kindlegen plugin for Sigil

[LittleMissS]

Status: success


************************************************** ***********
Warning: Missing SRL guide item. Use Add Semantics > Text to mark the SRL.
Warning: Cover not specified (cover metadata missing).
************************************************** ***********

What is SRL? (Googling is not great for this) I created a mobi without it. Will not having whatever SRL is, be problematic in my mobi?

Should I follow 'Use Add Semantics > Text to mark the SRL.' and if so, How?
I cannot find anything about Semantics.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by LittleMissS

What is SRL? (Googling is not great for this) I created a mobi without it. Will not having whatever SRL is, be problematic in my mobi?

SRL = Start Reading Location. It's an entry that was used to define the beginning of the book. However, Amazon no longer supports it. I.e., you can ignore this warning.
If you want to suppress this message, right-click the first chapter in the Book Browser window, select Add Semantics... > Text and click OK.

To suppress the cover warning add a cover image to the Images folder, right-click it and select Cover Image.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by LittleMissS

What is SRL? (Googling is not great for this) I created a mobi without it. Will not having whatever SRL is, be problematic in my mobi?

Start Reading Location, the point in the book where it should be the first time a new reader opens it. Amazon has changed their policy so that they set this location themselves for books that they sell, usually to the start of the first chapter, so setting this no longer matters.

Edit: ninja’d

[LittleMissS]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

SRL = Start Reading Location. It's an entry that was used to define the beginning of the book. However, Amazon no longer supports it. I.e., you can ignore this warning.
If you want to suppress this message, right-click the first chapter in the Book Browser window, select Add Semantics... > Text and click OK.

To suppress the cover warning add a cover image to the Images folder, right-click it and select Cover Image.

Is suppressing it just for my benefit (so I don't get the message) or is it also for the benefit of the the readers, so they don't get confused by getting the message if it would come up on their device?

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by LittleMissS

Is suppressing it just for my benefit (so I don't get the message) or is it also for the benefit of the the readers, so they don't get confused by getting the message if it would come up on their device?

The message is a warning that only Sigil KindleGen plugin users will see before KindleGen is executed in the background. (The only popups that Kindle devices and apps will display are dictionary and footnote definitions.)

[odamizu]

The KindleGen plugin is giving me some trouble on Sigil 0.9.15, which may be due to the same problem happening with the SVG plugin here. If so, the fix KevinH implemented should take care of it (and I'm hoping that's the case), but I wanted to report this just in case this is useful to anyone.

When I run KindleGen on a book with absolutely no images, it runs fine.

When there are jpgs, I get this:

Spoiler:

Status: failed

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Applications/Sigil.app/Contents/plugin_launchers/python/launcher.py", line 135, in launch
    self.exitcode = target_script.run(container)
  File "/Users/oda/Library/Application Support/sigil-ebook/sigil/plugins/KindleGen/plugin.py", line 561, in run
    img = Image.open(BytesIO(imgdata)).convert('L')
  File "site-packages/PIL/Image.py", line 2687, in open
OSError: cannot identify image file <_io.BytesIO object at 0x107847780>
Error: cannot identify image file <_io.BytesIO object at 0x107847780>

When all the images are PNG, I get this:

Spoiler:

Status: failed

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Applications/Sigil.app/Contents/plugin_launchers/python/launcher.py", line 135, in launch
    self.exitcode = target_script.run(container)
  File "/Users/oda/Library/Application Support/sigil-ebook/sigil/plugins/KindleGen/plugin.py", line 542, in run
    cover_def = os.path.basename(cover_href)
  File "posixpath.py", line 146, in basename
TypeError: expected str, bytes or os.PathLike object, not NoneType
Error: expected str, bytes or os.PathLike object, not NoneType

Before I pinpointed this to images, I tried a clean install (deleted KindleGen plugin and preferences folder then added the plugin back in). I expected it to ask me for the filepath to KindleGen on first-run, but instead got the following error message. (I solved it by copying the json file from a backup of my preferences folder, but would have been stuck if I didn't have the backup.)

Spoiler:

Status: failed

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Applications/Sigil.app/Contents/plugin_launchers/python/launcher.py", line 135, in launch
    self.exitcode = target_script.run(container)
  File "/Users/oda/Library/Application Support/sigil-ebook/sigil/plugins/KindleGen/plugin.py", line 605, in run
    app = Dialog(root, bk)
  File "/Users/oda/Library/Application Support/sigil-ebook/sigil/plugins/KindleGen/plugin.py", line 152, in __init__
    self.initUI()
  File "/Users/oda/Library/Application Support/sigil-ebook/sigil/plugins/KindleGen/plugin.py", line 193, in initUI
    kg_path = findKindleGen()
  File "/Users/oda/Library/Application Support/sigil-ebook/sigil/plugins/KindleGen/plugin.py", line 118, in findKindleGen
    if os.path.isfile(default_osx_path3):
NameError: name 'default_osx_path3' is not defined
Error: name 'default_osx_path3' is not defined

As I said, I'm hoping the fix KevinH implemented for the InsertSVG plugin will solve the image problem, but I wanted to report all this in case it is useful to anyone.

Thank you!

[Doitsu]

The first two problems are related to Pillow and the last one is an actual bug that I'll fix in the next plugin version.

