[GUI Plugin] Count Pages - Page 57

JSWolf · 01-08-2016, 05:17 PM

The book I noticed the counting errors with...

Old Method - 169541
ICU Method - 168183
Word 2016 - 168187

For Word, I used Calibre to convert to text and loaded the text version into Word to get the count. So yes, the ICU method is a lot more accurate.

BetterRed · 01-08-2016, 05:21 PM

I thought the existence of a space adjacent to an ellipsis was germane to why ellipsis is there.

From memory, CMS has space before and after to indicate missing words, to indicate an unfinished sentence no space before, and period after. MLA puts [] around the ellipsis to indicate missing words, IMO that looks better if words are omitted from the start of a sentence.

But as Jefferson said - "On matters of style swim with the current, on matters of principle stand like a rock."

BR

Divingduck · 01-09-2016, 03:37 PM

@davidfor,
Thanks for the beta. I run a test against some German EPUB files in different genres. As reference information I made a docx-conversion. Here are the results.

1. A Federal Agency for Civic Education document
(Link:http://www.bpb.de/system/files/datei/APuZ_2015-52.epub)
Count Page/Word Statistics
Word count - old method: 30,349
Word count: 30,539
MS Word 2013 Statistics
Words: 29,864

Spoiler:

2. Dale Brown - Außer Kontrolle (Thriller)
isbn:9783641111038
Count Page/Word Statistics
Word count - old method: 109,218
Word count: 106,689
MS Word 2013 Statistic
Words: 107,033

Spoiler:

3. Umberto Eco - Die große Zukunft des Buches (non-fiction)
isbn:9783446236165
Count Page/Word Statistics
Word count - old method: 69,745
Word count: 68,944
MS Word 2013 Statistic
Words: 68,916

Spoiler:

4. Helena Marten - Die Kaffeemeisterin (historical fiction)
isbn:9783641059606
Count Page/Word Statistics
Word count - old method: 149,472
Word count: 148,460
MS Word 2013 Statistics
Words: 148,883

Spoiler:

Ravensknight · 01-09-2016, 08:24 PM

These past couple of pages are why I so infrequently post. Why be a complete bother to the creator of the plugin AND annoy others who use it? And all to no purpose...

theducks · 01-09-2016, 09:15 PM

If I was getting paid 'by the word', I could see the need for 'the most accurate precision'. (Please, Please, do not get 'Weights-and Measures' involved. None of the current methods would be acceptable

)

But I don't.

I find ADE page estimates (I use a RMSDK device) meets my needs for book size, just like 'heft' did in the bookstore of days past.

DoctorOhh · 01-10-2016, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

I find ADE page estimates (I use a RMSDK device) meets my needs for book size, just like 'heft' did in the bookstore of days past.

Agreed.

BetterRed · 01-10-2016, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

These past couple of pages are why I so infrequently post. Why be a complete bother to the creator of the plugin AND annoy others who use it? And all to no purpose...

- one might say, "Triumph of the Pedants", but one shouldn't of course.

Leni Riefenstahl

BR

rpgmaker · 01-10-2016, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

These past couple of pages are why I so infrequently post. Why be a complete bother to the creator of the plugin AND annoy others who use it? And all to no purpose...

Bother the creator? The person that seems to be in charge of the plugin now said that he/she was bored and decided to look into it, it might as well has been ignored but it wasn't. Annoy users? Why are people annoyed by this? The benefit is marginal but this is nothing more than looking for a way of making the count more "accurate", I don't see the need to hate on this or consider it annoying in any way. I don't think this makes the user a "pedant", this kind of marginal changes are done every day in all kinds of projects and they improve them in the long term.

Divingduck · 01-10-2016, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

These past couple of pages are why I so infrequently post. Why be a complete bother to the creator of the plugin AND annoy others who use it? And all to no purpose...

Anyway, it's up to you to read, ignore or post, agree or disagree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

I find ADE page estimates (I use a RMSDK device) meets my needs for book size, just like 'heft' did in the bookstore of days past.

Agreed too, especial as page references are common everywhere of the world and in all the different areas. For this I need one method and that is mainly Adobe page count.

At the end JSWolf is right to say there is something wrong in counting words as that is reality. On the other side there is no simple solution, as the different samples shows (and users who work with this information's know this very well too, e.g for technical dokumentation's the gap is much bigger). This discussion is a good one as it brings facts on the table for users and developer who like to think outside the box to find the optimum solution for their requirements. That is exactly why calibre is what it is, right?

Best regards,
DivingDuck

davidfor · 01-10-2016, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

These past couple of pages are why I so infrequently post. Why be a complete bother to the creator of the plugin AND annoy others who use it? And all to no purpose...

