Edit Metadata Comments remove formatting doesn't save

[toomuchreading]

In previous versions of Calibre, when I edited metadata, I remove formatting from the comments, especially if there are extra spaces between each line making the comments double spaced and twice as long. What I usually would do is use the "Select All" button, then the "Remove Formatting" button. This would then remove all the extra line spacing. Clicking on OK would then save the changes.
When I do this now, the changes are displayed on the edit metadata screen like I expected, but after I press OK, the changes to the comments are not saved. If I type any changes, those are saved and if I bold something that's removed. It just seems to be spacing between the hard return that is not being removed.
I have included 3 screenshots. The first is before any changes. The second is after the select all, and remove formatting button have been pressed. This is what I expect to be displayed and saved. The third picture is of the book in the Book Details view. If I go back into edit metadata for the book, It's like I haven't done anything.

[BetterRed]

Windows 10.0.19045.6937 — Calibre: 9.3.1 — Standard Install

Works for me on a couple of books, maybe there's something weird in the mark up - post it here so that the HTML coders can have a look.

BR

[toomuchreading]

This is the HTML window from the example in my first post...

[BetterRed]

That's as vanilla as one can get. I think we need to see what you have in Preferences->Look & feel->Book Details->Text Styling, this is what I have:

body, td {
    background-color: transparent;;
}

body.horizontal table td.title { white-space: nowrap }


p { margin: 0} 

a {
    text-decoration: none;
}

.comments {
    margin-top: 0;
    padding-top: 0;
    text-indent: 0
}

.comments-heading {
    font-size: larger;
    font-weight: bold
}

table.fields {
    margin-bottom: 0;
    padding-bottom: 0;
}

table.fields td {
    vertical-align: top
}

table.fields td.title {
    font-weight: bold
}

.series_name {
    font-style: italic
}
.#country{font-color: green}

BR

[toomuchreading]

This is everything that I have for text styling in the text styling box. I don't believe that I have ever changed this. BTW I'm still on 9.3.1

body, td {
    background-color: transparent;
}

body.horizontal table td.title { white-space: nowrap }

a {
    text-decoration: none;
}

.comments {
    margin-top: 0;
    padding-top: 0;
    text-indent: 0
}

.comments-heading {
    font-size: larger;
    font-weight: bold
}

table.fields {
    margin-bottom: 0;
    padding-bottom: 0;
}

table.fields td {
    vertical-align: top
}

table.fields td.title {
    font-weight: normal;
    font-style: italic;
    color: palette(placeholder-text);
    text-align: right;
}

.series_name {
    font-style: italic
}

/*
The HTML that this stylesheet applies to looks like this:

<table class="fields">
    <tr id="formats" class="datatype_text"><td class="title">Formats:</td><td><a href="format:572:EPUB">EPUB</a>, <a href="format:572:LIT">LIT</a></td></tr>
    <tr id="series" class="datatype_series"><td class="title">Series:</td><td>Book II of <a href="..."><span class="series_name">The Sea Beggars</span></a></td></tr>
    <tr id="tags" class="datatype_text"><td class="title">Tags:</td><td><a href="...">Fantasy</a>, <a href="...">Fiction</a></td></tr>
    <tr id="path" class="datatype_text"><td class="title">Path:</td><td><a href="path:572" title="/home/kovid/test library/Paul Kearney/This Forsaken Earth (572)">Click to open</a></td></tr>
</table>

<div id="comments" class="comments"><h3>From Publishers Weekly</h3><p>At the start of Kearney's rousing sequel to <em>The Mark of Ran</em> (2005), Rol Cortishane, the youthful captain of the privateer <em>Revenant</em>, captures a slaver and frees its chained slaves. Back in the harbor of Ganesh Ka in the land of Umer, Rol encounters an untrustworthy acquaintance he hasn't seen in years, Canker, a former king of thieves, who urges Rol to join in the fight to save Rowen, a darkly beautiful queen, whose throne is at risk in mountainous Bionar. That Rowen is Rol's half-sister for whom he has lusted in the past doesn't make Rol's decision to help an easy one. If as in <em>The Mark of Ran</em> the action is more lively at sea than on land, Kearney's solid storytelling and nautical detail worthy of C.S. Forester or Patrick O'Brian will keep readers turning the pages. <em>(Dec.)</em> <br />Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. </p><h3>From</h3><p>The sequel to <em>The Mark of Ran</em> (2005) finds heroic young Rol Cortishane grown to be a much-feared sea captain. Deciding to ignore his mysterious past, he spends his energy on ship and crew. He is still an outlaw, however, and the only port he can call home is Ganesh Ka, the endangered city of exiles. When word comes from Rowan, his half-sister, asking him to fight on her behalf, he must weigh the safety of Ganesh Ka against Rowan's treachery in the past. Finally persuaded to aid Rowan, he learns more of betrayal and his heritage in the ensuing battles than he had wanted to know. Kearney's characters are much better developed here than they were in <em>The Mark of Ran</em>, and since the book tells a single story, the plot is tighter. Moreover, because almost all the action transpires in the here and now, the sequel can be read without reference to the predecessor. Since it ends hanging on a particularly bloody cliff, expect to see more of Kearney's excellent maritime fantasy. <em>Frieda Murray</em><br /><em>Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved</em></p>
</div>

