What Features or Tools does Sigil Still Need Yet? - Page 6

KevinH · 12-21-2020, 08:36 PM

Yes, there are a number of minor refinements and bigger changes that should hold me for a couple of releases.

It looks like I will be redesigning the CodeViewEditor code to move it away from its using regular expressions internally to using the new TagLister (derived from QuickParser which we added for multi-language spellcheck) since the regular expressions would fail if there are comments that use reserved chars or multi-line comments, or cdata sections. We need the TagLister for open and close tag highlighting, so being able to use it to improve CodeViewEditor code is a bonus.

democrite · 01-08-2021, 04:43 AM

How about formatting options as complete as a code editor and/or html formatter? Would be nice and would help more complex code be more readable.

Doitsu · 01-08-2021, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by democrite

How about formatting options as complete as a code editor and/or html formatter? Would be nice and would help more complex code be more readable.

This feature already exist. Right-click the Code View window and select:
Reformat HTML > Mend and Prettify Code

Hitch · 01-08-2021, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by democrite

How about formatting options as complete as a code editor and/or html formatter? Would be nice and would help more complex code be more readable.

I'm sorry, what do you mean?

Hitch

DiapDealer · 01-08-2021, 11:15 AM

I picked up a "make Code View a full-featured html editor" vibe myself. Something that I have no interest in doing. Sigil made it possible to edit xhtml with an external editor of the user's choice precisely because there is no desire on the part of the maintainers to make Sigil a full-fledged code editor.

democrite · 01-08-2021, 12:40 PM

formatting options as complete (as good) as any editor or IDE, not to become an IDE.

e.g., when running format/prettify, use settings such as tab or spaces, number of spaces per indent, etc. generally for any other language, there could be a variation in style guides per company, group, site (e.g., GitHub), etc.

an example from JetBrains attached.

DiapDealer · 01-08-2021, 01:05 PM

But can't you understand that "features as good (complete) as any editor/IDE" WOULD mean becoming an IDE? There would be no difference in the amount of work involved, or the end result.

If you prefer to do your html editing in a full-featured code editor/IDE when editing your epubs with Sigil, then feel free to do so via Sigil's "Open With" feature. That's why it exists.

democrite · 01-08-2021, 01:14 PM

didn't I say "formatting options" twice? just options for how to format when using prettify, e.g., use tabs or (x # of) spaces, remove empty lines or not, add or not add line breaks for particular tags, whether to indent 1st level of head/body, etc.. goes without saying, nothing for editing features like an IDE.

KevinH · 01-08-2021, 02:34 PM

You need to look up and read about xml stylesheets that can be used to post process xml to format it to your tastes.

Sigil does not support xml stylesheets.

As for more control over standard formatting for prettify, this would be an excellent project for an edit plugin. Maybe your company can sponsor one of the plugin developers here to build one for you.

DiapDealer · 01-08-2021, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by democrite

didn't I say "formatting options" twice? just options for how to format when using prettify, e.g., use tabs or (x # of) spaces, remove empty lines or not, add or not add line breaks for particular tags, whether to indent 1st level of head/body, etc.. goes without saying, nothing for editing features like an IDE.

Did you not just show me a screenshot of an editor that had the formatting options you desire? Use THAT editor (via Sigil's Open With feature that I've mentioned twice) to get the formatting you want. Sigil's not going to be offering configurable pretty-print options. There's already a way that those with particular formatting needs can have their wish with a properly configured external editor. There's also plugins which make a perfect vehicle for someone to provide configurable formatting.

JSWolf · 01-09-2021, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odamizu

Is there a way to tell what changes will be made if you agree to the changes Mend wants to make? i.e., I often find there are Sigil features I'm not aware of and learn about reading these forums, so just checking if I'm missing something that's already there.

I will also admit that the part of the warning that says "Sigil can automatically fix these files, although this may result in minor data loss in extreme circumstances [emphasis added]" always gives me pause, making me want to know exactly what changes are being proposed.

