New line automatically adds nbsp; in book view.

[Vanguard3000]

I've noticed this issue in the last few versions of Sigil (9.12 and 9.13). In book view, pressing enter to split a paragraph into two will automatically add a space (nbsp to the start of the second line. for example:

Hello world

to

Helloworld

to

Hello
world

instead gives

Hello
 world

in code:

<p>Hello</p>
<p>&nbsp;world</p>

Searching this forum has only given me issues people have had with nbsp;s [intentionally] being used instead of spaces in book view. My issue is slightly similar but may be related.
Is this intentional for some reason? It's a real pain when I'm converting ebooks and am looking to quickly split paragraphs without having to paste in para tags.

[theducks]

Newline is not the way to split a line, (and editing in Bookview is known to have issues)

<p>Hello <br />world</p>

is the way to split a line in the same BLOCK (I use this to force a long chapter head to split where I want it, while maintaining it as a single heading for the TOC generator)

Hello
world

[Vanguard3000]

I'm not looking to split a line using a <br/> tag, I'm looking to split one paragraph into two. Sometimes when converting an ebook from a pdf or ocr scan, I will find two or more paragraphs joined that need to be split into two.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Vanguard3000

I'm not looking to split a line using a <br/> tag, I'm looking to split one paragraph into two. Sometimes when converting an ebook from a pdf or ocr scan, I will find two or more paragraphs joined that need to be split into two.

AFAIK there is no automatic way
simply copy the <p class='foo'> from the beginning and paste it where the new paragraph, then use Pretty-FIX to make all good

Make a clip and put it on the clip bar </p> <p class='foo'>
and just insert it at the proper place point, the bulk replace 'foo' with the proper class

[Notjohn]

Given the small size of most e-reader screens, I find myself splitting paragraphs a lot -- otherwise they fill the whole "page"! So I used the Sigil clip editor to insert

</p>

<p>

at the cursor.

In Code View, of course. Since Preview came to live with us, I almost never have occasion to use Book View any longer.

[DiapDealer]

Most code in Book View is generated by built-in Qt functions. This sort of thing (additional &nbsp;s) has always happened with Sigil in Book View. The bottom line truly is: if you don't like the code produced when making edits in Book View ... don't make edits in Book View.

[BetterRed]

FWIW : in Book View - if I position the insertion cursor thus:

Hello |World

And then hit Enter, a superfluous, and relatively harmless, pair of &nbsp;s is left at the end of the 'Hello' line, which can be removed en-masse easy enough.

BR

[JustinThought]

I wish people wouldn't post the problems they're having while editing in book view. I'm sure that doesn't do anything except steam the great guys who are spending boucoups time maintaining a program that has no monetary return.

If you insist on editing in book view--as I do--then you have to develop the procedures to correct these shortcomings. So, the habit of making italics a span instead of using <i> or <em>; adding those spurious named hard spaces; whatever, all can be corrected by making a couple'a routine searches and grouping them under a title called "Oops, I've been editing in Book View again" which you can run at your leisure.

Sorry. Just wanted to throw a couple'a cents worth in here.

[AlanHK]

Originally Posted by Vanguard3000

I've noticed this issue in the last few versions of Sigil (9.12 and 9.13). In book view, pressing enter to split a paragraph into two will automatically add a space (nbsp to the start of the second line.

When I want to split a para, I put the cursor between the words, backspace or delete to remove the space, then press enter. No nbsp made.

This is one of the few edits I make in bookview, since it doesn't make any weird code, the new para has the same style as the parent, and it's faster than typing or pasting in the HTML.

I'm using 9.13 (legacy build) in case that's relevant, but have been doing this for some time and not had any issue. Just tried now and still OK.

[Vanguard3000]

Originally Posted by AlanHK

When I want to split a para, I put the cursor between the words, backspace or delete to remove the space, then press enter. No nbsp made...

That's exactly what I'm doing, but I'm getting the added nbsp. It hadn't done that until 9.12. Currently I'm on 9.13 - you mention a 9.13 legacy version? is it not the latest one? And thanks for your help.

I have to say it's very disheartening to come here with an issue I'm having while using Sigil only to be met with derision. It's not like this behaviour has been standard for Sigil all along (at least, not in the near-decade I've been using it); it's something that has only recently been plaguing my workflow. If there's a reason for the devs to change the behaviour, I'm willing to accept it (though some explanation would be most welcome), but it seems to be something new and irregular, so I'm asking an (in my opinion) fair question about it.

My point isn't to "steam" the devs - for one, as I mentioned, I've been appreciating the fruits of their hard work for years; for another, I can't really see anyone getting upset over someone asking a question about the work their doing. If you don't like the book view, don't use it; it's there, I use it for small things like splitting a paragraphs, and if it stops working as expected out of the blue I don't think it's unfair of me to ask about it.

[DiapDealer]

It's not unfair (and I certainly wasn't steamed), but though this behavior might be new, Book View consistently doing squirrelly things to code is anything but new. We've talked about it for a long time, but we've finally taken steps to remove Book View from Sigil entirely. It's demise is finally in sight. So if this IS new behavior (Sigil 0.9.11/12/13 marked significant updates to Qt and QtWebKit from previous versions), it's not very likely to be addressed. We truly have recommended that people don't use Book View for editing for a long, long time now.

The legacy version that alan referred to is a version I make for legacy Windows. It has most of the features of the latest Sigil, but it's 32-bit only and it uses older versions of Qt/QtWebKit/Python so that it can run on Windows XP and Vista. It can be found up above in the sticky thread section of the Sigil Forum.

[KevinH]

I want to add that we plan to take the BookView code we strip out and make a single xhtml visual editor as a separate standalone app that can be used with the newly expanded Sigil "open with" options for those who still want to do some editing in a BookView environment (with all its issues).

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by KevinH

I want to add that we plan to take the BookView code we strip out and make a single xhtml visual editor as a separate standalone app that can be used with the newly expanded Sigil "open with" options for those who still want to do some editing in a BookView environment (with all its issues).

The only thing I use BV for is to split and join paragraphs - and then deal with the consequences in CV. I know that sounds daft but it works for me

BR

[JustinThought]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

The only thing I use BV for is to split and join paragraphs - and then deal with the consequences in CV. I know that sounds daft but it works for me

BR

That's funny! Because those are the two things that I absolutely do not ever do in Book View--because I know then I'm going to end up with some formatting spans, font size modifications, and a little bit of Martian text if I do. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating the Martian text part. But for me, a clip made up of a </p>, two line-feeds, two spaces, and a <p> is much easier to deal with. And the reversal, replacing those items with a space is much easier as well--for me.

So that a perfect illustration of how each person has discovered/developed the processes that work best for themselves.

[Vanguard3000]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

...Book View consistently doing squirrelly things to code is anything but new. We've talked about it for a long time, but we've finally taken steps to remove Book View from Sigil entirely. It's demise is finally in sight. So if this IS new behavior (Sigil 0.9.11/12/13 marked significant updates to Qt and QtWebKit from previous versions), it's not very likely to be addressed...

That's disappointing, but it's a fair answer, so thank you.