Try the following workarounds:

1. Delete or comment the following section (lines 116-119)

Spoiler:

        # /Applications/Kindle Previewer 4.app/Contents/MacOS/lib/kindlegen/fc/bin/kindlegen [*** for future versions ***]
        default_osx_path2 = os.path.join('/Applications', 'Kindle Previewer 4.app', 'Contents', 'MacOS', 'lib', 'fc', 'bin', 'kindlegen')
        if os.path.isfile(default_osx_path3):
            kg_path = default_osx_path3

2. Delete or comment out the following section (492-500):

Spoiler:

        # look for cover image
        cover_id = None
        cover_item = opf_soup.find('item', {'properties' : 'cover-image'})
        if cover_item:
            cover_href = cover_item['href']
            cover_id = bk.href_to_id(cover_href)
            cover_def = os.path.basename(cover_href)
        else:
            plugin_warnings += '\nWarning: Cover not specified (cover-image property missing).'

3. Delete or comment out the following section (lines 555-569)

Spoiler:

    #------------------------------
    # check minimum cover width 
    #------------------------------
    img = None
    if cover_id and os.path.splitext(bk.id_to_href(cover_id))[1][1:].upper() != 'SVG':
        imgdata = bk.readfile(cover_id)
        img = Image.open(BytesIO(imgdata)).convert('L')
        width, height = img.size
        if width < 500:
            plugin_warnings += '\nWarning: The cover is too small: ' + str(width) + ' x ' + str(height)
        # check recommended dpi
        if prefs['check_dpi'] == True:
            xdpi, ydpi = img.info['dpi']
            if (int(xdpi) or int(ydpi)) < 300:
                plugin_warnings += '\nInfo: Amazon recommends 300 dpi cover images. Your image has: ' + str(int(xdpi)) + ' x ' + str(int(ydpi)) + ' dpi.'

3. Make sure to also uncheck the Generate Thumbnail option in the GUI.

With these changes in place you should be able to run the plugin again.

[AlanHK]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

SRL = Start Reading Location. It's an entry that was used to define the beginning of the book. However, Amazon no longer supports it. I.e., you can ignore this warning.

If you’re loading the azw/mobi on your kindle via usb, the kindle does respect the SRL you set in Sigil. It’s the page you see the first time you open it and where you go if you choose “Goto Beginning”.

I would prefer that this be the cover, but that’s not allowed, so I usually make it the title page. Amazon would make it probably the first page of chapter 1.

I use kindlegen to check on whether and where the SRL, TOC and cover have been set, then abort and adjust them if necessary. Faster than looking in the OPF where they are listed or hovering over the file list and checking likely files.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

... Try the following workarounds ... With these changes in place you should be able to run the plugin again.

Excellent! Thank you so much!

[odamizu]

Updated KindleGen plugin working perfectly on 0.9.16. Thank you KevinH for the Pillow fix and thank you Doitsu for the new version with bug fix!

Originally Posted by Doitsu

The first two problems are related to Pillow and the last one is an actual bug that I'll fix in the next plugin version.

[odamizu]

nevermind, it's not you, it's me

[AlaVander]

I don't know if you are still maintaining this plugin, I want your help. Because when generating a kfx file, it will automatically add page numbers to books. You know, most of the time, page numbers are meaningless. But I can't find an option to turn it off, how can I solve this problem?

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by AlaVander

But I can't find an option to turn it off, how can I solve this problem?

You can fix this by editing plugin.py. Please change the following:

Spoiler:

                # assemble command line parameters
                if prefs['add_asin'] == True:
                    if isosx:
                        args = [mac_calibre_debug_path, '-r', 'KFX Output', '--', '-a', asin, '-p', '0', epub_path, kfx_path]
                    else:
                        args = ['calibre-debug', '-r', 'KFX Output', '--', '-a', asin, '-p', '0', epub_path, kfx_path]
                else:
                    if isosx:
                        args = [mac_calibre_debug_path, '-r', 'KFX Output', '--', '-p', '0', epub_path, kfx_path]
                    else:
                        args = ['calibre-debug', '-r', 'KFX Output', '--', '-p', '0', epub_path, kfx_path]

to:

Spoiler:

                # assemble command line parameters
                if prefs['add_asin'] == True:
                    if isosx:
                        args = [mac_calibre_debug_path, '-r', 'KFX Output', '--', '-a', asin, epub_path, kfx_path]
                    else:
                        args = ['calibre-debug', '-r', 'KFX Output', '--', '-a', asin, epub_path, kfx_path]
                else:
                    if isosx:
                        args = [mac_calibre_debug_path, '-r', 'KFX Output', '--', epub_path, kfx_path]
                    else:
                        args = ['calibre-debug', '-r', 'KFX Output', '--', epub_path, kfx_path]

[AlaVander]

This is useful, thank you very much.

[uiop_on]

Hi, I previously used Sigil + kindlegen in the past and it worked great, really excellent and thanks for the development work.

I'm coming to reinstall it on a new PC and having a bit of trouble. Here's the steps so far:
- Windows 10 64-bit
- Installed Sigil (v1.5.1 - ok)
- Installed Amazon Kindle Previewer 3 (v3.53.0 - ok)
- Downloaded kindlegen from GitHub (kindlegen-3.1.1.zip - ok)
- in Sigil: Edit > Preferences > Plugins:
- tick 'Use bundled python'
- click 'Add Plugin', select the zip file from windows downloads folder
= "Error: Plugin not a valid Sigil plugin."

I'm sure there's probably something obvious I've missed, any reason why the plugin won't install?

Cheers.