Others have commented, but personally, I see the last few pages as a healthy discussion about the plugin. Someone reported a possible problem, and the discussion has been about how useful it is to fix the bug. I like seeing this level of involvement as it helps to work out the best solution.

BetterRed · 01-10-2016, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Others have commented, but personally, I see the last few pages as a healthy discussion about the plugin. Someone reported a possible problem, and the discussion has been about how useful it is to fix the bug. I like seeing this level of involvement as it helps to work out the best solution.

A discussion about word counting without any discussion about when hyphenation should be used is a somewhat barren discussion. The latter is to some degree a matter of style, it's also a matter where there are no hard and fast rules. Google 'when to use hyphens' and read what the writerly commentariat and grammarians have to say on hyphenation.

The existing algorithm is NOT a bug - putting a Whitworth nut on a Metric bolt is a bug. But that JSWolf regards all opinions, other than his own, as bugs, is a proven fact

It's an issue of which algorithm to use. The one that has stood those who use it in good stead for nigh on 5 years. Or one that has only become available in recent times. There would be no discussion, from me at least, if the proposal was to add an option to use the existing or the ICU algorithms when computing word counts. IMO, adding an option would be in the 'spirit' of the original developer, who usually (always ?) protected 'legacy' features. If at all possible, existing 'installs' would set the option to use the 'legacy' algorithm, new installs would default to the 'ICU' algorithm.

Support forums are riddled with complaints about Apple, MS, Google etc blithely clobbering/discontinuing existing features. Less so with IBM, if you're minded you can definitely run IEBGENER and probably DISSOS or PROFS on your shiny new z/OS system.

Facetiously, one might suggest an option to include the components of hyphenated words in the word count if they are present in designated dictionaries. Thus, the compound word 'so-called' would likely be counted as two words, whereas 'topsy-turvy' would likely be counted as one. But realistically one wouldn't — would one?

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

An unrelated feature I'd like to see in Count Pages, is an option to use the format file with the latest file system modification date as the basis for counting. In my workflow that would avoid in-flight conversions to EPUB - because in 99% of cases, I Convert from non-EPUB to EPUB immediately prior to running Count Pages.

NB: EPUB is not even close to being near the top of my preferred input format list, although it is my designated output format. I rarely need to convert from EPUB, when I do it's unlikely I would then run Count Pages. I would typically attach the output format file to an email, send it, and then remove the format from the library.

BR

Katsunami · 01-10-2016, 06:37 PM

For what it is worth, soft hyphenation with the Hyphenate This plugin messes up Count Pages (or the word count functions it uses). It counts a huge number of extra pages and words if you run it after running Hyphenate This.

Therefore Hyphenate This is the last plugin I run, and I only run it on the AZW3 format, which is the one I use for the Kindle Paperwhite 1.

davidfor · 01-10-2016, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

A discussion about word counting without any discussion about when hyphenation should be used is a somewhat barren discussion. The latter is to some degree a matter of style, it's also a matter where there are no hard and fast rules. Google 'when to use hyphens' and read what the writerly commentariat and grammarians have to say on hyphenation.

Sorry, I don't think the discussion is about when to use hyphenation. It's about what is considered a word. Or, for the sake of using an algorithm that doesn't need a dictionary or full grammar, what is a word delimiter.

Quote:

The existing algorithm is NOT a bug - putting a Whitworth nut on a Metric bolt is a bug. But that JSWolf regards all opinions, other than his own, as bugs, is a proven fact

JSWolf reported three cases. The ellipses example is a bug (always two words) and the em-dash is probably a bug (two words in most circumstances). The en-dash is harder. I think it would be two words in more cases than one word, but I'm not sure. And Katsunami has pointed to another example; the soft-hyphen should not be a word delimiter. That to me is a worse problem

Quote:

It's an issue of which algorithm to use. The one that has stood those who use it in good stead for nigh on 5 years. Or one that has only become available in recent times. There would be no discussion, from me at least, if the proposal was to add an option to use the existing or the ICU algorithms when computing word counts. IMO, adding an option would be in the 'spirit' of the original developer, who usually (always ?) protected 'legacy' features. If at all possible, existing 'installs' would set the option to use the 'legacy' algorithm, new installs would default to the 'ICU' algorithm.

The problem with the option is that there is no real long-term benefit in having it. If we were having options to use "ICU" vs "Simple spaces delimiter" vs "Some wacky word count method I found on the net", then yes, options for the choice. To me, the number of people that are interested in the exact number of words is few. And most of them will be horrified that the count is wrong and want it fixed. For most of the rest, an approximation is good enough and that is why my initial reaction was "who cares". When I looked again, the language/locale issues was what made me decide to look at the changes.

Saying that it has served the users for five years is a problem. The code for both methods is in calibre. Are you sure that the existing method hasn't changed in five years? Are you sure it won't change in the future? I'm a little surprised that when Kovid implemented the ICU method that he didn't remove the old method. Sure, he would have left the interface, but that would have just pointed to the new code.

