Conversion from txt file to epub (or anything else) fails

tobagotobago · 02-07-2025, 03:06 PM

Hi,

After upgrading to Calibre 7.25 conversion of txt files to Epub (or any other format) does not work.

Downgrading to 7.24 fixes the problem.

Don't have the log file at the moment, I just know it ended with:

re.error: bad escape \u at position 14

DNSB · 02-07-2025, 04:09 PM

For what it may be worth, I tried converting a text version of The Owl and the Pussy Cat poem to ePub using calibre 7.25. Regular expression error?

The conversion failed and the log file is in the spoiler.

Spoiler:

Code:

calibre, version 7.25.0 (win32, embedded-python: True)
Conversion error: Failed: Convert book 1 of 1 (The Owl and the Pussy-Cat)

Convert book 1 of 1 (The Owl and the Pussy-Cat)
Conversion options changed from defaults:
  output_profile: 'tablet'
  verbose: 2
  margin_right: 0.0
  margin_left: 0.0
  change_justification: 'left'
  margin_bottom: 0.0
  extra_css: 'body {\n-epub-hyphens: none;\nadobe-hyphenate: none;\n-webkit-hyphens: none;\n-moz-hyphens: none;\nhyphens: none;\n}'
  preserve_cover_aspect_ratio: True
  read_metadata_from_opf: 'C:\\Users\\dbowe\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\calibre_64vjz1m8\\vjbflenm.opf'
  enable_heuristics: True
  margin_top: 0.0
Resolved conversion options
calibre version: 7.25.0
{'add_alt_text_to_img': False,
 'asciiize': False,
 'author_sort': None,
 'authors': None,
 'base_font_size': 0.0,
 'book_producer': None,
 'change_justification': 'left',
 'chapter': "//*[((name()='h1' or name()='h2') and re:test(., "
            "'\\s*((chapter|book|section|part)\\s+)|((prolog|prologue|epilogue)(\\s+|$))', "
            "'i')) or @class = 'chapter']",
 'chapter_mark': 'pagebreak',
 'comments': None,
 'cover': None,
 'debug_pipeline': None,
 'dehyphenate': True,
 'delete_blank_paragraphs': True,
 'disable_font_rescaling': False,
 'dont_split_on_page_breaks': False,
 'duplicate_links_in_toc': False,
 'embed_all_fonts': False,
 'embed_font_family': None,
 'enable_heuristics': True,
 'epub_flatten': False,
 'epub_inline_toc': False,
 'epub_max_image_size': 'none',
 'epub_toc_at_end': False,
 'epub_version': '2',
 'expand_css': False,
 'extra_css': 'body {\n'
              '-epub-hyphens: none;\n'
              'adobe-hyphenate: none;\n'
              '-webkit-hyphens: none;\n'
              '-moz-hyphens: none;\n'
              'hyphens: none;\n'
              '}',
 'extract_to': None,
 'filter_css': '',
 'fix_indents': True,
 'flow_size': 260,
 'font_size_mapping': None,
 'format_scene_breaks': True,
 'formatting_type': 'auto',
 'html_unwrap_factor': 0.4,
 'input_encoding': None,
 'input_profile': <calibre.customize.profiles.InputProfile object at 0x0000022712B5BE90>,
 'insert_blank_line': False,
 'insert_blank_line_size': 0.5,
 'insert_metadata': False,
 'isbn': None,
 'italicize_common_cases': True,
 'keep_ligatures': False,
 'language': None,
 'level1_toc': None,
 'level2_toc': None,
 'level3_toc': None,
 'line_height': 0.0,
 'linearize_tables': False,
 'margin_bottom': 0.0,
 'margin_left': 0.0,
 'margin_right': 0.0,
 'margin_top': 0.0,
 'markdown_extensions': 'footnotes, tables, toc',
 'markup_chapter_headings': True,
 'max_toc_links': 50,
 'minimum_line_height': 120.0,
 'no_chapters_in_toc': False,
 'no_default_epub_cover': False,
 'no_inline_navbars': False,
 'no_svg_cover': False,
 'output_profile': <calibre.customize.profiles.TabletOutput object at 0x0000022712B82E10>,
 'page_breaks_before': "//*[name()='h1' or name()='h2']",
 'paragraph_type': 'auto',
 'prefer_metadata_cover': False,
 'preserve_cover_aspect_ratio': True,
 'preserve_spaces': False,
 'pretty_print': True,
 'pubdate': None,
 'publisher': None,
 'rating': None,
 'read_metadata_from_opf': 'C:\\Users\\dbowe\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\calibre_64vjz1m8\\vjbflenm.opf',
 'remove_fake_margins': True,
 'remove_first_image': False,
 'remove_paragraph_spacing': False,
 'remove_paragraph_spacing_indent_size': 1.5,
 'renumber_headings': True,
 'replace_scene_breaks': '',
 'search_replace': '[]',
 'series': None,
 'series_index': None,
 'smarten_punctuation': False,
 'sr1_replace': None,
 'sr1_search': None,
 'sr2_replace': None,
 'sr2_search': None,
 'sr3_replace': None,
 'sr3_search': None,
 'start_reading_at': None,
 'subset_embedded_fonts': False,
 'tags': None,
 'timestamp': None,
 'title': None,
 'title_sort': None,
 'toc_filter': None,
 'toc_threshold': 6,
 'toc_title': None,
 'transform_css_rules': '[]',
 'transform_html_rules': '[]',
 'txt_in_remove_indents': False,
 'unsmarten_punctuation': False,
 'unwrap_lines': True,
 'use_auto_toc': False,
 'verbose': 2}
InputFormatPlugin: TXT Input running
on C:\Users\dbowe\AppData\Local\Temp\calibre_64vjz1m8\ia710iic.txt
Reading text from file...
Detected input encoding as ascii with a confidence of 100%
Auto detected paragraph type as print
Auto detected formatting as heuristic
Running text through basic conversion...
Language not specified
Creator not specified
Building file list...
	Found files...
		 HTMLFile:0:a:'C:\\Users\\dbowe\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\calibre_64vjz1m8\\1s9i1_l1_plumber\\index.html'
Normalizing filename cases
Rewriting HTML links
Parsing index.html ...
*********  Heuristic processing HTML  *********
There are 0 blank lines. 0.0 percent blank
minimum chapters required are: 1
found 0 pre-existing headings
Total wordcount is: 242, Average words per section is: 242, Marked up 0 chapters
Hard line breaks check returned True
Median line length is 45, calculated with html format
Fixing hyphenated content
Looking for more split points based on punctuation, currently have 0
Formatting scene breaks
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "runpy.py", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
  File "runpy.py", line 88, in _run_code
  File "site.py", line 83, in <module>
  File "site.py", line 78, in main
  File "site.py", line 50, in run_entry_point
  File "calibre\utils\ipc\worker.py", line 215, in main
  File "calibre\gui2\convert\gui_conversion.py", line 38, in gui_convert_override
  File "calibre\gui2\convert\gui_conversion.py", line 25, in gui_convert
  File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\plumber.py", line 1128, in run
  File "calibre\customize\conversion.py", line 242, in __call__
  File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\plugins\txt_input.py", line 325, in convert
  File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\plugins\html_input.py", line 109, in convert
  File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\plugins\html_input.py", line 209, in create_oebbook
  File "calibre\ebooks\oeb\base.py", line 1056, in data
  File "calibre\ebooks\oeb\base.py", line 966, in _parse_xhtml
  File "calibre\ebooks\oeb\parse_utils.py", line 203, in parse_html
  File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\preprocess.py", line 614, in __call__
  File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\utils.py", line 879, in __call__
  File "re\__init__.py", line 317, in _subx
  File "re\__init__.py", line 308, in _compile_repl
  File "re\_parser.py", line 1080, in parse_template
re.error: bad escape \u at position 14

