Set Semantics questions

[phossler]

Q1. There's a preset number and type of semantics available. Can I only use each 'type' one time? I tried adding manually more type="text" for chapters 2 and 3, but only the first showed up.


Q2. Does it make any difference if the 'true' semantic type is different from what I called it? Doesn't seem to since I [Set Semantics] Epigraph to abouttheauthor.html and manually edited the title so that my title="About The Author" will be selectable on my Kindle.

Q3. On the [Set Semantics] dialog, it would be handy if there were a button to remove a setting, and a field to allow the user to add their own title (like 'Begin Reading'). Easy enough to do manually, but sometimes I forget and they sort of go together.

Q3.5 -- If I Insert an Inline TOC and the book has been [Arrange into Folders], toc.xhtml is created in the root. If I run [Arrange into Folders] again, then toc.xhtml is put under /text, just like any other html files I add. Just slightly inconsistent is all, but maybe it should go under /text?

Q4. I tried to use the 'other' in the spec, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Did I do it correctly?

http://www.idpf.org/epub/20/spec/OPF...htm#Section2.6

The required type attribute describes the publication component referenced by the href attribute. The values for the type attributes must be selected from the list defined below when applicable. Other types may be used when none of the predefined types are applicable; their names must begin with the string other.. The value for the type attribute is case-sensitive.

  <guide>
    <reference href="text/cover.xhtml" title="Cover" type="cover"/>
    <reference href="text/titlepage.xhtml" title="Title Page" type="title-page"/>
    <reference href="text/toc.xhtml" title="Table of Contents" type="toc"/>
    <reference href="text/forward.xhtml" title="Foreword" type="foreword"/>
    <reference href="text/chap_01.xhtml" title="Begin Reading" type="text"/>
    <reference href="text/chap_02.xhtml" title="Another Chapter2" type="otherChap2"/>
    <reference href="text/chap_03.xhtml" title="Another Chapter3" type="otherChap3"/>
    <reference href="text/acknowledgements.xhtml" title="Acknowledgements" type="acknowledgements"/>
    <reference href="text/aboutauthor.xhtml" title="About The Author" type="epigraph"/>
  </guide>

[theducks]

1) Text is the Start reading FILE Might be the Prologue or Chapter 1 (I set it to Part 1 instead of Chapter 1 if the book is split)

5)other. note the dot

[eschwartz]

The title used doesn't really make much difference, ereaders only looks at the type I believe.

calibre has an interface for adding useful semantics, and won't allow you to create multiple versions of a semantic when that will result in check book complaining (at least, I hope and assume it does) that you have too many of them, in blatant violation of the spec and ereader implementations.
e.g. How do you expect the book to "Start Reading" in two different places at once?

Feel free to add custom semantics, but only you will know about them, because ereaders certainly won't.

[phossler]

@eschwartz-- understand that the type="text" is the one where the ereader will take you to start reading. I thought that the type=other.Char2" will add a 'Go To point in the ereader, but it doesn't. If it did, I could add quick reference / bookmarks (?) easily to find the reference table or something

@theducks -- I think I added the dot correctly but it doesn't make the two Go To points I'm using for test show up

  <guide>
    <reference href="text/cover.xhtml" title="Cover" type="cover"/>
    <reference href="text/titlepage.xhtml" title="Title Page" type="title-page"/>
    <reference href="text/toc.xhtml" title="Table of Contents" type="toc"/>
    <reference href="text/forward.xhtml" title="Foreword" type="foreword"/>
    <reference href="text/chap_01.xhtml" title="Begin Reading" type="text"/>
    <reference href="text/chap_02.xhtml" title="Another Chapter2" type="other.Chap2"/>
    <reference href="text/chap_03.xhtml" title="Another Chapter3" type="other.Chap3"/>
    <reference href="text/acknowledgements.xhtml" title="Acknowledgements" type="acknowledgements"/>
    <reference href="text/aboutauthor.xhtml" title="About The Author" type="epigraph"/>
  </guide>

I'm beginning to think that it's not going to work

[eschwartz]

I don't believe the Kindle allows you to set arbitrary goto locations it just relies on a shortlist of recognized (standard) semantics.

[theducks]

Are you simply trying to replace the Table of Contents?

To be honest, I have no idea why there seems to be multiple ways of setting a place in a book?

TOC (NCX)
TOC (HTML)
Guide <semantics>

Index, List of Illustrations/Figures and End/Footnotes; make some sense. They have special purposes

[eschwartz]

Because they do completely different things. One is a semantic ToC, one is a visual ToC shown as a page in the book, and one is merely a link to #2.

[phossler]

@theducks --

Are you simply trying to replace the Table of Contents?

No, it just seemed like a nice way to jump to special (and frequently referred to) places in a book, typically a reference book. For example, I might want to refer to the table of atomic weights that is in the middle of a file. Just seemed like the Kindle GoTo list would be fastest.

I could get to it by navigating the TOC if I tagged the table correctly, but it might be several levels down and would require knowing which branch of the tree

[phossler]

@eschwartz -- I think I must respectfully differ with you

Feel free to add custom semantics, but only you will know about them, because ereaders certainly won't.

If I edit the AWZ3 version by adding reference type="other.quickref", then it shows up in the Kindle reader under the GoTo menu


1. It seems if the ePub OPF contains this

<guide>
<reference type="text" title="Start Reading Here" href="start.xhtml"/>
<reference type="other.quickref" title="QuickRef Table" href="next.html#Table_of_Data"/>
</guide>
<

2. Converting to AZW3 generates this, but throws away the type="other"

  <guide>
    <reference type="text" href="text/part0000.html" title="Start Reading Here"/>
    <reference type="cover" href="images/00001.jpeg"/>
    <reference type="other.ms-coverimage-standard" href="images/00001.jpeg"/>
    <reference type="other.ms-coverimage" href="images/00001.jpeg"/>
  </guide>

3. If I manually add this to the guide section in the AZW3

<reference type="other.quickref" href="text/part0001.html#Table_of_Data" title="Quick Ref Table"/>

4. Then it shows up in the Kindle GoTo list (screen shot)


I really prefer to stay in the epub format for editing and convert if required (even if I had to enter type="other. " things manually)

It seems to me from my side of the keyboard, that the EPUB-to-AZW3 throws away the type="other" <guide> references.

It would be very handy if

a. The [Set Semantics] options would allow you to enter type="other.something"

b. The conversion process didn't throw such things away

[eschwartz]

Nope, try it on your Kindle -- doesn't work on my Kindle Touch.

Dunno why Kindle Previewer shows it -- must be a glitch.

[phossler]

@escwartz -- Nuts. I hadn't even gotten that far yet. It was just much easier to use the Kindle Previewer on the PC to see

The Previewer was showing as a Voyage, so maybe a Voyage is able to show

[eschwartz]

Let's hold off then, until we have some real-world devices that handle it. Then we can think about asking Kovid to preserve them when converting.