Thank you

Because of this post, I'm requesting a compare option before the change is made permanent. That way we can see what it is that was changed and can back out if wanted. This includes deleting unused CSS and any other feature built-in that can do some major changes.

KevinH · 01-09-2021, 05:05 PM

Checkpointing already exists in Sigil.

1. Load your epub, do not allow it to change anything.

2. Once loaded immediately run checkpoint to make a complete git managed copy.

3. The run reformat HTML using Mend (or any other command that will make changes).

4. Compare against the checkpoint to see all changes or Revert to an earlier checkpoint if needed.

patrik · 01-17-2021, 04:47 AM

One of the few times I use the Calibre Editor is to create a TOC when there are no headings. I typically use "Generate ToC from files" or one of the other choices.

Would it be feasable to add this to Sigil? (Maybe it's already possible and I just haven't figured it out yet?)

KevinH · 01-27-2021, 03:10 PM

Okay to bring this thread to a close, here is what my to-do list looks like based on these discussions. No promises mind you but ..

Already In the Next Release (Sigil-1.5.0)

Add tag begin end pair highlighting to CV
Enable automatic selections for common editing operations based on cursor position for CV editing (Bold, Italic, Headings, etc)
Enable Saved Searches to read in from csv and text files to automate search and replace (ala Atlantis WP similar feature)
Enable Nav to include of role="doc-toc" on nav toc and similarly for page-list

On the List for Future Versions of Sigil (no particular order and no promises)

Add Indicator in Status Bar if epub in old Sigil "Standard Format" or Preference to force load into old format
Split updating of manual into workable sections and ask for volunteers
Basic Table-based Metadata Editor with an "advanced" button to go to current one
Allow users to create their own replacement functions in python3 for Search and Replace
Add a regex validator to validate regex expressions used in Find and Replace
Add a flag to limit search to Find in only Open Tabs
Make Saved Searches keep track of all the search flags they were used with (by saving options flags)
Make default Shortcuts be smart about use of alt on international systems that use/need alt and altgr
Flag to control writing of Sigil version to metadata (under consideration only since doable via plugin)
Some form of supported templating for HTML TOC and Index generation (under consideration but doable by plugin)
Multiple paragraph justification setting via the CV alignment icon (although PageEdit does this now)
Add a tool/icon to automatically remove matched begin/end tags based on cursor position in either start or end tag
Add a regex to be used to build TOC when no headings tags exist (considering but this is against accessibility, as headings are important.)

KevinH · 01-27-2021, 03:14 PM

ps. Thanks to all those who offered considered improvement suggestions whether they made the list of not.

01-08-2021, 11:15 AM	#80
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,643 Karma: 204624552 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I picked up a "make Code View a full-featured html editor" vibe myself. Something that I have no interest in doing. Sigil made it possible to edit xhtml with an external editor of the user's choice precisely because there is no desire on the part of the maintainers to make Sigil a full-fledged code editor. Last edited by DiapDealer; 01-08-2021 at 12:58 PM.

01-08-2021, 12:40 PM	#81
democrite Evangelist Posts: 441 Karma: 77256 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: none	formatting options as complete (as good) as any editor or IDE, not to become an IDE. e.g., when running format/prettify, use settings such as tab or spaces, number of spaces per indent, etc. generally for any other language, there could be a variation in style guides per company, group, site (e.g., GitHub), etc. an example from JetBrains attached. Attached Thumbnails

01-08-2021, 01:14 PM	#83
democrite Evangelist Posts: 441 Karma: 77256 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: none	didn't I say "formatting options" twice? just options for how to format when using prettify, e.g., use tabs or (x # of) spaces, remove empty lines or not, add or not add line breaks for particular tags, whether to indent 1st level of head/body, etc.. goes without saying, nothing for editing features like an IDE. Last edited by democrite; 01-08-2021 at 01:18 PM.

