e-Book Tools - a Word add-in

[Toxaris]

Version 1.9.0 is out. Changelog can be found here.

Some annoying bugs solved and several new features.

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Hi Toxaris, I don't think its the data (i.e the EPUB) because it works fine after restarting Word.

That is what I suspected. I think the new version will solve this. It also ensures that if you do multiple imports, that they will be in a seperate document instead of appended to the open one.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Re the location, no doesn't need a setting. If you could persist the location (folder) of the most recent EPUB Import that would be perfect for me. The only time you would need to fall back to the Windows default of Libraries/Documents would be if that location disappeared.

The new version retains the last folder used for that session only. No configuration required.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

On a related matter, in that open file dialogue you restrict it to EPUB files. That's fine, but IMO you should have an All files (*.*) option in the drop down. I may want to rename something like file.epub.save3 to file.save3.epub.

That is on purpose to prevent complaints because file xyz cannot be opened. You could try to encapsulate the filename in quotes. You would not see it, but can still enter it.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Can you explain the purpose of the highlighted things in attachments ?

Sure. First picture is saving the current ruleset. It should also save when the ruleset is changed, but you can save in between as well. The second one will process all the S&R rules that have the flag set to run without questioning every replace (the auto flag) without even asking if the S/R rule should be run in the first place. If you have a lot of auto-rules, it saves several clicks.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

That is what I suspected. I think the new version will solve this. It also ensures that if you do multiple imports, that they will be in a seperate document instead of appended to the open one.

Just got a notify for 1.9.0 will download and install ASAP. FWIW I always import into into an empty document.

Originally Posted by Toxaris

That is on purpose to prevent complaints because file xyz cannot be opened. You could try to encapsulate the filename in quotes. You would not see it, but can still enter it.

I don't want to load a file with the wrong extension, or type the name, I want to rename a file within the Windows Explorer Open File dialogue.

See first attachment, I've used calibre's Add format to existing book dialogue to demonstrate what I would like to see.

My experience is that most (all ?) Open File dialogues that have a file type selector also provide the All (*) option. And I often rename files in the Windows File dialogues - e.g I just renamed the new version download to ePUBTools_setup_en v1.9.0.msi, when I did a Save As in Firefox

Originally Posted by Toxaris

The second one will process all the S&R rules that have the flag set to run without questioning every replace (the auto flag) without even asking if the S/R rule should be run in the first place. If you have a lot of auto-rules, it saves several clicks.

Sorry I don't see an 'auto-flag' in 1.8, see 2nd attachment.

Thanks BR

[BetterRed]

I'm now using 1.9

Originally Posted by Toxaris

That is what I suspected. I think the new version will solve this. It also ensures that if you do multiple imports, that they will be in a seperate document instead of appended to the open one.

I've discovered I am getting this problem a lot, even if I start with a freshly started Word I sometimes get 2 copies of the same book concatenated together, and on one occasion I got 4 copies. And often I get another instance of Word started with no document.

However, I am not getting the 'lockup' situation I was getting with 1.8... but its still weird. After terminating Word and using Task Manager and Process Explorer to look for any hidden instances of WINWORD.EXE hiding under the covers, I start Word again, click Import EPUB and I'm at the last location I used - but

Originally Posted by Toxaris

The new version retains the last folder used for that session only. No configuration required.

That implies I should get into Libraries\Documents when I start a new Word session - doesn't it? But what I get is the last used location which was C:\Work in Progress!!

But, if I kill WINWORD.exe with Task Manager, rather than terminating it normally and start a fresh Word session, and then click Import EPUB then I am at Libraries\Documents.

Its too weird and inconsistent for me to persevere with using the Import Epub. I've discovered that over a 100 docx files I've saved from Import EPUB over the past couple of weeks contain more than 1 copy of the text concatenated together. I still have the EPUBs of course, so no permanent damage, I'll revert to doing conversions with calibre until next version.

Let me know if you want me to try anything - its not impossible of course that my problems are due to some other program or add-on I don't know about. I only use one other add-on (Office Tabs) and I did try uninstalling it.

FWIW I did fresh install of Windows, Office and everything else less than a month ago (2014-10-02) onto a new SSD drive. So it its hard to imagine that its the remnants of anything ancient lying around.

BR

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Sorry I don't see an 'auto-flag' in 1.8, see 2nd attachment.

It is the confirm option. If you leave that option off, the procedure will not ask permission for each replace, essentially a replace all.
Now, combined with the option you asked about earlier, it will just execute the S/R rules with replace all without asking at all.

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I'm now using 1.9


I've discovered I am getting this problem a lot, even if I start with a freshly started Word I sometimes get 2 copies of the same book concatenated together, and on one occasion I got 4 copies. And often I get another instance of Word started with no document.

...snip...

Very strange. I will look into it more, but appending should not be possible anymore. I cannot reproduce the behavior you notice. I might have to close all open documents first before importing, but I do not want that.

With regards to remembering the location, I can say that as long as a winword.exe is running, the setting is probably remembered.

