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Old 09-23-2013, 03:09 AM   #91
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This will give you more information on the history on COBOL:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper
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Old 09-23-2013, 12:18 PM   #92
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Urgh! C++.

Couldn't be bothered with that one. I really prefer dynamic languages myself.

At first I got mixed up between Sigil and Calibre and thought - oh maybe I should see if lending a hand is possible, but that's because I don't mind the idea of keeping up my Python skills.

However, I don't think I could be compelled to go into the C/C++/C# area.

I don't think I would be a particular loss to this project anyway. I doubt my skills would be strong enough to really make a difference even if the project were in Python. It's a pity though because I quite like Sigil. These days I mainly use it to split up omnibus-type ebooks into individual volumes and clean up the HTML as I go. It's perfect for that.
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Old 09-23-2013, 12:29 PM   #93
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Originally Posted by caleb72 View Post
I don't think I would be a particular loss to this project anyway. I doubt my skills would be strong enough to really make a difference even if the project were in Python. It's a pity though because I quite like Sigil. These days I mainly use it to split up omnibus-type ebooks into individual volumes and clean up the HTML as I go. It's perfect for that.
Look into EPUBSplit for that. It's much faster and easier.

Split up the book, and export the seperate volumes. Then use Sigil to put the cover in, fix the layout to how you want it, and you're done.

Don't forget to put a <guide></guide> part at the end of the OPF file, something EPUBSplit seems to omit:

Code:
<guide>
  <reference href="Text/cover.xml" title="Cover" type="cover" />
</guide>
Replace "cover.xml" with whatever the name of the file is where your cover is in. If you omit this part (with at least the cover in it), you get a book that behaves weird, at least on a Kindle Paperwhite.

Last edited by Katsunami; 09-23-2013 at 01:24 PM.
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Old 09-23-2013, 12:42 PM   #94
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You know, I've had that plug-in installed for ages but I never bothered learning how to use it. That really is quite handy.

Thanks for that.
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Old 09-23-2013, 01:22 PM   #95
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Yeah, I have that plugin installed in case I want to get a book from the MR library. Some creators have the uncanny ability to create a "Complete Works" volume of an author that has 5.000 pages or so.

I don't like huge omnibus books IRL, and I don't like them as e-books, so I use EPUBSplit + Sigil to split them up.

Oh, and check the <guide> part in *all* of the created volumes. (It could be that this is not necessary anymore. The plugin may have been updated, and I haven't used it for some time.)
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Old 09-23-2013, 02:34 PM   #96
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Well, this is sad news. I don't use Sigil extensively, but there are some things that it is capable of that I couldn't find another solution for.

I hope the move to github does let people contribute one-off features more effectively. Honestly, I think part of the problem is that there's so much in Sigil already that it doesn't need a whole lot more development. Maintenance and compatibility with upcoming ePub formats, but what else does it really need?
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Old 09-23-2013, 02:40 PM   #97
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Compatibility with the elusive epub3 target is a big problem, since it would involve according to people who know something about it, massive rewrites.

Since it is in C++ there were not many contributors in the first place and they have dwindled now to 0.
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Old 09-23-2013, 08:02 PM   #98
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COBOL lives on and will continue to live where performance/reliability are paramount (i.e. banking & financial services). PL/1 was supposed to replace it (and FORTRAN) but no matter how hard IBM pushed it, it just never took off. There were never any good (widely available/cheap) versions for microcomputers. I know that Digital Research had a PL/1 compiler for CPM-86 (and maybe CPM-80, I don't remember) but it died with CPM.

I suppose that I should take a look at the source but I really don't like/have an interest in C++. While my first programming language was C (for the Z-80 in the late 70's) when I started programming for MS-DOS, I switched to Pascal and what little programming I do is now in FreePascal. If C is designed to give the programmer the freedom to shoot themselves in the foot, C++ loads the gun with magnum loads and full automatic as well.

While I use Sigil to put books together since it automagically creates the toc and opf files for me, I really, really, really dislike the text text editor. I normally use Notepad++ on Windows or SciTE everywhere. I wish the Sigil authors had used the Scintilla editor component instead of the monstrosity they did use. I find myself going to great lengths to avoid doing any editing with Sigil. All I use if for is to take some xhtml files, along with style sheets and perhaps some images and have them packaged up into an epub.

I keep thinking that I should get around to writing my program to package up a directory tree into an epub. It's more work than I really want to do but maybe it's time for me to think about it again. If I do it, I repeat IF, the I assure you that it will be written in Pascal and it will be a command line program (refer back to the C on a Z-80 in the late 70's). I'll run off in search of the source now.
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Old 09-23-2013, 08:28 PM   #99
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami View Post
Yeah, I have that plugin installed in case I want to get a book from the MR library. Some creators have the uncanny ability to create a "Complete Works" volume of an author that has 5.000 pages or so.

