[Conversion Plugin] Language Cleaner (profanity filter)

[jdanders]

Lengthy list of regexes to "clean up" language in books.

Github: https://github.com/jdanders/calibre-...nguage-cleaner
Latest release: https://github.com/jdanders/calibre-...eleases/latest

I wrote this plugin because I don't like reading vulgar language, but I like reading books with vulgar language in it . Personally I find books much more enjoyable after being processed with this script. Obviously it is a personal set of filters, but I've done my best to make the changes sound as natural as possible, and after using it for years, I think it's pretty good.

If you'd like to customize it to meet your preferences, you just need to go through the lines of cleaner.py and add or remove filters as needed. You'll probably need a pretty good mastery of regular expressions to write new ones unless there is a similar one existing already that you can tweak. To remove, just delete the lines that you don't want.

LIMITATIONS
I am no expert at calibre, and I could not drum up much help on the support forums, so the integration is pretty weak. It only works on books that are being converted from epub, and only works during the conversion process.

To install:

create a zip file with the three files called Language_Cleaner.zip

• cleaner.py
• __init__.py
• plugin-import-name-language_clean_plugin.txt

This command may help in Linux:

zip Language_Cleaner cleaner.py __init__.py plugin-import-name-language_clean_plugin.txt

In calibre choose Preference -> Plugins -> Load plugin from file
Choose the zip you just created, and the plugin should show up under "File type plugins"
To use:

• Choose the book you'd like and make sure you have an epub format (so convert to epub if you don't already have that format)
• Now do "Convert book" and choose to convert from Epub to Epub (or whatever destination format you want)
• Wait until longer than usual job completes, due the very inefficient way this plugin works

Secret debug tip: If there is a "c:/Scratch/calibre" folder on your Winodws machine (change logdir in __init__.py if you want), the plugin will write before and after versions of the book as plain text files. Sometimes it does two copies and only one has useful changes. If you'd like to see how it was changed, compare the two files. I use WinMerge and that works well.

By the way, there is a strong layer of irony here -- if vulgar language offends you, you'll probably want to avoid actually looking in the cleaner.py file, as it is chock full of it

Here's a zip attachment, but it's really better to just go to the github page.

[Bookstooge]

If you are going to create, and maintain, a plugin, an up to date zip file is essential here.

Best of luck.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by jdanders

Here's a zip attachment, but it's really better to just go to the github page.

Calibre scrapes the plugin Index HERE AT MR and serves the plugin from HERE AT MR for automatic Update notifications.

You are not prohibited from hosting elsewhere, just be aware that many folk won't grab remote sources due to security concerns (If there IS a problem with one posted here at MR, We will hear it loudly and take it down fast and post warnings)

[JSWolf]

And the ZIP file needs to be attached to the first post in this thread, not the second.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And the ZIP file needs to be attached to the first post in this thread, not the second.

Moderator Notice
Fixed that for you

[jdanders]

Thanks for the help!

[jdanders]

I update this a while ago, but it looks like the attachment is out of date still. I don't have enough right to edit the original post, so I'm adding the lastest zip here. Mods, could you fix it again? Maybe one day I'll be able to edit my own thread...

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by jdanders

I update this a while ago, but it looks like the attachment is out of date still. I don't have enough right to edit the original post, so I'm adding the lastest zip here. Mods, could you fix it again? Maybe one day I'll be able to edit my own thread...

Fixed.

Post some replies in the Lounge until you get edit permission.

It's an anti-spam measure.

BR

[IreneFa]

It's a nice plugin, but what's the issue with God being mentioned at all?

[jdanders]

I'm not sure what you mean. All automated content editing is difficult to do well, and religious words are the hardest because they have "good" and "bad" meanings.

The filter has two modes for the word "God", and the modes are guessed at by the general vulgarity of the entire book. When a vulgar book is detected, all instances of "God" are replaced assuming no one is going to use the word well. Otherwise a more subtle scheme is used.

It's all very easy to change if you don't like the behavior. Instructions are included on the github page.

[jdanders]

See github for instructions on changing filtering behavior if you don't like the default. That's the nice thing about open source!

[jdanders]

Hi, I still don't have permission to edit my post. Here's an updated version of the plugin with one bug fix. Maybe a moderator will be nice enough to update for me

[JimmXinu]

Moderator Notice
Zip updated as requested.