[BetterRed]

Hi Toxaris, I did some more testing this morning, if 1 repeat the following

• start word,
• do an import from %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\workInProgresswith no current document,
• apply template,
• save,
• close,
• exit word

I don't get concatenation of multiple copies, and when I start Word of course I don't get last used location, I get the offer of Libraries/Documents - which I gather is as you would expect - because its a fresh session. But I do get good output, and don't get lockups, multiple instances of Word etc. But its cumbersome - Word ain't the fastest kid on the block when it comes to starting and stopping - even though its installed on a SSD.

But if I do a second import without exiting Word the previous location is offered, but then I get concatenation of multiple copies, second instances of word, and a third and fourth import only make things worse.

Yesterday I said that I looked for hidden instances of WINWORD and couldn't find any. Well today I did the same and there was a hidden WINWORD.EXE i.e. a WINWORD process but no application nor any active item in taskbar. I don't know what happened yesterday, I must have gone blind, or it was something more...

I double clicked a docx I had on the desktop, what I saw is in the first attachment - ugly, can't recall ever seeing anything similar? So in Task Manager I ended the process tree of the 'hidden' WINWORD.EXE. I then double clicked Tandem.doc and the document loaded and displayed normally. I exited Word and checked for a hidden WINWORD.EXE - no sign of one.

But here's the rub - I started Word, clicked Import EPUB expecting to be offered Libraries\Documents but I was offered %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\workInProgress!! That would seem to imply that the previous 'session' of EPUB Tools was still running. I imported an EPUB from my workInProgress folder - two copies were concatenated. So I opened Tandem.docx - it was OK.

I'm running Word 2007 from Office Home and Student, according to WU there are no outstanding patches, it was installed from a retail DVD that I purchased from an MS reseller, its activated and validated.

What version of Word do you use?

FYI - I've attach a screenshot showing the 'hidden' WINWORD.EXE process.

Tomorrow I have another go at it, I'll try to find out to what process the Epub Tools dlls are attached. I would have thought WINWORD.EXE, but maybe not. I have no idea of how Office hangs together.

BR

[Toxaris]

I use Office 2013 myself, but test everything on Word 2007 first. It is quite easy to have old Winword.exe processes running. The automatic cleanup is not the best in the world to be honest. It is also possible to open a Word document hidden, that is what I do when I run the S/R rules. However, that process is cleaned/deleted hard after the procedure. I do that to avoid any zombie Winword.exe processes.
Now, in principle if you open three documents simultaneous, three winword.exe processes will be started. I think, but only think, that only one ePUBTools will be loaded. Therefore as long as one Winword.exe is running, settings would remain.

It makes no sense at all that the directory you imported from is retained if no processes are running anymore. That being said, sometimes Word remembers an directory I was in, but not always. So, Word also stores somewhere the last directory accessed and makes a difference (not all the time) between opening and saving. Talking about headaches. So, if the opening directory after a fresh start of Word is the directory your want: bonus!

Originally Posted by BetterRed

But here's the rub - I started Word, clicked Import EPUB expecting to be offered Libraries\Documents but I was offered %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\workInProgress!! That would seem to imply that the previous 'session' of EPUB Tools was still running. I imported an EPUB from my workInProgress folder - two copies were concatenated. So I opened Tandem.docx - it was OK.

I don't quite get this. You start a fresh copy and then import the same ePUB twice? With or without save in between? I will try to reproduce this.

In all fairness, the import ePUB option was never intended to do a kind of batch import. Just import the ePUB and work on it. That being said, the procedure you specified should work. So far I have no explanation, but will dig deeper. Like I said before, it could be that as a precaution all open document should/will be closed first. But I don't like that option.

[BetterRed]

@Toxaris - a word of explanation, every morning I 'pick-up' 10-30 documents, they are papers from academia, TV chat show transcripts, gov't white papers, waffle from ECB, IMF etc.

Rather than process them one at a time from raw input through to finished DOCX's and EPUBs I find it easier to push them as a batch through the basic processes to the point where I have everything up to the 'Ready to be Corrected' state. Then I can take of my 'process workers' hat and put on my 'editors' hat :lol:

I only ever have the DOCX open that the EPUB Import just created and saved (alongside the input - which is where I want it). After the import does its save, I attach the relevant template (Alt/7, one to five arrows, Enter), then I glance at the first few pages to make a quick assessment of how much work to correct, then I save the document (ctrl/s) with its template, close the document (ctrl/w), then I would Import another EPUB.

When the import is happening if I notice one stutter part through - I watch the status line - then I can pretty much guarantee I will get a double decker (ie Intro, Summary, blah1, blah2... blahN, Notes, References, Index, Intro, Summary... Index), if I notice two stutters I'll probably get a triple decker. Bit like a Dutch Sandwich with a Double Irish.

These documents are fairly short - most are less than 20K words. And I want to get through them in a day so I need a fixed process.

If the original is in PDF and many are, then I push them through Mobi Creator to create a PRC, convert the PRC to EPUB with calibre then convert the EPUB to DOCX via EPUB Tools, eventually I will create a finished EPUB from the edited DOCX via calibre. This is probably sub-optimal for any one document - but for bulk processing where time is important its the best I've been able to come up with.

