text file formatting

hobbyman · 10-04-2008, 08:20 AM

Hi, I just bought a Sony 505, my main reason for buying it was to be able to read Project Guttenberg books and text versions of manuals etc, but the included Sony software is terminaly dire, so I installed Calibre on Ubuntu Hardy which is fully patched and up to date.

my problem is with the formating of text files (their layout that is), for example, I converted Dombey and son to LRF and loaded it into the reader, and on the screen with middle sized text the layout is

line of text yada yada .....................
last three words of previous line
line of text yada yada .....................
last three words of previous line
line of text yada yada .....................
last three words of previous line

totally hopeless for reading .txt books off Gutenberg or other text files (this is at middle font size btw), is their some way I am missing that will reformat the text to read "correctly", as far as I can see you just need to remove all hard coded line breaks, then insert a break after every full stop, and before and after each pair of quotes to reformat the text into a readable form (the reader will take care of the word wrapping? yes?)

hobbyman

PS I have tried that Java tool by ninja_bob but it still leaves sections formatted incorrectly

pilotbob · 10-04-2008, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobbyman

my problem is with the formating of text files (their layout that is)

The text file has carriage returns in it that you have to remove. Not sure the best way to do this and retain the paragraphs.

BOb

JSWolf · 10-04-2008, 11:05 AM

I'd use Word to do it.

pilotbob · 10-04-2008, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hobbyman

Hi, I just bought a Sony 505, my main reason for buying it was to be able to read Project Guttenberg books and text versions of manuals etc,

One other reco, at least for the PG books is to look at other sources for the same book that will have better formatting and probably an LRF version available, and if not Mobi and Lit convert really well with calibre.

Best places are here in the eBook section and feedbooks.com. Manybooks.net also has LRF versions in a pinch. But, they don't allways seemed to be as well formated. I think there process is alittle more automated.

BOb

hobbyman · 10-04-2008, 02:17 PM

ok, I did try the HTML files but they where no better laid out, will try the mobibook formats (didn`t think of that), the 505 is much better for reading than my Tungsten, surprising how much that backlight can hurt your eyes.

hobbyman

igorsk · 10-05-2008, 05:18 PM

Did you convert HTML to LRF before uploading? Also, check ebooks section here for manually converted files.

10-04-2008, 08:20 AM	#1
hobbyman Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: sony prs 505	text file formatting Hi, I just bought a Sony 505, my main reason for buying it was to be able to read Project Guttenberg books and text versions of manuals etc, but the included Sony software is terminaly dire, so I installed Calibre on Ubuntu Hardy which is fully patched and up to date. my problem is with the formating of text files (their layout that is), for example, I converted Dombey and son to LRF and loaded it into the reader, and on the screen with middle sized text the layout is line of text yada yada ..................... last three words of previous line line of text yada yada ..................... last three words of previous line line of text yada yada ..................... last three words of previous line totally hopeless for reading .txt books off Gutenberg or other text files (this is at middle font size btw), is their some way I am missing that will reformat the text to read "correctly", as far as I can see you just need to remove all hard coded line breaks, then insert a break after every full stop, and before and after each pair of quotes to reformat the text into a readable form (the reader will take care of the word wrapping? yes?) hobbyman PS I have tried that Java tool by ninja_bob but it still leaves sections formatted incorrectly Last edited by hobbyman; 10-04-2008 at 10:20 AM. Reason: ps

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10-04-2008, 11:05 AM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,897 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I'd use Word to do it.

10-04-2008, 02:17 PM	#5
hobbyman Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: sony prs 505	ok, I did try the HTML files but they where no better laid out, will try the mobibook formats (didn`t think of that), the 505 is much better for reading than my Tungsten, surprising how much that backlight can hurt your eyes. hobbyman

10-05-2008, 05:18 PM	#6
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Did you convert HTML to LRF before uploading? Also, check ebooks section here for manually converted files.

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