I don't like huge omnibus books IRL, and I don't like them as e-books, so I use EPUBSplit + Sigil to split them up.

Oh, and check the <guide> part in *all* of the created volumes. (It could be that this is not necessary anymore. The plugin may have been updated, and I haven't used it for some time.)
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Old 09-23-2013, 08:45 PM   #100
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I like the single omnibus volumes. Less trouble moving them around, and the ereader remembers where you stopped reading last time, so you don't have to remember which book you're on.
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Old 09-24-2013, 12:02 AM   #101
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Originally Posted by grumbles View Post
While I use Sigil to put books together since it automagically creates the toc and opf files for me, I really, really, really dislike the text text editor. I normally use Notepad++ on Windows or SciTE everywhere. I wish the Sigil authors had used the Scintilla editor component instead of the monstrosity they did use. I find myself going to great lengths to avoid doing any editing with Sigil. All I use if for is to take some xhtml files, along with style sheets and perhaps some images and have them packaged up into an epub.
Yeah, I was thinking about this yesterday. Given that epub is basically a way of grouping HTML files and HTML is such a common syntax target for editors, combined with the fact that many text editors allow for heavy customisation including syntax highlighting, code-completion and even scripting "plug-ins" - might this be a quicker and simpler way to get a tool that might stand a little better for future development?

I'm saying this without any extensive analysis, so forgive me if the suggestion is a bit naive, and I'm certainly not trying to disrespect the work put into the Sigil project. I'm just curious as to the possibilities in this area given the similarities between a more advanced HTML-ready text editor and the Sigil project.
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Old 09-24-2013, 04:52 PM   #102
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COBOL has a serious problem in the Y2K fiasco and many programs had to be recompiled with corrections. Some one also made some fun of FORTRAN. This is another current program and continues to be used in some applications. The most important, currently, is an Analog simulator called SPICE that will allow hardware guys to test circuits for proper operation from a schematic before ever building them. The current version is FORTRAN 90 I believe and is a dynamic language these days.

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Old 09-24-2013, 05:16 PM   #103
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Yeah, I was thinking about this yesterday. Given that epub is basically a way of grouping HTML files and HTML is such a common syntax target for editors, combined with the fact that many text editors allow for heavy customisation including syntax highlighting, code-completion and even scripting "plug-ins" - might this be a quicker and simpler way to get a tool that might stand a little better for future development?
Grumbles was talking about a program that zips up a folder into a valid ebook.

What he is describing basically is a simple* compiler: you create a folder with your source. You run the program against that folder (which of course must have some "main" file, so the program can actually start somewhere), and it spits out an EPUB without actually touching the folder itself.

The "compiler"-like part could come into play with the program generating the OPF and toc.nxc on the go somehow, maybe using a file that has some sort of simple layout in them, as a basis.

Basically, this is how LaTeX works. You point it to a folder/main file, and it spits out (for example) a PDF. OK, LaTeX sometimes requires multiple passes, and its a huge and complex piece of software, but the principle is the same.

My description is somewhat vague because I don't know a lot about EPUB's internals.

*Simple, as compared to a C++ compiler for example.

Last edited by Katsunami; 09-24-2013 at 05:21 PM.
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Old 09-24-2013, 06:08 PM   #104
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Well most of my knowledge is in assembler for 6502's and Z80's, not much uses these days seeing the size of modern programs. It'd take me far to long to write something like this and would most likely only work on either a C64 or a ZX Spectrum.

Wish I was better with C and C++, but I know my limits. I once wrote a compression program in C for my engineering degree that was capable of compressing a 10k text file into 50k. Should have called it the "Expander". I'd didn't get good marks for that part of the degree.
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Old 09-24-2013, 06:12 PM   #105
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Katsunami:

Well, we all have ePUBpack, but that doesn't do the Sigil-style heavy lifting for you--the NCX and the OPF, which is the rather cool part. And with Sigil's newer features (the reports, the index linking, the clips), it's hard to say that simply packing an ePUB is the solution. It's of course invaluable; I use ePUBpack and ePUBTweak both, as needed. But neither does all the tedious internal stuff that is so incredibly time-saving with Sigil. To me, if you had to lose EVERYTHING in Sigil except 1-2 core components, keeping the NCX and OPF creation alone is what I consider core functionality.

The rest is great, but I think that most of the people who use Sigil do what we do-edit in another HTML editor, like NoteTabPro (although I personally have some weirdo problem with NTP 7.0), and then use Sigil for polishing the ePUB, make the NCX, make the OPF, add the meta, and bob's-yer-uncle, as they say here.

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