01-27-2021, 03:10 PM	#89
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,836 Karma: 6120478 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Summary of Sigil Future To-do List Okay to bring this thread to a close, here is what my to-do list looks like based on these discussions. No promises mind you but .. Already In the Next Release (Sigil-1.5.0) Add tag begin end pair highlighting to CV Enable automatic selections for common editing operations based on cursor position for CV editing (Bold, Italic, Headings, etc) Enable Saved Searches to read in from csv and text files to automate search and replace (ala Atlantis WP similar feature) Enable Nav to include of role="doc-toc" on nav toc and similarly for page-list On the List for Future Versions of Sigil (no particular order and no promises) Add Indicator in Status Bar if epub in old Sigil "Standard Format" or Preference to force load into old format Split updating of manual into workable sections and ask for volunteers Basic Table-based Metadata Editor with an "advanced" button to go to current one Allow users to create their own replacement functions in python3 for Search and Replace Add a regex validator to validate regex expressions used in Find and Replace Add a flag to limit search to Find in only Open Tabs Make Saved Searches keep track of all the search flags they were used with (by saving options flags) Make default Shortcuts be smart about use of alt on international systems that use/need alt and altgr Flag to control writing of Sigil version to metadata (under consideration only since doable via plugin) Some form of supported templating for HTML TOC and Index generation (under consideration but doable by plugin) Multiple paragraph justification setting via the CV alignment icon (although PageEdit does this now) Add a tool/icon to automatically remove matched begin/end tags based on cursor position in either start or end tag Add a regex to be used to build TOC when no headings tags exist (considering but this is against accessibility, as headings are important.)

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12-21-2020, 08:36 PM	#76
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,836 Karma: 6120478 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Yes, there are a number of minor refinements and bigger changes that should hold me for a couple of releases. It looks like I will be redesigning the CodeViewEditor code to move it away from its using regular expressions internally to using the new TagLister (derived from QuickParser which we added for multi-language spellcheck) since the regular expressions would fail if there are comments that use reserved chars or multi-line comments, or cdata sections. We need the TagLister for open and close tag highlighting, so being able to use it to improve CodeViewEditor code is a bonus.

01-08-2021, 04:43 AM	#77
democrite Evangelist Posts: 441 Karma: 77256 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: none	How about formatting options as complete as a code editor and/or html formatter? Would be nice and would help more complex code be more readable.

01-08-2021, 01:05 PM	#82
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,643 Karma: 204624552 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	But can't you understand that "features as good (complete) as any editor/IDE" WOULD mean becoming an IDE? There would be no difference in the amount of work involved, or the end result. If you prefer to do your html editing in a full-featured code editor/IDE when editing your epubs with Sigil, then feel free to do so via Sigil's "Open With" feature. That's why it exists.

01-08-2021, 02:34 PM	#84
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,836 Karma: 6120478 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	You need to look up and read about xml stylesheets that can be used to post process xml to format it to your tastes. Sigil does not support xml stylesheets. As for more control over standard formatting for prettify, this would be an excellent project for an edit plugin. Maybe your company can sponsor one of the plugin developers here to build one for you.

01-09-2021, 05:05 PM	#87
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,836 Karma: 6120478 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Checkpointing already exists in Sigil. 1. Load your epub, do not allow it to change anything. 2. Once loaded immediately run checkpoint to make a complete git managed copy. 3. The run reformat HTML using Mend (or any other command that will make changes). 4. Compare against the checkpoint to see all changes or Revert to an earlier checkpoint if needed.

01-17-2021, 04:47 AM	#88
patrik Guru Posts: 683 Karma: 4568205 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kobo Forma	One of the few times I use the Calibre Editor is to create a TOC when there are no headings. I typically use "Generate ToC from files" or one of the other choices. Would it be feasable to add this to Sigil? (Maybe it's already possible and I just haven't figured it out yet?)

01-27-2021, 03:14 PM	#90
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,836 Karma: 6120478 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	ps. Thanks to all those who offered considered improvement suggestions whether they made the list of not.