Blank pages

Sablerose · 02-02-2014, 02:02 PM

Since the latest update to Marvin, I have noticed several of my epubs have developed a blank page after the Cover. I also don't see where I can remove the page, at least not in the Calibre epub files.

These are self-edited files, which did not have this page showing up only a few days ago. Anyone else have this happening?

kguil · 02-03-2014, 11:29 AM

Does this happen for all your books? In many cases, the problem is usually that there's a page break declaration (before/after) that Marvin honours. If the book is in the public domain, feel free to email it to me at support and I'll check it out for you.

Sablerose · 02-03-2014, 02:52 PM

No, it's only happened for 9 of the 16 self-edited epub files for the one author I've completed so far.

Also, it happened since I last looked at, or edited, any of them. I'm not sure what happened.

Now, I know I did an update for Marvin in that time. I don't think I've done one for Calibre, since the new update didn't have anything I really needed.

Unfortunately, the books affected aren't in the public domain, but I think I could get away with sending you the cover xhtml and the first hmtl file (the Title page)?

The Old Man · 02-04-2014, 07:41 AM

I have only developed a few epubs on my own with html file and then run them through Calibre. Do you have any hr (horizontal line) commands? If so, eliminate them and see if that solves the blank page problem.

kguil · 02-04-2014, 08:01 AM

I never noticed HRs causing problems. Could you send me an example where an HR causes a break to test it out? The only cases I've seen this happening is when there were page-break-after or page-break-before CSS directives.

Sablerose · 02-05-2014, 03:22 AM

@TheOldMan No, I don't use HRs in my editing. The file splits that I use are Heading breaks. And the error I mentioned has occurred since I last opened the files. They were working correctly last time I looked at them.

@Kguil Info on the way.

The Old Man · 02-05-2014, 07:13 AM

Well, forget my hr suggestion. It happened only once and the blank page that came immediately after the title page disappeared with the removal but it was probably something else.

ShellShock · 02-06-2014, 01:42 PM

I have noticed a similar problem, I have no idea if this is due to a recent Marvin change.

In my epub I have this at top of each html file (a chapter in the epub):

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>Foo</title>
<link href="LD-book3.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
</head>
<body>
<div class="chapter" id="ch01">
etc...

The chapter style is defined like this in the css:

Code:

.chapter	{
	display: block; 
	page-break-before: always;
			}

If I display this epub on my Kobo Aura HD (using Adobe RMSDK), I do not get a blank page between chapters, whereas in Marvin I do. Which one is showing the correct behaviour according to the standard?

Perhaps the Kobo reasons that there has already been a page break enforced by the new chapter (which is in its own html file) so there is no need to insert another one? Or perhaps it just blithely ignores page-break-before? If the former is correct, then is this behaviour that Marvin should implement? If this is not correct according to the standard, then the epub author needs a slap on the wrist.

Once I remove the "page-break-before: always;" from the css, both Kobo and Marvin behave as expected (no blank page between chapters).

kguil · 02-06-2014, 08:23 PM

Indeed, the page-break-before instruction is causing a page break to be created before the start of the chapter and since there's nothing before it, you're seeing a blank page at the beginning. Usually page break before/after are used as section breaks within the same chapter (XHTML file).

I'm not sure whether the standard describes this behaviour but it seems to me that Marvin is correctly honouring the instruction given.

Does your Kobo device honour page break instructions mid-chapter (I don't have a device to test with)?

ShellShock · 02-08-2014, 06:16 AM

Good idea! I created this epub file:

Code:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
  <title>Foo</title>
</head>

<body>
  <div class="chapter" id="ch02">
    <p class="chapterTitle">Chapter 1</p>
  </div>

  <p class="paraNoIndent">Blah blah</p>

  <p class="para">Blah blah</p>

  <p class="paraTemp">There should be a page break before this paragraph.</p>

  <p class="para">Blah blah</p>
etc

Styles:

Code:

.chapter
{
	display: block; 
	page-break-before: always;
}

p.chapterTitle 
{
	font-size: 1.45em;
	margin-bottom: 1.50em;
	margin-top: 3.00em;
	text-indent: 0.00em;
	margin-right: 0.00em;
	margin-left: 0.00em;
	text-align: center;
	font-weight: normal;
	font-style: normal;
	color: rgb(0,0,0);
}

.paraNoIndent
{
    font-size: medium;
    font-weight: normal;
    margin-top: 0;
    margin-bottom: 0;
    margin-left: 0;
    margin-right: 0;
    text-align: left;
    text-indent: 0em;
}

.para
{
    font-size: medium;
    font-weight: normal;
    margin-top: 0;
    margin-bottom: 0;
    margin-left: 0;
    margin-right: 0;
    text-align: left;
    text-indent: 1.5em;
}

.paraTemp
{
    font-size: medium;
    font-weight: normal;
    margin-top: 0;
    margin-bottom: 0;
    margin-left: 0;
    margin-right: 0;
    text-align: left;
    text-indent: 1.5em;
    page-break-before: always;
}

I tested this with: Marvin, Kobo Aura HD (Adobe RMSDK), Adobe Digital Editions 2.0.1 and the epub viewer built into Calibre with these results:

Code:

           Break Before Chapter?    Break Before Paragraph?     
Marvin     Yes                      Yes
Aura HD    No                       Yes
ADE        No                       Yes
Calibre    No                       Yes

So it seems Marvin is the odd one out. My guess is that the others only insert a break if there has not already "just" been one, but I have no idea how they judge the proximity of the proceeding break. One without an intervening p tag perhaps? Perhaps Kovid could help?

kguil · 02-08-2014, 08:30 AM

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Could it be that the other readers are only applying the page break if the instruction is in a <p> tag?