<h3 class="comments-heading">Custom comments column heading</h3>
<div id="_customcolname" class="comments">...</div>
*/

[Karellen]

It's like that on my setup also.
When I don't want the large paragraph spacing, I replace the closing </p> and opening <p> tag of the next sentence with a <br/>

eg

PHP Code:

<p>Clayton Shepard is 249 miles above Earth when the lights go out.<br/>
He has no communication, limited power, and an unbreakable will to survive.<br/>
...<br/>
...</p> 


side note. Book looks interesting. Have you read it? Is it a good read?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by toomuchreading

This is everything that I have for text styling in the text styling box. I don't believe that I have ever changed this. BTW I'm still on 9.3.1

body, td {
    background-color: transparent;
}

body.horizontal table td.title { white-space: nowrap }

a {text-decoration: none;}

.comments {
    margin-top: 0;
    padding-top: 0;
    text-indent: 0
}

.comments-heading {
    font-size: larger;
    font-weight: bold
}

table.fields {
    margin-bottom: 0;
    padding-bottom: 0;
}

table.fields td {
    vertical-align: top
}

table.fields td.title {
    font-weight: normal;
    font-style: italic;
    color: palette(placeholder-text);
    text-align: right;
}

.series_name {
    font-style: italic
}
. . .

There's no styling for 'p', try adding this line before the "a {text-decoration: none;}

p { margin: 0}

BR

[Karellen]

I also don't have the p tag in the stylesheet.
Maybe that is the default?

[BetterRed]

It is, but when I did what the the OP is wanting to do I got the result he wants, no blank lines, and I have the "p {margin: 0}". That it is on one line suggests I added it in the long ago past - probably for the same reason.

BR

[theducks]

look at the html
<br /> <br /></p> <<<-- there is the 2 blank lines

[toomuchreading]

The p {margin: 0} does change the display automatically in the comment on the edit metadata screen, but it does not take away the formatting that it used to to do. When you update the metadata of the book, the spaces are back into the description when you save it to the book and send it to the device.
I used to remove the formatting, in the edit metadata screen, save it, then when I sent the book to my reader, the metadata description in my reader would be there without so much space being taken up. The p in the style sheet only just changes the display. I'm wondering why the functionality of the remove formatting changed.
Job Spy still removes the formatting like the remove formatting button used to do, but it takes a while to find that menu item. I guess I'm being a little picky, but I'd like the remove formatting button to work like it used to do, so I don't have to do it manually or find the job spy button.

[toomuchreading]

Originally Posted by Karellen

side note. Book looks interesting. Have you read it? Is it a good read?

The book is Spaceman by Tom Abrahams. It's on my pile. I just recently loaded it into Calibre to load it onto my reader, so I don't know if it's good or not yet.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

look at the html
<br /> <br /></p> <<<-- there is the 2 blank lines

Where did you get that?

I OCR'd tmr's screenshot in post #3 and this is what I got:

<div> 
<p>Clayton Shepard is 249 miles above Earth when the lights go out. </p> 
<p>He has no communication, limited power, and an unbreakable will to survive.</p> 
<p>His one goal: find his way BACK to his family </p> 
<p>Shepard is an astronaut on his first mission to the International Space Station. </p>
<p>When a violent blast of solar magnetic radiation leaves him stranded in orbit, he's forced to use his wit and guile to find a way home. </p> 
<p>He has no idea what he'll find when he gets there. </p> 
<p><br></p></div>

When I drop that into the HTML tab of Comments with my BD styling, I get this:

BR

[theducks]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Where did you get that?

I OCR'd tmr's screenshot in post #3 and this is what I got:

<div> 
<p>Clayton Shepard is 249 miles above Earth when the lights go out. </p> 
<p>He has no communication, limited power, and an unbreakable will to survive.</p> 
<p>His one goal: find his way BACK to his family </p> 
<p>Shepard is an astronaut on his first mission to the International Space Station. </p>
<p>When a violent blast of solar magnetic radiation leaves him stranded in orbit, he's forced to use his wit and guile to find a way home. </p> 
<p>He has no idea what he'll find when he gets there. </p> 
<p><br></p></div>

When I drop that into the HTML tab of Comments with my BD styling, I get this:

BR

look at post 6

[BetterRed]

I didn't even know there was Remove format button - afaic, if it's not in a menu it doesn't exist.

There are a couple of plugins that may help, Comments Cleaner and Clean Comments. That's as much as I know about them.

Job Spy provides shortcuts for most things - they default to None; so, to use them you have to set them in Preferences->Shortcuts.

BR