Libra 2 Empty chapters in reading stats

PunkyKoopa · 01-24-2022, 03:59 AM

Hi,

I have been reading a couple of books on my Kobo Libra 2 and I noticed that with some books, the reading stats aren’t quite right, as the chapters progress bars seems to be duplicated. With some books, you see one bar for each chapter, all together; but with other books, it shows one bar for each chapter and an empty bar between chapters.

The index is fine and it works right and there are not blank pages between chapters. I don’t know what’s going on. It doesn’t happen with all the books. I didn’t make any changes in Calibre other than covers and metadata.

It’s a problem with the conversion process or is just related with bad book formatting? It’s a minor issue but I will like to know if I have to change something in Calibre.

Thank you.

Alexia · 01-24-2022, 05:17 AM

Is the book .kepub format?

I noticed that all the problems with the book (wrong chapter page count, or not showing, inability to change font, inability to invert into black/white) are solved if it is converted into kepub format.

PunkyKoopa · 01-24-2022, 05:24 AM

Yes, I am just using kepub for now.

davidfor · 01-24-2022, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

I have been reading a couple of books on my Kobo Libra 2 and I noticed that with some books, the reading stats aren’t quite right, as the chapters progress bars seems to be duplicated. With some books, you see one bar for each chapter, all together; but with other books, it shows one bar for each chapter and an empty bar between chapters.

The index is fine and it works right and there are not blank pages between chapters. I don’t know what’s going on. It doesn’t happen with all the books. I didn’t make any changes in Calibre other than covers and metadata.

It’s a problem with the conversion process or is just related with bad book formatting? It’s a minor issue but I will like to know if I have to change something in Calibre.

That happens when the ToC reference is a fragment pointing to at the start of the chapter, rather than to a the file the chapter is in. If you have a chapter that looked like:

Code:

<body>
<h2 id="chapter1">Chapter 1</h2>
<p>It was a dark and stormy night...</p>
</body>

If the ToC entry is:

Code:

    <navPoint id="title_page" playOrder="0">
      <navLabel>
        <text>Chapter 2</text>
      </navLabel>
      <content src="OEBPS/chapter2.xhtml#chapter1"/>
    </navPoint>

You will see that. Removing the "#chapter1" from the ToC entry will fix this.

What I do depends on the book. If the code is as simple as above, then I will remove all the ids from tags and regenerate the ToC. I have had a few books recently that had an image above the chapter title. For these, I sometimes create a hidden chapter heading for the ToC generation and use styles for the displayed heading. But, sometimes I just edit the generated ToC and remove the fragments.

PunkyKoopa · 01-24-2022, 07:37 AM

I see. And it happens due to conversion or it is just book related?

If it’s a book related thing is something that will keep happening from time to time so I think I won’t mind changing it book by book.

Thank you!

davidfor · 01-24-2022, 08:23 AM

I think all of the cases I have seen have been in books I have purchased. I think at least one of the ebook creation tools tends to add the fragments and anchors when they aren't strictly needed. I don't know which, just that I think it has occurred in books that have had similar looking code.

I'm pretty sure I have seen it after using the ToC generation tool in calibre. That can add an id to a heading when it isn't the first tag in the body. But, I'm not sure of the exact pattern to cause this. And if the ToC tool can do it, then a conversion could. I rarely do conversions, so I am not sure.

PunkyKoopa · 01-24-2022, 09:46 AM

I just convert AZW3 to EPUB with default settings.

I will put my money on the book related cause. For example, I have a couple of books with left aligned headings. I downloaded the sample of the same books from the Kobo store and they have the same left heading alignment. If I view them with Calibre they are all center aligned. So I think that it is just how Kobo reader deals with the book coding.

Thank you!

rashkae · 01-24-2022, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

I just convert AZW3 to EPUB with default settings.

Aha,,, That's an important detail. If the problem is not the anchors in the original book, Calibre has a habit of aggressively splitting chapter headers and text into separate files (if there is either a graphic at the top of the page, or Subtitle headings.)

You can stop it doing this. When converting a book, in the 'Structure Detection' section, change Chapter Mark to 'none'. Also, 'Insert Page Break Before:' should be a single / .