And for changes to the algorithm, if it had been implemented completely inside Count Pages and the issue was that, for example, the ellipses character was not in the list of word delimiter characters, I would have had no hesitation in adding it. Would you expect an option to keep the old in that case?

Quote:

Support forums are riddled with complaints about Apple, MS, Google etc blithely clobbering/discontinuing existing features. Less so with IBM, if you're minded you can definitely run IEBGENER and probably DISSOS or PROFS on your shiny new z/OS system.

"PROFS", I haven't heard mention of that for a LONG time.

Quote:

Facetiously, one might suggest an option to include the components of hyphenated words in the word count if they are present in designated dictionaries. Thus, the compound word 'so-called' would likely be counted as two words, whereas 'topsy-turvy' would likely be counted as one. But realistically one wouldn't — would one?

Sorry, I would count a hyphenated compound word as one word. Anything with hyphens connecting the parts is to me one word. That isn't the problem, it's working out what a hyphen is. And what other characters should not be treated as word delimiters.

Quote:

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

An unrelated feature I'd like to see in Count Pages, is an option to use the format file with the latest file system modification date as the basis for counting. In my workflow that would avoid in-flight conversions to EPUB - because in 99% of cases, I Convert from non-EPUB to EPUB immediately prior to running Count Pages.

NB: EPUB is not even close to being near the top of my preferred input format list, although it is my designated output format. I rarely need to convert from EPUB, when I do it's unlikely I would then run Count Pages. I would typically attach the output format file to an email, send it, and then remove the format from the library.

I hadn't looked at that part of the code before, but when choosing which format to use, your preferred input format is used. So, if the epub is always being counted, it must be above the other formats in your calibre preferences. Looking for the most recently changed is possible, but it's enough outside the existing code that I can't say that I'm interested in adding it.

kovidgoyal · 01-11-2016, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

I'm a little surprised that when Kovid implemented the ICU method that he didn't remove the old method. Sure, he would have left the interface, but that would have just pointed to the new code.

That is because the old code is only used by conversion heuristics and conversion heuristics is a bit of the conversion pipeline I dont maintain. I dislike making changes in other people's code unless there is some compelling reason to do so.

JSWolf · 01-11-2016, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

The existing algorithm is NOT a bug - putting a Whitworth nut on a Metric bolt is a bug. But that JSWolf regards all opinions, other than his own, as bugs, is a proven fact

What I posted are indeed true bugs. Those six words were counted as three words when they should be six words. This is not an opinion. It's a fact. If you don't like bug reports, just ignore them.

01-08-2016, 05:21 PM	#842
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,826 Karma: 30277270 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	I thought the existence of a space adjacent to an ellipsis was germane to why ellipsis is there. From memory, CMS has space before and after to indicate missing words, to indicate an unfinished sentence no space before, and period after. MLA puts [] around the ellipsis to indicate missing words, IMO that looks better if words are omitted from the start of a sentence. But as Jefferson said - "On matters of style swim with the current, on matters of principle stand like a rock." BR Last edited by BetterRed; 01-09-2016 at 02:22 AM.