I don't get the so-called 'Microsoft cruft' some complain about, I use a few simple word templates with minimalist styles, one font, one color, two or three sizes, bold, and italics. The only time it gets a 'bit hairy' is with documents with lots of foot/end notes, references, etc. But I have a few macros that help me with those.

These documents are not destined for commercial release they go to a 'closed circle of keeper's of the bastards honest'

BR

[Toxaris]

At the moment any equations in a Word document (made with the equation editor...) will be saved as a .PNG image by default. I am thinking of making an option to also export these equations as MathML aside the ePUB. In that case if you want to replace the PNG by an SVG you don't need to completely recreate the formula or if ePUB3 is your goal the MathML is already there. I am also looking into converting it to SVG as an alternative.

Would there be interest in this ability?

[BetterRed]

I interpreted the (I)gnore button in the Search and Replace pop up dialogue as meaning - 'if the search term is found in this context then ignore the search term in that context'.

So a search for 'spelled' to be replaced by 'spelt' would find 'dispelled', if '(I)gnore' was selected then all occurrences of 'dispelled' would be left as is.

But in fact what happens is that all occurrences of 'dispelled' are changed to 'dispelt' - aagh.

If the action I see is what's intended, then I suggest the button be labelled "Change All" (in the English version), if the action should be as I interpreted it then there's a 'bug'.

I think there's a good case for two buttons - Change All and Ignore All (according to my definition thereof )

On a related note, the checkbox labelled - 'Automatic process S/R rules with auto flag set' would be easier to understand if it were labelled 'Automatically process S/R rules with the Confirm checkbox unchecked'. I searched high and low for a flag (checkbox) labelled '...auto...'

==============

After swapping a number of PM's with Toxaris, I have decided to forego use of the Import EPUB function. The way I want to use it... serially, is probably beyond its intended use, and my other Add-ins could 'interfering' with EPUB Tools (possibly a COM v VSTO issue)

Toxaris, feel free to contact me direct to do any alpha/beta stress testing

BR

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I interpreted the (I)gnore button in the Search and Replace pop up dialogue as meaning - 'if the search term is found in this context then ignore the search term in that context'.

So a search for 'spelled' to be replaced by 'spelt' would find 'dispelled', if '(I)gnore' was selected then all occurrences of 'dispelled' would be left as is.

But in fact what happens is that all occurrences of 'dispelled' are changed to 'dispelt' - aagh.

If the action I see is what's intended, then I suggest the button be labelled "Change All" (in the English version), if the action should be as I interpreted it then there's a 'bug'.

I think there's a good case for two buttons - Change All and Ignore All (according to my definition thereof )

On a related note, the checkbox labelled - 'Automatic process S/R rules with auto flag set' would be easier to understand if it were labelled 'Automatically process S/R rules with the Confirm checkbox unchecked'. I searched high and low for a flag (checkbox) labelled '...auto...'

I have to check about the ignore button, but in general there it is a yes/no question. If you want to ignore the search completely, you should choose 'Continue with next search'. The ignore button will ignore exactly what it is saying for the remainder of the search. So, if it is saying ignore 'dispelled' in your case, it would ignore that word for the remainder of the document. If that is not the case with you, I would love to have a test document and the exact S&R rule that goes wrong. What you are describing is not the behavior that should happen.

I will adapt the translation of the checkbox.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

I have to check about the ignore button, but in general there it is a yes/no question. If you want to ignore the search completely, you should choose 'Continue with next search'. The ignore button will ignore exactly what it is saying for the remainder of the search. So, if it is saying ignore 'dispelled' in your case, it would ignore that word for the remainder of the document. If that is not the case with you, I would love to have a test document and the exact S&R rule that goes wrong. What you are describing is not the behavior that should happen.

I will adapt the translation of the checkbox.

Toxaris - I only tried the Ignore button once and I got the 'unexpected result', so I assumed I was misunderstanding the meaning of 'Ignore'

I'll PM you a test document & rules sheet after you push a new version, assuming I get the perverse behaviour. It's a while since I clicked the Ignore and I've not been game/able to since

Also - in the install folder there is this - AmazingProgressBar.dll - which I'm guessing is this ==>> The Amazing ProgressBar Control - CodeProject

But I never see any progress bars apart from the standard issue one on the Word status line. I only mention it in case its a clue to the weird things I get with Import EPUB.

Cheers BR

[Toxaris]

I just have run a quick test with some dummy text with a couple of 'dispelled' words in it. My S&R rule is simply replacing spelled by spelt, no wildcards. It finds the first occurrence of dispelled as expected. If I then choose ignore, it will ignore all other dispelled occurrences as designed.

The progress bar is only in use for the preparation step. Like I said, I can import 10 ePUB's in serie without the things you get. I do have made some small changes, but I think you couldn't test them yet.

[Toxaris]

Version 1.9.2 is just released. Various fixes in import ePUB function, adjusted translations/labels and other fixes. New is an option to also remove S&R rules in the editor and that procedures can be hidden on the ribbon when never used. Also buttons are sometimes greyed out when the corresponding procedures are not available at that time.