This will prevent Calibre from adding page breaks, which is generally not needed when you are converting from already formatted e-books. These settings can also be made default in your preferences.

davidfor · 01-24-2022, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

I just convert AZW3 to EPUB with default settings.

I will put my money on the book related cause. For example, I have a couple of books with left aligned headings. I downloaded the sample of the same books from the Kobo store and they have the same left heading alignment. If I view them with Calibre they are all center aligned. So I think that it is just how Kobo reader deals with the book coding.

Um. no. Kobo is very respectful of the coding in a book. If something is centred, it will be centred. If it is left-aligned, it will be left-aligned. Calibre will as well, but, it is a lot more forgiving of errors in the books than Kobo is. Getting left-aligned titles when centred are expected could be a sign there is an error in the book.

Of course, you can also use the left-align button when reading on the device, and that will override any centring done in the styles.

davidfor · 01-24-2022, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rashkae

Aha,,, That's an important detail. If the problem is not the anchors in the original book, Calibre has a habit of aggressively splitting chapter headers and text into separate files (if there is either a graphic at the top of the page, or Subtitle headings.)

You can stop it doing this. When converting a book, in the 'Structure Detection' section, change Chapter Mark to 'none'. Also, 'Insert Page Break Before:' should be a single / .

This will prevent Calibre from adding page breaks, which is generally not needed when you are converting from already formatted e-books. These settings can also be made default in your preferences.

I'll disagree on that. The problem that @PunkyKoopa reported is the anchors. The question becomes why do the anchors exist.

And my experience with conversion does not match yours. The default conversion options will split on what looks to be a chapter heading. And if there is an image or something before that heading, that image is likely to be left at the end of the previous chapter. Or, split into a separate file. But, the defaults are based around simple chapter headings. They assume either a h1 or h2 tag or a paragraph with a style or id with "chapter" as part of the name. If the book has something other than this, you need to change the rules used for the split. Look for a better choice on where to put the file split so that everything for each chapter is kept in the same file. I'll admit I rarely do that. If I'm converting from another format, I am as likely to let it happen, then merge and split the files in the editor. That lets me see the code where the spits should happen.

rashkae · 01-24-2022, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

And my experience with conversion does not match yours. The default conversion options will split on what looks to be a chapter heading. And if there is an image or something before that heading, that image is likely to be left at the end of the previous chapter. Or, split into a separate file. But, the defaults are based around simple chapter headings. They assume either a h1 or h2 tag or a paragraph with a style or id with "chapter" as part of the name. If the book has something other than this, you need to change the rules used for the split. Look for a better choice on where to put the file split so that everything for each chapter is kept in the same file. I'll admit I rarely do that. If I'm converting from another format, I am as likely to let it happen, then merge and split the files in the editor. That lets me see the code where the spits should happen.

When you are converting from Epub, AZW3 or Mobi, there is no need for *any* splitting rules, (other than split on page break,,, but even that I've seen misbehave on a book wit several footnotes that each had a page break in css.)

The Book should already be split, Calibre trying to apply it's own logic is at best not helping anything, at worse, making a complete mess of the book. I have spent *way* too much time fixing books by hand to not appreciate how easy it is for the calibre defaults to make a mess of this.

PunkyKoopa · 01-25-2022, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Um. no. Kobo is very respectful of the coding in a book. If something is centred, it will be centred. If it is left-aligned, it will be left-aligned. Calibre will as well, but, it is a lot more forgiving of errors in the books than Kobo is. Getting left-aligned titles when centred are expected could be a sign there is an error in the book.

Of course, you can also use the left-align button when reading on the device, and that will override any centring done in the styles.

I said that because I tried the same book bought from Amazon with different readers. My old Kindle Paperwhite and Calibre shows the chapter headers center aligned. The same book straight converted to EPUB appears on my Libra 2 with left aligned headers. The funny thing is that I also downloaded the sample of the same book from Kobo Store and it shows the headers left aligned. It doesn’t annoy me, it’s just a bit confusing.

I tried also to change the settings in Calibre regarding empty chapters and I still having the issue. As I don’t want to mess with book and CSS code, I think that I will leave it as it is now.

