Feature Request: Open/Save as unpacked files

[daemonblade]

I tend to work on an epub over the course of a few days or so, and usually unpack the epub as plaintext files so that changes can be tracked via version control.

It would be nice to be able to have an options to "Save Unpacked" or "Open Unpacked" so that I don't have to unpack the file, or repack the file before I can work on it.

Thoughts?

[DiapDealer]

Sigil has its own built-in check point system that use git repositories which users can use for version control of their individual epubs. There's also a pair of plugins (FolderIn/FolderOut) that can be used to do what you want.

[daemonblade]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Sigil has its own built-in check point system that use git repositories which users can use for version control of their individual epubs. There's also a pair of plugins (FolderIn/FolderOut) that can be used to do what you want.

The last time I looked, the built-in checkpoint system stores the epubs as blobs and doesn't allow an editor to see what changed and when with ease. I'll have a look at the FolderIn/FolderOut plugins to see if that works.

Thanks!

[KevinH]

The Sigil Checkpoint is git based and uses dulwich to implement it. It does not store the epub as a single entity and instead stores the files of the epub. It never has, so I am not sure what "the last time you looked" is referring to.

[DiapDealer]

Yes. From the very beginning, Sigil's checkpointing system created github repositories via python's dulwich module. The repositories do not contain binary blobs of the epub. That would be pointless, as there could be no meaningful diffs generated. The repositories are comprised of the individual contents of the expanded EPUB archive--easily diffed from checkpoint to checkpoint (and accessible via external tools--including git--if desired).

It seems to me that people (and I'm not singling out the OP here by any means) seem to really go out of their way to avoid using one of the most useful features that I think has been added to Sigil in a long time. It just seems that many people tend to suggest improvements to Sigil that can already be done via the checkpoint system.

[DiapDealer]

This actually gives me an idea for a plugin. Something that looks for a Checkpoint repo for the opened book and 1) launches a terminal in the repo's directory so that git (if in the PATH) can be immediately used, and 2) opens a file browser in the same directory so that individual files can be opened with other applications.

It might be a little awkward (semantically) to use the "Restore Epub from previous Checkpoint" button to load tagged commits just made externally, but it seems to work just fine. It might make things a little more simple/intuitive for seasoned git users to be handed a git-ready terminal and a file-browser with the Epub's contents. The checkpoint repo could then be easily connected to github remotes if desired. Forks made, Pull Requests merged, then pull changes down, commit, tag and merge into the working Epub via "Restore Epub from previous Checkpoint"

One would just have to make sure the initial repo was created by Sigil so all necessary pieces are in place.

[DiapDealer]

Also maybe incorporating a new feature in Sigil for advanced users to relocate the default checkpoint repositories folder. Whether through preferences or environment variable.

[phillipgessert]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Also maybe incorporating a new feature in Sigil for advanced users to relocate the default checkpoint repositories folder. Whether through preferences or environment variable.

This sounds great, I would definitely use a feature like that.

[DiapDealer]

You can "sort of" do something like it now. But you have to relocate the entire Sigil user preferences directory along with it.