Brand new Calibre user - confusion about auto-gen chapters not working

[nowefg]

Hi all,

I'm really appreciating the Calibre software, and find it easy to use, after making my usual 3 or 4 bungled attempts to do something with it. TOC's, though, have me stymied.

I tried using auto-generate to create a TOC with entries for the chapters in a book was I converting from pdf, and the chapter headings that show in Calibre are just right for the book I'm editing.

When I load the azw3 file in my Kindle Paperwhite Next Gen, though, these chapter headings do show up, but they don't link to anything. All that shows are the names of each chapter, followed by an identical number, in this case the number 6, for every toc entry. They're not active links.

I looked in quick start guide, but didn't see additional steps I need to take to create the actual link between auto-generated chapter headings, and their locations. I was assuming that, since Calibre found the proper divisions of the text, it would, as in "auto-generate," already know where it found the respective headings breaks, and would automatically link the chapter headings to those locations.

If I have to laboriously page through the whole book to find the actual locations of these "headings" Calibre found by itself, and then link the locations to those headings manually, that would not be especially automatic or useful. Ergo, I'm bungling something somewhere.

Being brand new to all this, I'm still very impressed with this software. I can see it goes pretty deep, and I'm still just trying to wade the shallows. Assuming I missed something obvious, can any advise about how to auto-generate a functional toc?

[BetterRed]

@nowefg - perhaps this will help ==>> http://blog.calibre-ebook.com/2013/0...e-toc-for.html

BR

[theducks]

@nowefg
Br gave you a good link to use the TOC generator

The TOC is not 'chapters'.

Chapters are a logical division created by the author.
A book (content) could consist of 1 large file (IMHO not recommended) with chapter headings marked as anchor points. The TOC can still jump you there.

[nowefg]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@nowefg - perhaps this will help ==>> http://blog.calibre-ebook.com/2013/0...e-toc-for.html

BR

Thanks BetterRed,

The tutorial is dated, I think, as the UI doesn't match the 1.36 UI I have, on which there is no icon for edit. It's just a right-click away, though.

I followed the simple steps, and still get a TOC that is not linked to anything at all, i.e., accessing an entry on the new TOC doesn't open the relevant location.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by nowefg

Thanks BetterRed,

The tutorial is dated, I think, as the UI doesn't match the 1.36 UI I have, on which there is no icon for edit. It's just a right-click away, though.

I followed the simple steps, and still get a TOC that is not linked to anything at all, i.e., accessing an entry on the new TOC doesn't open the relevant location.

This is for a making a NCX TOC.
If you saw green ticks, there should have been a link to that point.
After the NCX has been built, you can (optionally) then generate a HTML (AKA inline) TOC from that.
Tools:Table of contents:Insert inline...

[nowefg]

Originally Posted by theducks

This is for a making a NCX TOC.
If you saw green ticks, there should have been a link to that point.
After the NCX has been built, you can (optionally) then generate a HTML (AKA inline) TOC from that.
Tools:Table of contents:Insert inline...

New terms: NCX; no idea what that refers to,

I did see the green ticks, one for each "chapter" that auto-generate found.

Opening the book in the Calibre reader, the new TOC is present, each blue TOC entry is selectable, but clicking on any entry only leads back to the location of the TOC itself, it doesn't "jump" to the destination the entry refers to.

Just tried it again, from scratch, and get the same result.

"If you saw green ticks, there should have been a link to that point."

This is exactly what's not happening. Got the ticks, but no link.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by nowefg

New terms: NCX; no idea what that refers to,

I did see the green ticks, one for each "chapter" that auto-generate found.

Opening the book in the Calibre reader, the new TOC is present, each blue TOC entry is selectable, but clicking on any entry only leads back to the location of the TOC itself, it doesn't "jump" to the destination the entry refers to.

Just tried it again, from scratch, and get the same result.

"If you saw green ticks, there should have been a link to that point."

This is exactly what's not happening. Got the ticks, but no link.

You really need to take some time and learn a little about EPUB basics. The MR wiki (link at top) has some good reading

Are you jumping to the INLINE TOC?
Those entries may be faking out the auto-generate (If the book is done right, you may get BOTH. You can delete those that point to the inline TOC) during generation

[nowefg]

Originally Posted by theducks

You really need to take some time and learn a little about EPUB basics. The MR wiki (link at top) has some good reading

Thanks for the tip.

What I actually really need to do, and the reason I posted the question, is to figure out how to generate a working ToC in Calibre. The dated tutorial steps, clear and simple as they are, haven't led to that result, and I don't think searching a Wiki for a definition of NCX just now, is going to get me there, either.

Are you jumping to the INLINE TOC?

No idea what this is, either.

Those entries may be faking out the auto-generate (If the book is done right, you may get BOTH. You can delete those that point to the inline TOC) during generation

The azw3 has no ToC to begin with. When the auto-generate process is finished and saved, it does have one, but the links don't work.

Those entries may be faking out the auto-generate

Arcane and interesting, but not helpful.

Anyone else have any input?

[eschwartz]

ToC entries can be in two places:

1. TOC#Inline_TOC, meaning it is an actual "page" in the ebook. The Chapter links are standard on-page hyperlinks, and have no semantic value.
   
2. NCX, meaning it is reached from the GoTo menu. The Chapter links are defined semantically in the file toc.ncx and can be auto-generated with calibre's Edit ToC, if all chapter headings within the ebook are wrapped in the h1/h2/h3/h4/h5/h6 HTML tags.

One way to create a working, valid ToC is to open the book in calibre's Edit Book feature (shortcut key is "T") and edit the HTML code by each "Chapter $$$" header, to be enclosed in the

<h2>header goes here</h2>

HTML tags. Then use Generate ToC and it will find thse headers. If your book is not finding the chapters properly, it is probable that the header tags are missing. If you converted this book from a PDF, then I am guessing this is the problem.

For future reference, PDF is a horrible source format to use (as detailed in this sticky: Read this before Posting PDF Questions), and should only be used when there is no other choice. You must expect them to need special treatment.

It may be worth reading this sticky as well: Chapter Detection/Table of Contents Tutorial.

[nowefg]

One way to create a working, valid ToC is to open the book in calibre's Edit Book feature (shortcut key is "T") and edit the HTML code by each "Chapter $$$" header, to be enclosed in the

<h2>header goes here</h2>

HTML tags. Then use Generate ToC and it will find thse headers. If your book is not finding the chapters properly, it is probable that the header tags are missing. If you converted this book from a PDF, then I am guessing this is the problem...

For future reference, PDF is a horrible source format to use You must expect them to need special treatment.

Thank you very much, eschwartz, for the specifics and links; extremely helpful level of information, given that I am motivated, but brand new to Calibre, and to HTML.

This particular book was only available in pdf, and is worth the "special treatment" to me, and gives me an incentive to tackle the learning curve.

I'll explore the options you and the other posters have suggested, optimistically, now, and probably irrationally, too, at least at first.

[eschwartz]

Well, there you go then, a good reason!

Good luck, and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

[mrmikel]

You might download a similar sort of book from the MR library and see how it is structured by looking at the code. It might show you something that is not clear from reading.

Try to avoid calibre program conversions, as they work, but they are hard to understand. They have class="calibre1" etc.