BetterRed · 02-07-2025, 04:37 PM

↑ ↑ ↑ ✔

Same on an 8 line text file

BR

kovidgoyal · 02-07-2025, 09:34 PM

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...d9606acad2855a

DNSB · 02-08-2025, 02:12 AM

No issues converting text to ePub after updating.

Terisa de morgan · 02-08-2025, 03:49 AM

Same is happening to me with conversion from azw3 to epub, same problem?

tobagotobago · 02-08-2025, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...d9606acad2855a

Thanks!

Are there any nightly builds available for Windows or do I have to build the binaries?

chaley · 02-08-2025, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobagotobago

Thanks!

Are there any nightly builds available for Windows or do I have to build the binaries?

See Setting up a calibre development environment. "Running from source" is easy.

Comfy.n · 02-08-2025, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaley

See Setting up a calibre development environment. "Running from source" is easy.

Hi (again) @chaley

Calibre runs but throws an error for me using current source as of commit 2575737679c6b0eb73de2ece624775aa7b7d8865:

Spoiler:

I know there's some new feature implementation ongoing at the moment and you're probably aware of this but I thought I should report just in case.

chaley · 02-08-2025, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

Hi (again) @chaley

Calibre runs but throws an error for me using current source as of commit 2575737679c6b0eb73de2ece624775aa7b7d8865:

Spoiler:

I know there's some new feature implementation ongoing at the moment and you're probably aware of this but I thought I should report just in case.

Report it as a bug so we can be sure Kovid sees it. I don't have time at the moment to chase it down.

Comfy.n · 02-08-2025, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaley

Report it as a bug so we can be sure Kovid sees it. I don't have time at the moment to chase it down.

Done, thanks

BetterRed · 02-08-2025, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobagotobago

Thanks!

Are there any nightly builds available for Windows or do I have to build the binaries?

It'll be in the next release which are normally every 2-3 weeks, and there are ==>> calibre friday preview releases

Simplest thing meantime is open your text file in a word processor, save it as DOCX and convert that.

BR

JohnnyBook · 02-09-2025, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Simplest thing meantime is open your text file in a word processor, save it as DOCX and convert that.

BR

Thanks, I came to report the same problem. "re.error: bad escape \u at position 14"

And saw a fix was already implemented., but had no clue how to add the fix to my copy. (Github might as well be Greek to me, and I was not interested in "Setting up a calibre development environment.")

But switching the TXT file into a DOCX file and converting that, did the trick for me.

JSWolf · 02-10-2025, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Same is happening to me with conversion from azw3 to epub, same problem?

Use KindleUnpack to go from KF8 > ePub.

02-07-2025, 03:06 PM	#1
tobagotobago Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2025 Device: kobo libra color	Conversion from txt file to epub (or anything else) fails Hi, After upgrading to Calibre 7.25 conversion of txt files to Epub (or any other format) does not work. Downgrading to 7.24 fixes the problem. Don't have the log file at the moment, I just know it ended with: re.error: bad escape \u at position 14

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02-07-2025, 04:37 PM	#3
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,500 Karma: 29709834 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	↑ ↑ ↑ ✔ Same on an 8 line text file BR

02-07-2025, 09:34 PM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,009 Karma: 27109258 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...d9606acad2855a

02-08-2025, 02:12 AM	#5
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 43,482 Karma: 165170834 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	No issues converting text to ePub after updating.

02-08-2025, 03:49 AM	#6
Terisa de morgan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,516 Karma: 12595249 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: Kobo Clara/Aura One/Forma,XiaoMI 5, iPad, Huawei MediaPad, YotaPhone 2	Same is happening to me with conversion from azw3 to epub, same problem?