Thank you!

davidfor · 01-25-2022, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

I said that because I tried the same book bought from Amazon with different readers. My old Kindle Paperwhite and Calibre shows the chapter headers center aligned. The same book straight converted to EPUB appears on my Libra 2 with left aligned headers. The funny thing is that I also downloaded the sample of the same book from Kobo Store and it shows the headers left aligned. It doesn’t annoy me, it’s just a bit confusing.

There is no guarantee that Kobo and Amazon have the same edition of a book. Especially if you are using different countries for each. And if they are different editions, then the formatting, could be different.

We can look and see if you post the links to the book in question.

PunkyKoopa · 01-25-2022, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

There is no guarantee that Kobo and Amazon have the same edition of a book. Especially if you are using different countries for each. And if they are different editions, then the formatting, could be different.

We can look and see if you post the links to the book in question.

https://www.amazon.es/El-marciano-An...s%2C170&sr=1-1

https://www.kobo.com/es/es/ebook/el-marciano-3

Those are the links. It’s just strange how the book from Amazon converted to kepub and the same book from Kobo Store are rendered the same way. That’s what I say it’s a Kobo thing.

PunkyKoopa · 01-25-2022, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PunkyKoopa

I said that because I tried the same book bought from Amazon with different readers. My old Kindle Paperwhite and Calibre shows the chapter headers center aligned. The same book straight converted to EPUB appears on my Libra 2 with left aligned headers. The funny thing is that I also downloaded the sample of the same book from Kobo Store and it shows the headers left aligned. It doesn’t annoy me, it’s just a bit confusing.

I tried also to change the settings in Calibre regarding empty chapters and I still having the issue. As I don’t want to mess with book and CSS code, I think that I will leave it as it is now.

Thank you!

Regarding the heading issue, I loaded the ePub without the KoboExtendedDriver and it shows the headings centered. As the "official" book from the Kobo Store has the same issue with left aligned headers, could be just an issue or behavior of kepubs?

01-24-2022, 03:59 AM	#1
PunkyKoopa Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 243754 Join Date: Jan 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Empty chapters in reading stats Hi, I have been reading a couple of books on my Kobo Libra 2 and I noticed that with some books, the reading stats aren’t quite right, as the chapters progress bars seems to be duplicated. With some books, you see one bar for each chapter, all together; but with other books, it shows one bar for each chapter and an empty bar between chapters. The index is fine and it works right and there are not blank pages between chapters. I don’t know what’s going on. It doesn’t happen with all the books. I didn’t make any changes in Calibre other than covers and metadata. It’s a problem with the conversion process or is just related with bad book formatting? It’s a minor issue but I will like to know if I have to change something in Calibre. Thank you.

01-24-2022, 09:46 AM	#7
PunkyKoopa Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 243754 Join Date: Jan 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	I just convert AZW3 to EPUB with default settings. I will put my money on the book related cause. For example, I have a couple of books with left aligned headings. I downloaded the sample of the same books from the Kobo store and they have the same left heading alignment. If I view them with Calibre they are all center aligned. So I think that it is just how Kobo reader deals with the book coding. Thank you! Last edited by PunkyKoopa; 01-24-2022 at 09:50 AM.

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01-24-2022, 05:17 AM	#2
Alexia Bookworm Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2022 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Libra 2	Is the book .kepub format? I noticed that all the problems with the book (wrong chapter page count, or not showing, inability to change font, inability to invert into black/white) are solved if it is converted into kepub format.

01-24-2022, 05:24 AM	#3
PunkyKoopa Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 243754 Join Date: Jan 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Yes, I am just using kepub for now.

01-24-2022, 07:37 AM	#5
PunkyKoopa Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 243754 Join Date: Jan 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	I see. And it happens due to conversion or it is just book related? If it’s a book related thing is something that will keep happening from time to time so I think I won’t mind changing it book by book. Thank you!

01-24-2022, 08:23 AM	#6
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,466 Karma: 46824438 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	I think all of the cases I have seen have been in books I have purchased. I think at least one of the ebook creation tools tends to add the fragments and anchors when they aren't strictly needed. I don't know which, just that I think it has occurred in books that have had similar looking code. I'm pretty sure I have seen it after using the ToC generation tool in calibre. That can add an id to a heading when it isn't the first tag in the body. But, I'm not sure of the exact pattern to cause this. And if the ToC tool can do it, then a conversion could. I rarely do conversions, so I am not sure.