mention Winzip, but I see it runs on Windows and OS/X Ψ²

BR