azw3 to epup issues

shentar · 07-15-2014, 04:54 PM

Having mislaid my kindle (OK, I put it somewhere safe which is always a mistake) I decided to convert the azw3 file to epub and read it on my nook. The automatic conversion managed to add a page break after every line in the Table of Contents and after every paragraph. The option "Do not split on page breaks" in the EPUB output section seemed to cure the ToC issue but the resultant epub, although appearing OK in the epub viewer, still has a page break after every paragraph when displayed by the nook.

I can provide samples of the output, although I don't know what would be helpful if you don't have a nook to try it on.

Any ideas?
Thanks,

eschwartz · 07-15-2014, 06:23 PM

"Put it somewhere safe" indeed! It is pretty darn safe now.

I would guess that the html markup inside the book is incorrectly using <h2> header tags to mark paragraphs, instead of <p> paragraph tags. Look at the Structure Detection tab in the conversion settings -- you can disable adding pagebreaks on them.

shentar · 07-15-2014, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

"Put it somewhere safe" indeed! It is pretty darn safe now.

I would guess that the html markup inside the book is incorrectly using <h2> header tags to mark paragraphs, instead of <p> paragraph tags. Look at the Structure Detection tab in the conversion settings -- you can disable adding pagebreaks on them.

I've been putting things in a safe place for 50 years. If I can ever find the place there is a fortune in treasures awaiting me. Oh, all right, probably a huge pile of old tat.

This is the (truncated and abbreviated) html generated:

Code:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <title>1: Random Ramona</title>
    <meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL-NS Stylesheets V1.76.1"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
  <link href="../stylesheet.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
<link href="../page_styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
</head>
  <body class="calibre">
    <div class="preface" title="1: Random Ramona">
      <div class="preface">
        <div class="preface">
          <div class="preface">
            <h4 class="titlepreface">
              <a id="idp29440" class="calibre1"></a>
              <a href="part0003.html#toc-idp29440" class="calibre1">1: PROLOGUE: ONE MONTH AGO</a>
            </h4>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <p class="prefacefirstpara">Dont be silly, Bob, said Mo. everybody knows vampires dont exist.</p>
      <div class="calibre7"></div><p class="chapter">I froze (blah blah blah) denial.</p>
      <div class="calibre7"></div><p class="chapter">We cant be sure of that. I mean, (blah blah blah) place</p>

Now, my use of HTML predates style sheets but the 'class="chapter"' stuff looked suspicious to me. However, looking in the .css file "chapter" seems innocuous, but the "calibre7" block contains the worrying line

Code:

page-break-after: always

Is this a smoking gun and if so where is the safety catch?
Sorry, I'm a sucker for a mixed metaphor.

<A few minutes later>
Could it be that the internal epub viewer is ignoring the page break command because it doesn't have a fixed page size, but the nook is honouring it? Tomorrow I will unpack the epub, remove the line from the css and repack it to see if I can get something more readable.

theducks · 07-15-2014, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shentar

I've been putting things in a safe place for 50 years. If I can ever find the place there is a fortune in treasures awaiting me. Oh, all right, probably a huge pile of old tat.

This is the (truncated and abbreviated) html generated:

Code:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <title>1: Random Ramona</title>
    <meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL-NS Stylesheets V1.76.1"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
  <link href="../stylesheet.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
<link href="../page_styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
</head>
  <body class="calibre">
    <div class="preface" title="1: Random Ramona">
      <div class="preface">
        <div class="preface">
          <div class="preface">
            <h4 class="titlepreface">
              <a id="idp29440" class="calibre1"></a>
              <a href="part0003.html#toc-idp29440" class="calibre1">1: PROLOGUE: ONE MONTH AGO</a>
            </h4>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <p class="prefacefirstpara">Dont be silly, Bob, said Mo. everybody knows vampires dont exist.</p>
      <div class="calibre7"></div><p class="chapter">I froze (blah blah blah) denial.</p>
      <div class="calibre7"></div><p class="chapter">We cant be sure of that. I mean, (blah blah blah) place</p>

Now, my use of HTML predates style sheets but the 'class="chapter"' stuff looked suspicious to me. However, looking in the .css file "chapter" seems innocuous, but the "calibre7" block contains the worrying line

Code:

page-break-after: always

Is this a smoking gun and if so where is the safety catch?
Sorry, I'm a sucker for a mixed metaphor.

It looks like the culprit to me
as atest
comment-out the line(in the CSS: /* stuff to ignore */ )

eschwartz · 07-15-2014, 07:15 PM

class="chapter" is the problem, I believe.

