ePub post-split displays sections out of order

[MacEachaidh]

I've created an ePub from a file that I originally coded in HTML, and brought it into Sigil to tidy up. I used Sigil to split the file into chapter sections, and rename the sections for ready identification.

I got about halfway through the book, and then decided to split it more finely, so I went back and re-split earlier sections. So that meant not all the splits were actually done in page order.

The resulting ePub file loads and reads fine in Sigil, but when I load it onto my ereader the split sections display out of order. I can't be absolutely certain, but they seem to display in the order they were split. (For example, Chapter 3 ends prematurely, at the point where I split it in Sigil. I was up to Chapter 11 when I was splitting them in Sigil, when I went back and split Chapter 3 into two bits. So now, in my ereader, the part of Chapter 3 past the split appears at Chapter 11.)

Is this expected behaviour? The sections display in correct order when I open the file in Sigil; how do I reorder them in the file itself so they open in the correct order in my ereader?

[JSWolf]

Edit the OPF file in a text editor. That tells the reader software what order the files are in. It s very simple to change the order in the OPF.

[MacEachaidh]

Thanks JSWolf, but the file doesn't have an OPF.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

I've created an ePub from a file that I originally coded in HTML, and brought it into Sigil to tidy up. I used Sigil to split the file into chapter sections, and rename the sections for ready identification.

I got about halfway through the book, and then decided to split it more finely, so I went back and re-split earlier sections. So that meant not all the splits were actually done in page order.

The resulting ePub file loads and reads fine in Sigil, but when I load it onto my ereader the split sections display out of order. I can't be absolutely certain, but they seem to display in the order they were split. (For example, Chapter 3 ends prematurely, at the point where I split it in Sigil. I was up to Chapter 11 when I was splitting them in Sigil, when I went back and split Chapter 3 into two bits. So now, in my ereader, the part of Chapter 3 past the split appears at Chapter 11.)

Is this expected behaviour? The sections display in correct order when I open the file in Sigil; how do I reorder them in the file itself so they open in the correct order in my ereader?

Hi:

I'm not sure this is helpful, as I cannot see what you have in front of you, but do the individual xhtml files appear in the order in which they are supposed to appear in the book when you look at them in the book browser pane? In other words, do they look like this:

--Cover
--Chap 1
--Chap 2
--Chap 3a
--Chap 3b
--Chapt 4
blahblah
--Chap 11

Or do they look like this?

--Chap 3a
--Chap 4
--Chap 5
--etc.
--Chap 11
--Chap 3b

If the former, I have no idea what to tell you. If the latter, then just drag-n-drop Chap 3b, in the brook browser pane, to just beneath Chap 3a. That will correctly place it in sequence.

I hope this helps.

Hitch

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

the file doesn't have an OPF.

According to the Sigil manual the OPF is required, and logically, how can the reader program know how to order the contents without it? Since Sigil does not display the OPF file as a separate entity, you will need to do like JSWolf said, and edit it with a text editor. Sigil puts it in the OEBPS folder inside the EPUB.

[Valloric]

Your Reading System will display the XHTML files in the order they are listed in the Book Browser in Sigil. Do note that the numbers in the filenames given to the newly created sections after splitting are arbitrary and do not represent the order of the chapters in your book.

You don't need to edit the OPF directly, just open the epub in Sigil and reorder the XHTML files in the Book Browser to the order of your liking (click a file and drag it up and down to a new position).

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I'm not sure this is helpful, as I cannot see what you have in front of you, but do the individual xhtml files appear in the order in which they are supposed to appear in the book when you look at them in the book browser pane?

Hi Hitch, thanks for your reply. Yes, they do.

Originally Posted by Hitch

In other words, do they look like this:

--Cover
--Chap 1
--Chap 2
--Chap 3a
--Chap 3b
--Chapt 4
blahblah
--Chap 11

Yes, exactly. In Sigil, in the book browser pane, they don't appear out of order at all. And if I open each section in the View window to the right, the text appears to be in correct order. It's only when I save the ePub file and copy it onto my Story, that the text displays out of order.

Originally Posted by Dave_S

According to the Sigil manual the OPF is required, and logically, how can the reader program know how to order the contents without it? Since Sigil does not display the OPF file as a separate entity, you will need to do like JSWolf said, and edit it with a text editor. Sigil puts it in the OEBPS folder inside the EPUB.

G'day Dave, and thanks. Well, that's a bit of a bummer. One reason I was using Sigil was an attempt to not have to deconstruct the ePub file, since I've read there can be real problems if it's not put back together correctly and in precisely the correct order.

Originally Posted by Valloric

Your Reading System will display the XHTML files in the order they are listed in the Book Browser in Sigil. Do note that the numbers in the filenames given to the newly created sections after splitting are arbitrary and do not represent the order of the chapters in your book.

You don't need to edit the OPF directly, just open the epub in Sigil and reorder the XHTML files in the Book Browser to the order of your liking (click a file and drag it up and down to a new position).

