Sigil-2.5.0 Released

[DiapDealer]

Sigil 2.5.0

Sigil 2.5.0 represents a large set of bug fixes and new features. The most significant of these is the addition of an AppImage build of Sigil for Linux that is feature for feature equal to the builds we make for MacOS and Windows.

New Features

• upgrade MacOS, Windows, and Linux AppImage release and ci builds to use Qt 6.8.2
• upgrade MacOS and Windows release and ci builds to embed Python 3.13.2
• upgrade 3rdparty pcre2 search engine to pcre2-10.45
• move all platforms to use cmake FindPython3 to simplify our cmake files and remove leftovers
• add ability to easily clear an Open With editor list, without need to edit ini files
• added new Search menu option that will hide the Find and Replace Window if open
• extend GetInfo to all BookBrowser file types
• add PythonFunctionEditor and support Python Function Replace in Sigil (experimental) with many tweaks and improvements from BeckyEbook (Thank you).
• add resizable Alert Boxes to better see Python error messages
• add log capability for debugging Python function replace issues via a new environment variable: SIGIL_FUNCTION_REPLACE_LOG_FILE (Thank you BeckyEbook)
• for unnamed epubs Save-As now suggests a new name based on epub's metadata (Thank you BeckEbook)
• control dark vs light detection methods for Linux with a new environment variable: SIGIL_USE_COLORSCHEME_CHANGED
• add a "Use Standard File Extensions" tool with menu and automator tool support
• speed up CodeView by extending TagLister to remove need for QStack and QXmlStreamReader for our web paths
• PageEdit version 2.5.0 will now sync cursor position with CodeView when opening an external xhtml file

Bug Fixes

• allow SVG resources to be selectable alongside Image resources and context menu to work in BookBrowser
• because Linux has multiple light and dark themes (but different), always send out our internal theme change signal when palette changes
• detect urls in altimg attributes in math tags and properly update them is changed
• disable workaround for Find Replace open interfering in MainWindow restorestate as it is no longer needed
• fix incorrect custom dc:identifier creation by Metadata Editor.
• fix missing SearchEditor Model Controls tooltips
• fix WebEngineProfile issues on Windows with multiple instances of Sigil running
• fix dark vs light corner cases in Linux
• quiet extraneous warnings about WebEngine spellcheck dictionaries not found
• fix bug when duplicate filenames exist when updating all manifest ids from file names
• fix bug with remote resources not being properly loaded by Preview after a http cache clear
• fix updating tab names after filename changes (Thank you BeckyEbook)
• fix bug in Url scheme hander that made using Preview's Inspector fail at times
• fix incorrect custom identifier generated by our Metadata Editor

--------------------------------Notes -----------------------------------

The latest version of the Sigil User Guide can always be downloaded from the Sigil website, or from its own GitHub repository.

Please check the Sigil website for important Sigil support links, additional resource downloads, and platform-specific trouble-shooting tips/requirements.

The MacOS builds are signed AND notarized.

PGP Fingerprint (for signed tags and source archives): `B5A5 6206 AB0F BC1A 24EF AB8A A166 D29A 8FCD AC63`

All Sigil binary (and source) downloads can also be found as assets at the bottom of The Sigil-2.5.0 Github Release page.

[DiapDealer]

The Sigil Linux AppImage is built on Ubuntu Jammy (22.04) and is targeting glibc 2.35 and higher. Use ldd --version to see if your system at least has a shot at being able to use the AppImage. Don't forget to make sure the AppImage is executable after downloading. Trouble is not expected but be safe and backup your existing Sigil preferences (if you have any) before trying the AppImage. This is especially important if you're currently using a pre-2.0 version of Sigil.

[PeterT]

AppImage Installed and working on chromebook.

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by PeterT

AppImage Installed and working on chromebook.

Wonderful! Glad to hear it! That AppImage version will be my goto version of Sigil for my Manjaro box instead of waiting the 2 to 3 weeks for it to pass through the Manjaro unstable branch (for no good reason as it is not system software) before hitting stable.

[DiapDealer]

Great to hear. If anyone needs an assist on how to integrate the AppImage into your Desktop (like I believe PeterT has done), just let me know.

For me, it's merely a matter of putting a Sigil.desktop file in ~./local/share/apps (with the Exec line pointing to wherever the appimage is), and adding a ~./local icon that the desktop file can pickup. After that, the Sigil AppImage can be launched from menus, and it can be set as the default handler for epubs. I'll try to post a sample .desktop file when I get a minute.

EDIT:
Here's the contents of my desktop file

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Sigil
Comment=ePUB file editor
TryExec=~/appimages/Sigil-x86_64.AppImage
Exec=~/appimages/Sigil-x86_64.AppImage %F
Icon=sigil
Categories=Office;
MimeType=application/epub+zip;

That requires that a "sigil" icon be available in one of the usual icon places.

[dearleuk]

Great news about the AppImage. Thank you

Will plugins such as epubtidytool work with AppImage?

[KevinH]

I had to tweak this to work with Manjaro. In my *.desktop files I had to use full absolute paths to the applications, and fill in a Generic Name field before the error message about improper desktop file went away.

They also seemed to want them in my ~/.local/share/applications/ folder not the ~/.local/share/apps folder (the former is specified in the XDG desktop spec).

Then to get the icon to show up on the AppImage in the Dolphin file manager, I had to install the libappimage package and make sure in the Dolphin Configure page to enable Previews of AppImages.

