Mobipocket output - Page 12

starrigger · 03-19-2009, 01:46 AM

Well, that certainly seems simpler than the other way. I'll have to give it a try.

starrigger · 03-20-2009, 03:05 AM

Here's a suggestion for an enhancement. Is there any reason why you couldn't add as a Save to Disk option either:

"Save existing file with updated metadata and cover"

or

"Include updated metadata and cover in new book file"

The present method of requiring either a Save followed by a reimport into the library, or Converting to the same format, is sort of unintuitive and cumbersome.

Just a thought.

kovidgoyal · 03-20-2009, 03:29 AM

I'm not clear as to why you want the files in the calibre library to have updated metadata? When you want to send them to a device or save them to disk, the metadata is updated automatically, so why do you car about the state of the metadata in the in library copies?

starrigger · 03-20-2009, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I'm not clear as to why you want the files in the calibre library to have updated metadata? When you want to send them to a device or save them to disk, the metadata is updated automatically, so why do you car about the state of the metadata in the in library copies?

Well, the most obvious reason would be if you're tweaking ebook files that you want to give other people to read. Another is, for backup purposes, or copying book files to another computer.

As for saving files to disk, didn't you just explain to me in another thread that when you Save the files, the metadata is included in the .opd file that accompanies the book file, but is not actually incorporated into the book file itself until you Add it back into the library? (That's what I understood you to say; maybe I got it wrong.) This process results in multiple copies of the book file, all slightly different, and it can quickly become hard to keep track of which is which.

So, if I'm trying to correct something in a book file that I'm going to send to my friend Jane, or put up for download, or add to the MR library, I start to feel like I'm chasing my tail until I know I have a book that'll be right in someone else's device.

kovidgoyal · 03-20-2009, 04:57 AM

So this is (I hope) the definitive explanation for how metadata works:

1) When you make changes to metadata in calibre, it is stored in the database, but the book files are not updated.

2) When you use either the save to disk or the send to device functions the metadata *is* updated, but only in the copies (i.e. in the newly saved files). The files in calibre's library are still not affected.

3) Because different ebook formats support different amounts and kinds of metadata, the only complete set of metadata in te "saved to disk" files is in the OPF file. I cannot overemphasize just how dicey this process is. For example different generations of PRC files support different amounts of metadata. The same is true for LRF files. This craziness was what prompted me to make the decision to store metadata in a database in the first place. Even EPUB doesn't support the full set of metadata in the calibre database.

4) Instead of re-importing the saved books with the metadata into calibre, you should use the edit metadata dialog to just re-import the specific format.

5) When you do a conversion, it will use the latest metadata from the database, so your newly converted file should have as up to date metadata as possible. In many cases, this will result in a file that has superior metadata to one for the "Save to disk" process. This is because calibre generates the most modern version of each file format, with the greatest support for metadata. But it is important to understand that even a converted file will not have all the metadata available in the calibre database.

starrigger · 03-20-2009, 01:36 PM

That is such a clear explanation even I finally understand it.

That's worth putting in its own thread with a sticky.

bkilian · 03-23-2009, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Even EPUB doesn't support the full set of metadata in the calibre database.

Huh. Since ePub's metadata is based on the OPF XML format, it's extensible, and therefore should be able to support all the metadata Calibre can throw at it. Sure, other apps wouldn't be able to read it unless they implement your extensions, but that's not really the point.

mros · 03-28-2009, 04:08 AM

I tried to convert a txt file to mobi.
The converted file removed most paragraphs. It seems that it detects a paragraph only when a double CR is found.
I looked into the txt file with an editor and I found that each paragraph correcltly ends with "0D 0A" bytes (LF CR).
Sometimes there's a double sequence (LF CR LF CR). Only this one is detected.

Mobipocket Creator, the tool provided by Mobipocket, has a "suppress single carriage returns" option.
It's useful with some txt files, having a CR at the end of every line and a double CR at the end of every paragraph. (Maybe as a result of a hard page scanning).

It seems that Calibre always suppress single CR.
I tried to convert to other formats, but I always get the same results.
Is it possible to tell it not to suppress single CR ?