ShellShock · 02-08-2014, 09:06 AM

No problem.

That does not seem to be the case. I tried Calibre and ADE 2 with this:

Code:

<body>
  <p class="chapterTemp">CHAPTER</p>

Code:

.chapterTemp
{
	display: block; 
	page-break-before: always;
}

No page break.

02-02-2014, 02:02 PM	#1
Sablerose Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Arizona USA Device: iPod Touch 6G	Blank pages Since the latest update to Marvin, I have noticed several of my epubs have developed a blank page after the Cover. I also don't see where I can remove the page, at least not in the Calibre epub files. These are self-edited files, which did not have this page showing up only a few days ago. Anyone else have this happening?

02-06-2014, 01:42 PM	#8
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,176 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	I have noticed a similar problem, I have no idea if this is due to a recent Marvin change. In my epub I have this at top of each html file (a chapter in the epub): Code: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <title>Foo</title> <link href="LD-book3.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/> </head> <body> <div class="chapter" id="ch01"> etc... The chapter style is defined like this in the css: Code: .chapter { display: block; page-break-before: always; } If I display this epub on my Kobo Aura HD (using Adobe RMSDK), I do not get a blank page between chapters, whereas in Marvin I do. Which one is showing the correct behaviour according to the standard? Perhaps the Kobo reasons that there has already been a page break enforced by the new chapter (which is in its own html file) so there is no need to insert another one? Or perhaps it just blithely ignores page-break-before? If the former is correct, then is this behaviour that Marvin should implement? If this is not correct according to the standard, then the epub author needs a slap on the wrist. Once I remove the "page-break-before: always;" from the css, both Kobo and Marvin behave as expected (no blank page between chapters). Last edited by ShellShock; 02-06-2014 at 01:56 PM.

02-08-2014, 09:06 AM	#12
ShellShock Wizard Posts: 1,176 Karma: 2431850 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: IPad Mini 2 Retina	No problem. That does not seem to be the case. I tried Calibre and ADE 2 with this: Code: <body> <p class="chapterTemp">CHAPTER</p> Code: .chapterTemp { display: block; page-break-before: always; } No page break. Last edited by ShellShock; 02-08-2014 at 09:09 AM.

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02-03-2014, 11:29 AM	#2
kguil Addict Posts: 1,215 Karma: 1836966 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Malta, Europe Device: Marvin for iOS	Does this happen for all your books? In many cases, the problem is usually that there's a page break declaration (before/after) that Marvin honours. If the book is in the public domain, feel free to email it to me at support and I'll check it out for you.

02-03-2014, 02:52 PM	#3
Sablerose Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Arizona USA Device: iPod Touch 6G	No, it's only happened for 9 of the 16 self-edited epub files for the one author I've completed so far. Also, it happened since I last looked at, or edited, any of them. I'm not sure what happened. Now, I know I did an update for Marvin in that time. I don't think I've done one for Calibre, since the new update didn't have anything I really needed. Unfortunately, the books affected aren't in the public domain, but I think I could get away with sending you the cover xhtml and the first hmtl file (the Title page)?

02-04-2014, 07:41 AM	#4
The Old Man Fanatic Posts: 525 Karma: 1300001 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Keene, New Hampshire Device: iPad Mini, iPad Pro, Fire 8", iPhone, PaperWhite 2	I have only developed a few epubs on my own with html file and then run them through Calibre. Do you have any hr (horizontal line) commands? If so, eliminate them and see if that solves the blank page problem.

02-04-2014, 08:01 AM	#5
kguil Addict Posts: 1,215 Karma: 1836966 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Malta, Europe Device: Marvin for iOS	I never noticed HRs causing problems. Could you send me an example where an HR causes a break to test it out? The only cases I've seen this happening is when there were page-break-after or page-break-before CSS directives.

02-05-2014, 03:22 AM	#6
Sablerose Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Arizona USA Device: iPod Touch 6G	@TheOldMan No, I don't use HRs in my editing. The file splits that I use are Heading breaks. And the error I mentioned has occurred since I last opened the files. They were working correctly last time I looked at them. @Kguil Info on the way.

02-05-2014, 07:13 AM	#7
The Old Man Fanatic Posts: 525 Karma: 1300001 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Keene, New Hampshire Device: iPad Mini, iPad Pro, Fire 8", iPhone, PaperWhite 2	Well, forget my hr suggestion. It happened only once and the blank page that came immediately after the title page disappeared with the removal but it was probably something else.

02-06-2014, 08:23 PM	#9
kguil Addict Posts: 1,215 Karma: 1836966 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Malta, Europe Device: Marvin for iOS	Indeed, the page-break-before instruction is causing a page break to be created before the start of the chapter and since there's nothing before it, you're seeing a blank page at the beginning. Usually page break before/after are used as section breaks within the same chapter (XHTML file). I'm not sure whether the standard describes this behaviour but it seems to me that Marvin is correctly honouring the instruction given. Does your Kobo device honour page break instructions mid-chapter (I don't have a device to test with)?

02-08-2014, 08:30 AM	#11
kguil Addict Posts: 1,215 Karma: 1836966 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Malta, Europe Device: Marvin for iOS	Thanks for taking the time to do this. Could it be that the other readers are only applying the page break if the instruction is in a <p> tag?

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