Now I have a wonderful Applications folder on my Desktop where all my AppImages are located. KDE Plasma 6 with AppImages is beginning to look more like my MacOS Desktop which is a nice thing for muscle memory.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Great to hear. If anyone needs an assist on how to integrate the AppImage into your Desktop (like I believe PeterT has done), just let me know.

For me, it's merely a matter of putting a Sigil.desktop file in ~./local/share/apps (with the Exec line pointing to wherever the appimage is), and adding a ~./local icon that the desktop file can pickup. After that, the Sigil AppImage can be launched from menus, and it can be set as the default handler for epubs. I'll try to post a sample .desktop file when I get a minute.

EDIT:
Here's the contents of my desktop file

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Sigil
Comment=ePUB file editor
TryExec=~/appimages/Sigil-x86_64.AppImage
Exec=~/appimages/Sigil-x86_64.AppImage %F
Icon=sigil
Categories=Office;
MimeType=application/epub+zip;

That requires that a "sigil" icon be available in one of the usual icon places.

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by dearleuk

Great news about the AppImage. Thank you

Will plugins such as epubtidytool work with AppImage?

Yes, it comes with a built-in Python 3.13 interpreterand all the modules we ship for MacOS and Windows.

Just be sure to check the box to use the Bundled Internal Python virtual machine in the Manage Plugins dialog.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by dearleuk

Will plugins such as epubtidytool work with AppImage?

The AppImage comes with all the recommended Python modules installed in its bundled Python, so yes, it should work. Just remember to check the "Use bundled Python Interpreter" box in Sigil's preferences. If you were using a different version of Sigil already, it won't be checked by default.

I would also stick to one or the other (AppImage vs regular). The regular version of Sigil will always uncheck the "Use Bundled Interpreter" preference.

The AppImage will happily use an external Python for plugins, but then the user would have to jump through hoops to get all the necessary modules installed from 1) a repo package, 2) pip if your distro still allows it, or 3) a customized virtual Python environment.

Much easier to use the Python bundled in the AppImage.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by KevinH

I had to tweak this to work with Manjaro. In my *.desktop files I had to use full absolute paths to the applications, and fill in a Generic Name field before the error message about improper desktop file went away.

They also seemed to want them in my ~/.local/share/applications/ folder not the ~/.local/share/apps folder (the former is specified in the XDG desktop spec).

Then to get the icon to show up on the AppImage in the Dolphin file manager, I had to install the libappimage package and make sure in the Dolphin Configure page to enable Previews of AppImages.

Now I have a wonderful Applications folder on my Desktop where all my AppImages are located. KDE Plasma 6 with AppImages is beginning to look more like my MacOS Desktop which is a nice thing for muscle memory.

My mistake for the desktop location. It is definitely ~/.local/share/applications/ and not apps.

I had no idea about the libappimage package, thanks!

I just stuck sigil.svg in ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps. But a library that uses the icon within the AppImage is a much better approach. Unfortunately, I don't think the Nemo file browser on my Cinnamon desktop has an "enable previews of AppImages" option.

[KevinH]

@DiapDealer,

I found I also needed the following packages on Manjaro for the internal AppImage icons to show on my Linux desktop:

xapp-appimage-thumbnailer


BTW I saw this package as well ...

appimage-thumbnailer.git

for use with nautilus, and nemo according to its description.

I attached a screenshot on my Desktop Linux box (Manjaro, KDE Plasma 6) **without** any .desktop file creation at all nor with any special icons added anyplace:

[DiapDealer]

I'll take a look, thanks!

I'm trying to avoid needing to install something like AppImageLauncher. I like the idea of it--updates, integration, removal--all one click stuff, but it requires Qt5! The notion of launching and maintaining our Qt6 AppImages with Qt5 dialogs is a touch revolting to me.

It only needs qt5-base and qt5-tools, so I wouldn't think it would be all that difficult to get it to accommodate both Qt5 and Qt6. If only I had more time.

I'm hearing that Manjaro comes with AppImageLauncher already installed.

[philja]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

The AppImage comes with all the recommended Python modules installed in its bundled Python, so yes, it should work. Just remember to check the "Use bundled Python Interpreter" box in Sigil's preferences. If you were using a different version of Sigil already, it won't be checked by default.

I would also stick to one or the other (AppImage vs regular). The regular version of Sigil will always uncheck the "Use Bundled Interpreter" preference.

The AppImage will happily use an external Python for plugins, but then the user would have to jump through hoops to get all the necessary modules installed from 1) a repo package, 2) pip if your distro still allows it, or 3) a customized virtual Python environment.

Much easier to use the Python bundled in the AppImage.

Some time ago, in another thread, I tried out your 'new at the time' appimage for qt6, sigil-qt6-python3.11_x86_64.AppImage

This has been working impeccably with both the 2.5.0 I built from Master a few days ago and with the linux 2.5.0 appimage which I tried a few days ago also.

Seems a shame to dump it, but I guess it's redundant now.

[DiapDealer]

Hey, if it ain't broke...

But yeah. Sigil bundled together with a newer Python/modules AND the new AppImage is still smaller than my earlier sigil-qt6-python3.11_x86_64.AppImage?? I know what I'm going to be using.

That earlier AppImage for just the Sigil Python plugin environment is what kept me believing that this latest one could eventually come to fruition! That original strategy just didn't offer a way to use a shared libpython3 that could be shared with Sigil AND Python.

Thanks for making use of it, though. You may have been the only one other than me!

[rkomar]

Both the Sigil and PageEdit AppImage files started up in slackware-current with just some warnings about the locale. The last version of Sigil I installed was 0.2.0b (in 2010), so I have some catching up to do . Thanks for making it so easy to upgrade.