BTW, Thanks for your great job !

kovidgoyal · 03-28-2009, 04:11 AM

calibre assumes all txt files are written using markdown syntax, if you have an ordinary txt file, you're better off using something else to convert it to html first.

mros · 03-28-2009, 01:13 PM

Thank you for your reply.
I tried to convert txt to html
I just read the txt format, calibre calls the default viewer, notepad++ for me.
Notepad++ can save to html or rtf
Then I added the new format from the metadata window.

Anyway, it would be nice to avoid all this. The txt source is very common and it would be nice to be able to use it directly.

------------

I didn't find a way to specify the language of the e-book.
How can I set the metadata for it ?

It's useful when you have books in different languages and it's used by mobipocket dictionaries.

kovidgoyal · 03-28-2009, 01:33 PM

txt is not an actual format, it has no structural information. Different txt files follow different conventions, which is why it is impossible to reliably automatically convert TXT

Forster · 03-29-2009, 01:32 PM

I'm having the same problems with my txt files when I convert to mobi with caliber. If I don't convert to mobi and just leave it as text I can copy the file to my kindle and read it just fine, but......the title/author entry on my kindle is not the way I like it. If I convert the txt file to mobi the metadata is updated and looks good on my kindle home page but......I lose all my paragraphs making it virtually unreadable.

So, if I'm understanding correctly, to get the best of both worlds I can convert my txt to html using another program, import the new html file into caliber and then use caliber to convert the html to mobi? I will then hopefully have both my paragraphs formated correctly and have the metadata updated the way I want?

kovidgoyal · 03-29-2009, 02:13 PM

yes .

nrapallo · 03-29-2009, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forster

get the best of both worlds I can convert my txt to html using another program, import the new html file into caliber and then use caliber to convert the html to mobi?

In the past, I have used this utility, Text2Html, to convert many .txt to .html with good results. Just experiment with different Preference settings until you like the results, then convert every .txt in a directory to .html. My Preferences were:

Then use the Calibre GUI or any2mobi command line utility on the resulting .html(s).

Forster · 03-29-2009, 10:38 PM

Thanks for the the info guys!

Converting the txt to html and then having caliber convert the html to mobi worked perfectly. Not only do I get my kindle title page with nice clean titles/authors, the text in the book is formated much better than when I was just reading the txt files.

03-28-2009, 04:08 AM	#173
mros Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: none	paragraph detection I tried to convert a txt file to mobi. The converted file removed most paragraphs. It seems that it detects a paragraph only when a double CR is found. I looked into the txt file with an editor and I found that each paragraph correcltly ends with "0D 0A" bytes (LF CR). Sometimes there's a double sequence (LF CR LF CR). Only this one is detected. Mobipocket Creator, the tool provided by Mobipocket, has a "suppress single carriage returns" option. It's useful with some txt files, having a CR at the end of every line and a double CR at the end of every paragraph. (Maybe as a result of a hard page scanning). It seems that Calibre always suppress single CR. I tried to convert to other formats, but I always get the same results. Is it possible to tell it not to suppress single CR ? BTW, Thanks for your great job !

03-28-2009, 01:13 PM	#175
mros Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: none	Paragraph detection / Language metadata Thank you for your reply. I tried to convert txt to html I just read the txt format, calibre calls the default viewer, notepad++ for me. Notepad++ can save to html or rtf Then I added the new format from the metadata window. Anyway, it would be nice to avoid all this. The txt source is very common and it would be nice to be able to use it directly. ------------ I didn't find a way to specify the language of the e-book. How can I set the metadata for it ? It's useful when you have books in different languages and it's used by mobipocket dictionaries.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
main menu, section menu, css for calibre mobipocket output	naisren	Calibre	2	08-23-2010 11:42 PM
Trying to get consistent look to all output	daveps	Calibre	0	03-08-2010 02:18 PM
Anyone Have mobipocket desktop? Mobipocket server is down.	Ireadfreely	Kindle Formats	3	10-27-2008 10:29 AM
convert from 'new' mobipocket to 'old' mobipocket?	Indigo Ink	Kindle Formats	11	06-22-2008 01:43 AM
Mobipocket Reader 4.8 and Mobipocket eNews Creator	Mobipocket	Reading and Management	1	01-29-2004 08:03 AM

03-19-2009, 01:46 AM	#166
starrigger Jeffrey A. Carver Posts: 1,355 Karma: 1107383 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Massachusetts, USA Device: Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus, Droid phone, Nook HD+	Well, that certainly seems simpler than the other way. I'll have to give it a try.

