Compact format with headers--can it be done?

C Alberga · 09-04-2019, 09:27 PM

Note. This is not about chapters, though it is about TOC. This is basically a formatted list. I am trying to generate a catalog of .mp3 albums from my digital music library. I am using a fairly simple LISP program to generate HTML based on the directory structure of the library Following is the head and a fragment of the body.

Code:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>

<HEAD>
  <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html;CHARSET=iso-8859-1">
  <META NAME="author" CONTENT="Cyril N. Alberga">
  <META NAME="generator" CONTENT="GNU Common Lisp">
  <META NAME="copy-right" CONTENT="&copy; 2019 Cyril N. Alberga">
  <TITLE>Catalogue of .mp3 Albums</TITLE>
<STYLE>
H3 {margin: 0.0in}
H4 {margin: 0.2in}
</STYLE>
</HEAD>




<H3>Anglo-American</H3>
<H4>2nd South Carolina String Band</H4>
<p style="margin-left:0.7in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
Camp Songs of the American Civil War - 2nd South Carolina String Band
</p>
<p style="margin-left:0.9in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
1 Southern Soldier
</p>
<p style="margin-left:0.9in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
2 Hard Road
</p>
<p style="margin-left:0.9in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
3 In High Cotton
</p>
<H4>Adrienne Young</H4>
<p style="margin-left:0.7in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
Plow to the End of the Row - Adrienne Young
</p>
<H4>Alan Lomax</H4>
<p style="margin-left:0.7in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
Texas Folk Songs - Alan Lomax
</p>
<H4>America's Children</H4>
<p style="margin-left:0.7in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
America's Children - America's Children
</p>
<H4>Anita Carter</H4>
<p style="margin-left:0.7in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
Ring Of Fire - Anita Carter
</p>
<H4>Ann Mayo Muir</H4>
<p style="margin-left:0.7in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
The Music of Ann Mayo Muir - Ann Mayo Muir
</p>
<p style="margin-left:0.7in;text-indent:-0.3in;margin-top:-1em">
The Music of Ann Mayo Muir - Ann Mayo Muir {R}
</p>

The H3 and H4 tags are to generate a TOC. H2 tags resulted in text which overlapped the following text unless a <br> was inserted, so I eliminated them. (There is a higher level structure for which I use H1 tags.)

The result has two levels of problem. When I view this using the Calibre reader it is passable though I would prefer less white space between the H4 groups, see first image. But when displayed on a Kindle Paperwhite the spacing is ridiculous. Is there an alternative way produce the document I want?

kovidgoyal · 09-04-2019, 09:40 PM

Convert to azw3 not mobi for your paperwhite.

C Alberga · 09-05-2019, 11:07 AM

That is what I am doing. The displays are from AZW3 files. Is there a way that I could generate a usable TOC in the original HTML file? I think I could figure out the table itself, but not how to get it converted to something that the Kindle would recognize.

theducks · 09-05-2019, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C Alberga

That is what I am doing. The displays are from AZW3 files. Is there a way that I could generate a usable TOC in the original HTML file? I think I could figure out the table itself, but not how to get it converted to something that the Kindle would recognize.

I don't know about 'the original HTML' part.
Calibre has 2 places that there is a TOC tool available. (Icon is a list with a hand pointing)
1)inside the Editor. 2) as a toolbar Icon (may need to be added)
This tool offers a number of ways to create or edit the (NCX) TOC of a book

The Editor also has a tool to create an INLINE TOC from the NCX one.
It is on the Tools TOC menu
You can move that from where it was created (beginning), if you desire

kovidgoyal · 09-05-2019, 01:10 PM

azw3 has full support for css 2 so you can control margins and padding to your hearts content.

JSWolf · 09-05-2019, 01:36 PM

Once you've converted to KF8 for your Kindle, you can use the Calibre Editor to edit it to fix any formatting you feel needs fixing.