Hey Valloric, thanks for your input. Yeah, I assumed Sigil was ordering the pieces in the compiled ePub file as they appear in the browser, but it doesn't seem to be, and I'm not sure why. As I said, they don't appear out of order in the browser window, so there doesn't appear to be any re-ordering to be done.

I figured the temporary names Sigil gave new splits were just working names. I noticed, for instance, I might get up to section0009 (say), would rename the sections, then "save as" the file, and go back in to do more splits, and it would start again at section0001. So I gathered that was just the working convention of the app, which is quite logical.

Could it have anything to do with the splits not being sequential? By which I mean, doing a split later in a document, and then one earlier before that split? I notice Sigil seems to like things being done in a consecutive order - not unreasonable, it just requires more careful planning on my part. And I noticed if I place my cursor incorrectly, and so split a file in the wrong place, Sigil doesn't allow me to undo it, so I figured it's writing the changes somewhere else in addition to the files we can say. (I'm guessing, from this thread, it's the OPF, which I knew very little about before starting to use Sigil.) Could the records there be written in chronological order, but out of sequential order in the document (if you understand what I mean), so later cuts earlier in the text throw things out of whack?

I didn't want to deconstruct the ePub and start editing its components by hand, as I said (chiefly for lack of knowledge on my part), but maybe that's what I'll need to do?

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

G'day Dave, and thanks. Well, that's a bit of a bummer. One reason I was using Sigil was an attempt to not have to deconstruct the ePub file, since I've read there can be real problems if it's not put back together correctly and in precisely the correct order.

I hope that Valloric's advice works out for you, but *IF* you do need to open the EPUB file directly, the little utility linked below should make it much safer and easier to get opened and put back together correctly.
http://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com...tweak_epub.exe

[theducks]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Thanks JSWolf, but the file doesn't have an OPF.

Yes it does if you have saved your Sigil edit It is hidden since the Book Browser and the TOC editor do all the work. If you un-zip your EPUB, you will see it.

Note: I discovered (and reported) a bug (Win XP)that mis-locates any splits after you DELETE any split. The list is scrambled, the document is now in scrambled order.

The work-around after a DELETE, is to save, then "File open" the same document. That resets the farkled pointer to normal and you can do more splits.

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Hey Valloric, thanks for your input. Yeah, I assumed Sigil was ordering the pieces in the compiled ePub file as they appear in the browser, but it doesn't seem to be, and I'm not sure why. As I said, they don't appear out of order in the browser window, so there doesn't appear to be any re-ordering to be done.

Hm... have you tried opening the epub in Adobe Digital Editions? If the sections are in the correct order in that program, then there's a problem with your reader.

There could also be a bug in Sigil where the sections are in one order when editing the epub, but in another when saved. You can check for this easily: save the epub file, close Sigil, start Sigil again and then open the epub. If the sections are in the same order when the epub is saved and opened again, then they're written correctly to the OPF <spine>. Sigil reads the <spine> when opening the epub so the order the sections appear when the epub is first opened is the order in which these files appear in the OPF.

If you confirm there's a problem with saving this file, I'd love to see a bug report about it.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Valloric

Hm... have you tried opening the epub in Adobe Digital Editions? If the sections are in the correct order in that program, then there's a problem with your reader.

There could also be a bug in Sigil where the sections are in one order when editing the epub, but in another when saved. You can check for this easily: save the epub file, close Sigil, start Sigil again and then open the epub. If the sections are in the same order when the epub is saved and opened again, then they're written correctly to the OPF <spine>. Sigil reads the <spine> when opening the epub so the order the sections appear when the epub is first opened is the order in which these files appear in the OPF.

If you confirm there's a problem with saving this file, I'd love to see a bug report about it.

Hey, MacEachaidh,

Can I ask what ereader you're using? Is it a device?

For quick-n-dirty (and even fancy) spot-checks, proofreading, visualization, etc., I use Firefox's EPubReader addon, and it works GREAT. If you are using a device-based reader, could you pop the file into FF's EPubReader and tell us what you see? You should get an active TOC on the left which might help us troubleshoot if you can screenshoot or Jing it for us...'cuz right now, I got nuthin'.

Can you screenshoot us the book browser pane, or is the material private?

Hitch

[Carl314]

I'm using Sigil 0.3.0, and when I split pages at chapter markers, it adds the newly-divided pages to the end of the book, rather than immediately after the page which was split. I'm then manually dragging/dropping the chapters to the correct place in the book.

Is this the way it is supposed to work? If so, it seems counter-intuitive, because if Chapter 3 is before Chapter 4, it goes to follow that any subparts within Chapter 3 also ought to come before Chapter 4, and not, e.g., after Chapter 10.

Cheers, Carl.

[theducks]

That problem was supposed to have been fixed.

When it happened(2.4), it was triggered by previously deleting a book portion, which messed the location of the next split.

[Valloric]

This is issue 549. I haven't had time to get around to it yet.