03-20-2009, 03:05 AM	#167
starrigger Jeffrey A. Carver Posts: 1,355 Karma: 1107383 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Massachusetts, USA Device: Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus, Droid phone, Nook HD+	Here's a suggestion for an enhancement. Is there any reason why you couldn't add as a Save to Disk option either: "Save existing file with updated metadata and cover" or "Include updated metadata and cover in new book file" The present method of requiring either a Save followed by a reimport into the library, or Converting to the same format, is sort of unintuitive and cumbersome. Just a thought.

03-20-2009, 03:29 AM	#168
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,374 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	I'm not clear as to why you want the files in the calibre library to have updated metadata? When you want to send them to a device or save them to disk, the metadata is updated automatically, so why do you car about the state of the metadata in the in library copies?

03-20-2009, 04:57 AM	#170
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,374 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	So this is (I hope) the definitive explanation for how metadata works: 1) When you make changes to metadata in calibre, it is stored in the database, but the book files are not updated. 2) When you use either the save to disk or the send to device functions the metadata is updated, but only in the copies (i.e. in the newly saved files). The files in calibre's library are still not affected. 3) Because different ebook formats support different amounts and kinds of metadata, the only complete set of metadata in te "saved to disk" files is in the OPF file. I cannot overemphasize just how dicey this process is. For example different generations of PRC files support different amounts of metadata. The same is true for LRF files. This craziness was what prompted me to make the decision to store metadata in a database in the first place. Even EPUB doesn't support the full set of metadata in the calibre database. 4) Instead of re-importing the saved books with the metadata into calibre, you should use the edit metadata dialog to just re-import the specific format. 5) When you do a conversion, it will use the latest metadata from the database, so your newly converted file should have as up to date metadata as possible. In many cases, this will result in a file that has superior metadata to one for the "Save to disk" process. This is because calibre generates the most modern version of each file format, with the greatest support for metadata. But it is important to understand that even a converted file will not have all the metadata available in the calibre database.

03-20-2009, 01:36 PM	#171
starrigger Jeffrey A. Carver Posts: 1,355 Karma: 1107383 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Massachusetts, USA Device: Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus, Droid phone, Nook HD+	That is such a clear explanation even I finally understand it. That's worth putting in its own thread with a sticky.

03-28-2009, 04:11 AM	#174
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,374 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	calibre assumes all txt files are written using markdown syntax, if you have an ordinary txt file, you're better off using something else to convert it to html first.

03-28-2009, 01:33 PM	#176
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,374 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	txt is not an actual format, it has no structural information. Different txt files follow different conventions, which is why it is impossible to reliably automatically convert TXT

03-29-2009, 01:32 PM	#177
Forster Member Posts: 23 Karma: 642 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: kindle 2, DX, kindle fire, kindle 3, kindle PW	I'm having the same problems with my txt files when I convert to mobi with caliber. If I don't convert to mobi and just leave it as text I can copy the file to my kindle and read it just fine, but......the title/author entry on my kindle is not the way I like it. If I convert the txt file to mobi the metadata is updated and looks good on my kindle home page but......I lose all my paragraphs making it virtually unreadable. So, if I'm understanding correctly, to get the best of both worlds I can convert my txt to html using another program, import the new html file into caliber and then use caliber to convert the html to mobi? I will then hopefully have both my paragraphs formated correctly and have the metadata updated the way I want?

03-29-2009, 02:13 PM	#178
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,374 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	yes .

03-29-2009, 10:38 PM	#180
Forster Member Posts: 23 Karma: 642 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: kindle 2, DX, kindle fire, kindle 3, kindle PW	Thanks for the the info guys! Converting the txt to html and then having caliber convert the html to mobi worked perfectly. Not only do I get my kindle title page with nice clean titles/authors, the text in the book is formated much better than when I was just reading the txt files.

Advert

Advert