C Alberga · 09-05-2019, 03:55 PM

Do I understand that any style attributes that I specify for Hn will override the ones which Calibre sets in the CSS file that it adds? If so, I will try that. Otherwise I will be back with more questions (and probably misunderstandings).

I "theducks" (which family? Whistling, dabbling, scaups?) means about "the original HTML". I thought I made it clear that what I am feeding into the conversion program is an .HTML file which has been generated by a small LISP program. While I have written a bit of HTML and JAVASCRIPT in the distant past, most of my programing has been either LISP or machine assembler code, so I find it simpler to throw together a LISP program to generate the HTML. That's why I'm trying to avoid having to hand tinker with the e-book code.

theducks · 09-05-2019, 05:07 PM

You can specify additional CSS in the Conversion settings.
That is added to the end, so the last one defining applies (just takes an efficiency hit) It may look bloated, ugly and a pain to debug... but it works

C Alberga · 09-05-2019, 05:37 PM

I'm going to experiment (probably won't be back until next week, be out of town). I did notice that the bit I added at the start:

Code:

<STYLE>
H3 {margin: 0.0in}
H4 {margin: 0.2in}
</STYLE>

was incorporated into the CSS in the HTML -> AWZ3 conversion, so I'll start there.

Thanks for the info, I may have understood it! I know, RTFM!

theducks · 09-05-2019, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C Alberga

I'm going to experiment (probably won't be back until next week, be out of town). I did notice that the bit I added at the start:

Code:

<STYLE>
H3 {margin: 0.0in}
H4 {margin: 0.2in}
</STYLE>

was incorporated into the CSS in the HTML -> AWZ3 conversion, so I'll start there.

Thanks for the info, I may have understood it! I know, RTFM!

those tags should be lower case:
h3
h4

C Alberga · 09-05-2019, 08:33 PM

Well, it was at least seven year before I had a key-punch that had lower case. Just stuck in the past. But they do work in UC!

09-05-2019, 05:37 PM	#9
C Alberga Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: none	I'm going to experiment (probably won't be back until next week, be out of town). I did notice that the bit I added at the start: Code: <STYLE> H3 {margin: 0.0in} H4 {margin: 0.2in} </STYLE> was incorporated into the CSS in the HTML -> AWZ3 conversion, so I'll start there. Thanks for the info, I may have understood it! I know, RTFM!

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09-04-2019, 09:40 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,857 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Convert to azw3 not mobi for your paperwhite.

09-05-2019, 11:07 AM	#3
C Alberga Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: none	That is what I am doing. The displays are from AZW3 files. Is there a way that I could generate a usable TOC in the original HTML file? I think I could figure out the table itself, but not how to get it converted to something that the Kindle would recognize.

09-05-2019, 01:10 PM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,857 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	azw3 has full support for css 2 so you can control margins and padding to your hearts content.

09-05-2019, 01:36 PM	#6
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,970 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Once you've converted to KF8 for your Kindle, you can use the Calibre Editor to edit it to fix any formatting you feel needs fixing.

09-05-2019, 03:55 PM	#7
C Alberga Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: none	Do I understand that any style attributes that I specify for Hn will override the ones which Calibre sets in the CSS file that it adds? If so, I will try that. Otherwise I will be back with more questions (and probably misunderstandings). I "theducks" (which family? Whistling, dabbling, scaups?) means about "the original HTML". I thought I made it clear that what I am feeding into the conversion program is an .HTML file which has been generated by a small LISP program. While I have written a bit of HTML and JAVASCRIPT in the distant past, most of my programing has been either LISP or machine assembler code, so I find it simpler to throw together a LISP program to generate the HTML. That's why I'm trying to avoid having to hand tinker with the e-book code.

09-05-2019, 05:07 PM	#8
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,800 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	You can specify additional CSS in the Conversion settings. That is added to the end, so the last one defining applies (just takes an efficiency hit) It may look bloated, ugly and a pain to debug... but it works

09-05-2019, 08:33 PM	#11
C Alberga Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: none	Well, it was at least seven year before I had a key-punch that had lower case. Just stuck in the past. But they do work in UC!

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