Sigil's support for EPUB 3.1 specs, metadata

Chang · 09-11-2017, 09:55 PM

I was wondering when Sigil is going to support the EPUB 3.1 specification and especially the metadata part. Now Sigil creates refine attributes which is already deprecated (http://www.idpf.org/epub/31/spec/epu...ec-pkg-refines). Takes too much extra work to add correct metadata after editing ebooks in Sigil. I hope this will be fixed asap.

DiapDealer · 09-11-2017, 10:37 PM

Sigil won't fully support EPUB 3.0 asap, let alone 3.1. Your best bet is to get someone to write an output plugin for Sigil if you need Sigil-created epubs to have 3.1 compliant metadata right now.

KevinH · 09-12-2017, 07:38 AM

Does any device claim to support epub 3.1 yet?

JSWolf · 09-12-2017, 08:13 AM

ePub 3.1 is not yet finalized.

KevinH · 09-12-2017, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

ePub 3.1 is not yet finalized.

FWIW, it may be by now. The status in the main link says "recommended" and "stable" that was just in January of 2017.

Again does any reading device or conversion software support epub 3.1 yet?

JSWolf · 09-12-2017, 09:56 AM

The best I can find is...

Quote:

EPUB 3.1

Recommended Specification 5 January 2017

And as for any software or device, I don't know of any supporting ePub 3.1.

KevinH · 09-12-2017, 10:40 AM

That said, given the changes we made to support Metadata in epub 2, and epub 3.0, we could probably add some support for epub 3.1 metadata (it is actually closer to epub2 than 3).

But my fear is that new users would opt for that format (3.1) and generate something that no device can actually read or use.

DiapDealer · 09-12-2017, 10:40 AM

Epubcheck does not support 3.1. And to my knowledge, Kindlegen does not support 3.1 as input, nor does iBooks export 3.1 (could be wrong, though). As to reader-support ... who knows? You can't buy 3.1 epubs to test with. Way too early to worry about supporting 3.1 metadata editing/saving it in my opinion. 3.0.1 was never fully embraced by anyone of any consequence, so I highly doubt the changes in 3.1 are going to bring anyone flocking to it any time soon.

I'm no proponent of zealous spec-compliance that comes at the expense of breaking mainstream relevance. The IDPF declaring which version of EPUB is "standard" has had very little effect on the reality of ebook publishing/editing in the past. How long has 3/3.0.1 been the official recommended "standard" being mostly ignored after all?

Like I said ... maybe an output/input plugin for those who want to experiment with bleeding edge metadata specs?

Doitsu · 09-12-2017, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You can't buy 3.1 epubs to test with.

Not only are there no commercial epub3.1 books, the IDPF hasn't officially released a single epub3.1 sample book on the IDPF samples github website because samples will be released "only after epubcheck validation of 3.1 files is made available."

Based on the commits since the latest epubcheck release, it doesn't look like the developers have added any epub3.1 specific checks to the epubcheck code base. I.e., it might take a while, until official epub3.1 sample files and an epubcheck version with epub3.1 support will be available.

JSWolf · 09-12-2017, 03:22 PM

Are there any ePub 3.0 or 3.0.1 (for sale) that are not made backwards compatible with ePub 2 (that need an ePub 3 renderer to actually work)?

DNSB · 09-19-2017, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are there any ePub 3.0 or 3.0.1 (for sale) that are not made backwards compatible with ePub 2 (that need an ePub 3 renderer to actually work)?

Yes. I've run into a couple of books downloaded from Kobo's site that used epub3 features requiring a rename to display correctly on Kobo's eInk devices. Kobo customer service does regard these as an issue. One of those ebooks required renaming to .fxl.kepub.epub to display semi-legibly -- I was going to say semi-readable but the poems are not really readable -- the sestina is not my favourite verse form.

DiapDealer · 09-19-2017, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

Yes. I've run into a couple of books downloaded from Kobo's site that used epub3 features requiring a rename to display correctly on Kobo's eInk devices. Kobo customer service does regard these as an issue. One of those ebooks required renaming to .fxl.kepub.epub to display semi-legibly -- I was going to say semi-readable but the poems are not really readable -- the sestina is not my favourite verse form.

Do you have a title? I wouldn't mind checking it out. Sounds like it's an issue where the book (or that format of it) shouldn't have been available for download/transfer to eink devices at all.

EDIT: feel free to PM the book's details if you'd rather.

09-11-2017, 09:55 PM	#1
Chang Connoisseur Posts: 87 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	Sigil's support for EPUB 3.1 specs, metadata I was wondering when Sigil is going to support the EPUB 3.1 specification and especially the metadata part. Now Sigil creates refine attributes which is already deprecated (http://www.idpf.org/epub/31/spec/epu...ec-pkg-refines). Takes too much extra work to add correct metadata after editing ebooks in Sigil. I hope this will be fixed asap.

09-12-2017, 10:40 AM	#8
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,535 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Epubcheck does not support 3.1. And to my knowledge, Kindlegen does not support 3.1 as input, nor does iBooks export 3.1 (could be wrong, though). As to reader-support ... who knows? You can't buy 3.1 epubs to test with. Way too early to worry about supporting 3.1 metadata editing/saving it in my opinion. 3.0.1 was never fully embraced by anyone of any consequence, so I highly doubt the changes in 3.1 are going to bring anyone flocking to it any time soon. I'm no proponent of zealous spec-compliance that comes at the expense of breaking mainstream relevance. The IDPF declaring which version of EPUB is "standard" has had very little effect on the reality of ebook publishing/editing in the past. How long has 3/3.0.1 been the official recommended "standard" being mostly ignored after all? Like I said ... maybe an output/input plugin for those who want to experiment with bleeding edge metadata specs? Last edited by DiapDealer; 09-12-2017 at 10:45 AM.

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09-11-2017, 10:37 PM	#2
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,535 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Sigil won't fully support EPUB 3.0 asap, let alone 3.1. Your best bet is to get someone to write an output plugin for Sigil if you need Sigil-created epubs to have 3.1 compliant metadata right now.

09-12-2017, 07:38 AM	#3
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 7,602 Karma: 5433388 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Does any device claim to support epub 3.1 yet?

09-12-2017, 08:13 AM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,841 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	ePub 3.1 is not yet finalized.

09-12-2017, 03:22 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,841 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Are there any ePub 3.0 or 3.0.1 (for sale) that are not made backwards compatible with ePub 2 (that need an ePub 3 renderer to actually work)?