01-09-2016, 03:37 PM	#843
Divingduck Wizard Posts: 1,166 Karma: 1410083 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Germany Device: Sony PRS-650	@davidfor, Thanks for the beta. I run a test against some German EPUB files in different genres. As reference information I made a docx-conversion. Here are the results. 1. A Federal Agency for Civic Education document (Link:http://www.bpb.de/system/files/datei/APuZ_2015-52.epub) Count Page/Word Statistics Word count - old method: 30,349 Word count: 30,539 MS Word 2013 Statistics Words: 29,864 Spoiler: Count Page/Word Statistics Logfile for book ID 15709 (Europäische Integration in der Krise) Found 30539 words Computed 11.9 Flesch-Kincaid Grade Computed 39.7 Flesch Reading Computed 12.0 Gunning Fog Index Found 111 pages 15709 InputFormatPlugin: EPUB Input running on C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Local\Temp\calibre_mediha\o zhs7n_count_pages\15709.epub Found HTML cover OEBPS/00000000000_cover.html Page count: 111.0 Word count - old method: 30349 Word count: 30539 Results of NLTK text analysis: Number of characters: 199944 Number of words: 32658 Number of sentences: 1888 Number of syllables: 57866 Number of complex words: 4280 Average words per sentence: 17 Flesch Reading Ease: 39.6790997612 Flesch Kincade Grade: 11.9481633903 Gunning Fog: 12.0422071162 MS Word 2013 Statistics Characters: 200404 Characters w space: 229956 paragraphs: 693 Words: 29864 2. Dale Brown - Außer Kontrolle (Thriller) isbn:9783641111038 Count Page/Word Statistics Word count - old method: 109,218 Word count: 106,689 MS Word 2013 Statistic Words: 107,033 Spoiler: Count Page/Word Statistics Logfile for book ID 15535 (Außer Kontrolle) Found 106689 words Computed 9.3 Flesch-Kincaid Grade Computed 56.7 Flesch Reading Computed 10.1 Gunning Fog Index Found 322 pages 15535 InputFormatPlugin: EPUB Input running on C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Local\Temp\calibre_mediha\c lqzsw_count_pages\15535.epub Found HTML cover titlepage.xhtml Page count: 322.0 Word count - old method: 109218 Word count: 106689 Results of NLTK text analysis: Number of characters: 648986 Number of words: 115430 Number of sentences: 6878 Number of syllables: 182710 Number of complex words: 10629 Average words per sentence: 16 Flesch Reading Ease: 56.6846993849 Flesch Kincade Grade: 9.32779606688 Gunning Fog: 10.0832712466 MS Word 2013 Statistic Characters: 639284 Characters w space: 744117 paragraphs: 2857 Words: 107033 3. Umberto Eco - Die große Zukunft des Buches (non-fiction) isbn:9783446236165 Count Page/Word Statistics Word count - old method: 69,745 Word count: 68,944 MS Word 2013 Statistic Words: 68,916 Spoiler: Count Page/Word Statistics Logfile for book ID 14875 (Die große Zukunft des Buches) Found 68944 words Computed 8.2 Flesch-Kincaid Grade Computed 64.4 Flesch Reading Computed 9.9 Gunning Fog Index Found 212 pages 14875 InputFormatPlugin: EPUB Input running on C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Local\Temp\calibre_mediha\i 6wxog_count_pages\14875.epub Page count: 212.0 Word count - old method: 69745 Word count: 68944 Results of NLTK text analysis: Number of characters: 383108 Number of words: 74867 Number of sentences: 4560 Number of syllables: 111639 Number of complex words: 6615 Average words per sentence: 16 Flesch Reading Ease: 64.4424975623 Flesch Kincade Grade: 8.24573911069 Gunning Fog: 9.93426743425 MS Word 2013 Statistics Characters: 384109 Characters w space: 452814 paragraphs: 934 Words: 68916 4. Helena Marten - Die Kaffeemeisterin (historical fiction) isbn:9783641059606 Count Page/Word Statistics Word count - old method: 149,472 Word count: 148,460 MS Word 2013 Statistics Words: 148,883 Spoiler: Count Page/Word Statistics Logfile for book ID 15637 (Die Kaffeemeisterin) Found 148460 words Computed 7.1 Flesch-Kincaid Grade Computed 70.7 Flesch Reading Computed 9.4 Gunning Fog Index Found 454 pages 15637 InputFormatPlugin: EPUB Input running on C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Local\Temp\calibre_mediha\r o4vpd_count_pages\15637.epub Page count: 454.0 Word count - old method: 149472 Word count: 148460 Results of NLTK text analysis: Number of characters: 813152 Number of words: 158706 Number of sentences: 10017 Number of syllables: 226847 Number of complex words: 13451 Average words per sentence: 15 Flesch Reading Ease: 70.6866814109 Flesch Kincade Grade: 7.12637304198 Gunning Fog: 9.39016798357 MS Word 2013 Statistics Characters: 801879 Characters w space: 948783 paragraphs: 3534 Words: 148883

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01-08-2016, 05:17 PM	#841
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,031 Karma: 147977995 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The book I noticed the counting errors with... Old Method - 169541 ICU Method - 168183 Word 2016 - 168187 For Word, I used Calibre to convert to text and loaded the text version into Word to get the count. So yes, the ICU method is a lot more accurate.

01-09-2016, 08:24 PM	#844
Ravensknight Serpent Rider Posts: 1,123 Karma: 10219804 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: Sony 350; Nook STR; Oasis	These past couple of pages are why I so infrequently post. Why be a complete bother to the creator of the plugin AND annoy others who use it? And all to no purpose...

01-09-2016, 09:15 PM	#845
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,134 Karma: 60406498 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	If I was getting paid 'by the word', I could see the need for 'the most accurate precision'. (Please, Please, do not get 'Weights-and Measures' involved. None of the current methods would be acceptable ) But I don't. I find ADE page estimates (I use a RMSDK device) meets my needs for book size, just like 'heft' did in the bookstore of days past.

01-10-2016, 06:37 PM	#852
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	For what it is worth, soft hyphenation with the Hyphenate This plugin messes up Count Pages (or the word count functions it uses). It counts a huge number of extra pages and words if you run it after running Hyphenate This. Therefore Hyphenate This is the last plugin I run, and I only run it on the AZW3 format, which is the one I use for the Kindle Paperwhite 1.

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