But then again, so is the pagebreak.

calibre scans for class="chapter" to locate chapter beginnings. You can change that in Structure Detection, but it would probably be a good idea to get rid of it anyway.

the specified pagebreaks, on the other hand, are built into the book already -- but either or both would be sufficient to cause these problems.

eschwartz · 07-15-2014, 07:17 PM

In fact, that whole div (pattern) is a complete and utter waste of space. No content, and it messes things up weirdly -- it is a special div to add in pagebreaks.

Regex the whole thing out.

shentar · 07-15-2014, 07:26 PM

I edited the .css file and removed the

Code:

page-break-after: always

clause from the calibre7 style. That on its own seems to have cured the 1-paragraph page problem and rendered the book readable.

I had more or less resigned myself to reading the thing on my phone but the nook is much easier on the eyes. I have no doubt I will find the kindle when I am about 5 pages from the end of the book.

I thank you for your help, gentlemen, but now I must run as the cat is throwing up a massive hairball on the lounge carpet.

Is it worth opening a bug report?

eschwartz · 07-15-2014, 07:28 PM

No, this book is acting exactly as expected. It is simply coded badly.

theducks · 07-15-2014, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

No, this book is acting exactly as expected. It is simply coded badly.

Badly?
IMHO It is a mess

eschwartz · 07-15-2014, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

Badly?
IMHO It is a mess

I didn't say HOW badly.

Sabardeyn · 07-16-2014, 05:50 AM

And, if I might add, the inclusion of all that bad coding means your ebook reader (hardware or software, doesn't matter) has to work much harder to render that mess into something like a coherent textual display.

07-15-2014, 04:54 PM	#1
shentar Member Posts: 22 Karma: 510 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: kindle	azw3 to epup issues Having mislaid my kindle (OK, I put it somewhere safe which is always a mistake) I decided to convert the azw3 file to epub and read it on my nook. The automatic conversion managed to add a page break after every line in the Table of Contents and after every paragraph. The option "Do not split on page breaks" in the EPUB output section seemed to cure the ToC issue but the resultant epub, although appearing OK in the epub viewer, still has a page break after every paragraph when displayed by the nook. I can provide samples of the output, although I don't know what would be helpful if you don't have a nook to try it on. Any ideas? Thanks,

07-15-2014, 07:15 PM	#5
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	class="chapter" is the problem, I believe. But then again, so is the pagebreak. calibre scans for class="chapter" to locate chapter beginnings. You can change that in Structure Detection, but it would probably be a good idea to get rid of it anyway. the specified pagebreaks, on the other hand, are built into the book already -- but either or both would be sufficient to cause these problems. Last edited by eschwartz; 07-15-2014 at 07:28 PM.

07-15-2014, 07:17 PM	#6
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	In fact, that whole div (pattern) is a complete and utter waste of space. No content, and it messes things up weirdly -- it is a special div to add in pagebreaks. Regex the whole thing out. Last edited by eschwartz; 07-15-2014 at 07:28 PM.

07-15-2014, 07:26 PM	#7
shentar Member Posts: 22 Karma: 510 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: kindle	I edited the .css file and removed the Code: page-break-after: always clause from the calibre7 style. That on its own seems to have cured the 1-paragraph page problem and rendered the book readable. I had more or less resigned myself to reading the thing on my phone but the nook is much easier on the eyes. I have no doubt I will find the kindle when I am about 5 pages from the end of the book. I thank you for your help, gentlemen, but now I must run as the cat is throwing up a massive hairball on the lounge carpet. Is it worth opening a bug report?

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07-15-2014, 06:23 PM	#2
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	"Put it somewhere safe" indeed! It is pretty darn safe now. I would guess that the html markup inside the book is incorrectly using <h2> header tags to mark paragraphs, instead of <p> paragraph tags. Look at the Structure Detection tab in the conversion settings -- you can disable adding pagebreaks on them.

07-15-2014, 07:28 PM	#8
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	No, this book is acting exactly as expected. It is simply coded badly.

07-16-2014, 05:50 AM	#11
Sabardeyn Guru Posts: 644 Karma: 1242364 Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Right Coast Device: PC (Calibre), Nexus 7 2013 (Moon+ Pro), HTC HD2/Leo (Freda)	And, if I might add, the inclusion of all that bad coding means your ebook reader (hardware or software, doesn't matter) has to work much harder to render that mess into something like a coherent textual display.