alternative to modify epub please

[stumped]

i have found to my horror that using modify epub plug in on a poor quality source i.e. one where I have done lots of manual splits and edit operations to make it one file with one header tag per chapter --

then the modify plug in puts all the html files into alphabetical order and changes the navigation entries to match, so that chapter order is scrambled.

i think changing my workflow would be easier than trying to debug that process so what can I use instead please
i just need something that checks toc and inserts a cover page, so that when I create a kepub for my kobo, it all works well

this is what modify does to chapter order : for a simple made up example

if book consists of 3 files , and the 2nd one was created as a manual split e.g.
html 1
split point 1a
html 2

with matching chapter sequence 1 , 1a, 2

then after modify epub, that becomes
html1
html2
split point 1a
and nav becomes 1, 2, 1a

i stress, its fine with most books, it only goes haywire when there's an underlying mess of file names due to manual edits and splits . i see no way to stop the plug in from doing this alpha sort and subsequent reordering. ( I'd probably be better familiarising myself with recent calibre edit tools and not using this ( quite old) plug in when fixing chapter structures

[Capricorn]

I use the modify epub plugin on a regular basis and that for many years, and it has never done that to any of my ebooks.

It would be helpful to provide the list of options you checked in the plugin in order to say any more.

[stumped]

ticked is
all the manifest (3) and adobe (4) options, plus strip spans, insert or replace cover, update metadata, fix broken toc, broken images

its an issue only when the correct file name sequence for reading the book is not what you get with an alphanumeric sort.

i suspect its because of underlying structural issues in the epub, i just tried a calibre epub to epub conversion on the same problem book and that also shuffles the chapters into a wrong order.

i think changing my workflow may be simpler than trying to debug this

e.g. the chapter 2 file was created via a manual split so its called Section0002 it gets shuffled to below all the unaltered chapter files. and text/titlepage.html get moved to below that, because it comes after s ?

ps I am viewing the book in sigil, and checking content. opf and toc.ncx files before and after running the plug in.
I can see that the plugin changes the chapter sequence as specified in those 2 files, and makes it match an alpha sort of the xhtml file names

i have also used the plug-in for years, all OK, but twice recently I've hit this and both time its when trying to fix up and old poor quality sources so that they have well behaved chapter navigation once converted to kepub and viewed on kobo

the common factor seems to be that I need the navigation to follow the file sequence as laid out in book browser (left column of sigil view) , and not to impose an alphabetical order.

all i want to be able to do is use merge files, or split at this point to make it one chapter per file, with one header per chapter, where the source has chapters spread over multiple files and/or multiple chapters within one file. then auto fix the toc to match that structure

so what the best current tool/workflow for that please.

[DNSB]

Perhaps you could post a sample of such an epub so people can take a look at it. The only time I've seen anything similar to what you are describing was where the .opf file had scrambled spine entries and the program I was using organized them into that &*()_$ order.

A spine

As its name indicates, this is a “backbone” where the reading system finds the default reading order of all publication “chapters”. As these sections of a publication may not really represent book chapters, each item of the sequence is called … a spine item.

BTW, I do not personally use any of the manifest items. You did notice that Add unmanifested files to manifest and Remove unmanifested files from ePub are mutually contradictory.

Much the same that Removing margins from Adobe .xpft files doesn't make sense when you also have Remove Adobe .xpgt files and links checked.

[stumped]

thanks.
1. many of those ticked items have been that way for ages, and are probably unnecessary. e.g. I doubt I have any books with adobe DRM remnants inside so the adpobe stuff could all be unticked ?
the manifest options probably came as ticked by default and I never messed with them.
what could/should I set them to ?

2.i see that the calibre editor checks report several duplicate entries in opf, and also some "unsafe characters" - dash? underscore ?
so some entries look like this

<item id="Section0002.htm" href="Text/Section0002.htm" media-type="application/xhtml+xml"/>

and some look like this
<item id="id2" href="Text...

is there a way to force a cleanup of all the IDs, ( with calibre editor or sigil ) that might help

i recall that my previous problem book ( an attempt to build a decent omnibus edition) also had opf duplicates reported

I am happy to change my workflow for making kepubs- what's essential is that I am able to add a well structed cover page file, otherwise kobo kepub navigation goes haywire and rendering of 1st html file encountered ( which which kobo expects to be a kepub cover ) has a wrong page size/font size. once the cover is well behaved, and there is exactly one pair of h tags per html file, then all the kobo forma navigation controls are OK

[BetterRed]

The default settings for the Modify EPUB plugin is everything unchecked, pretty sure its been ever thus. It also ships with a help file, there's a link at the top right corner of the configure dialogue - the usage of the Manifest settings etc are explained in it.

There are � sequences sprinkled through the help file. My guess is that they're butchered HTML markup, possibly font related. Perhaps someone knows what they should be.

BR

[stumped]

well if it comes with options mostly ticked then I guess I ticked them all, way back in the day.
I saw it as a toolkit for fixing stuff, so figured that ticking all the fix it options was the way to go ;that It would skip over un-necessary repairs

tests:
i unticked all the adobe and all the manifest options.
then ran the plug in
most errors go away_ calibre checks stop reporting duplicates and although the book browser pane shows the files sorted in almost alphabetical order , the book chapters sequence is correct when opened in adobe editions

[ almost alphabetical because titlepage.xhtml appears way down the list, yet above anything called section

yet title page is 1st manifest entry so should be ok on KOBO
<manifest>
<item id="titlepage" href="Text/titlepage.xhtml" media-type="application/xhtml+xml"/>

i will go look for the plug in help file and study it.
i should also learn more about the book browser pane in sigl. I get that it is not the sequence controller - that's controlled by the nav file - but confusingly if I move a file up or down in the book browser pane and then safe, the nav fails are updated to reflect that.

main problem with me editingmy own books is that I know just enough to be dangerous - mostly I just fix typos, margins etc and don't go any deeper, but when a book does not navigate the way I want it to ( on a fussy Kobo as a kepub) , I tend to bang it with whatever hammers ( edit / conversion tools) I have to hand, hoping that will do what I lack the knowledge for

in infuriates me whcn kobo shows say chapter 14 in the header even though its showing chapter 15 on the screen. or i tab the previous chapter icon and get the chapter OK but with it being on page 1 of the book according to the slider...That's usually the lack of a cover/titlepage file throws off its count.all that stuff f goes way, usually, once I get the book into a 1 file, 1 chapter, 1 header tag .. format with no exceptions AND with a cover..

modifyepub has been my go-to tool to add/fix a cover, but I can't have it rearranging chapter order. if disabling all it's manifest options is all that;s needed, then great

PS
to actually copy to / test on kobo takes a lot more faffing about so I will do that later.
calibre -> open with adobe editions on PC is my quick check on how well behaved the book is liely to be

and yes. my kobo navigation control gripes would mostly go away if i read it as an epub instead, but I buy kobos in order to use the extra kepub bells n whistles - for better or worse.

so its time to knuckle down & learn more about spines, manifests, OPF and NCX i guess

[stumped]

i found the plug in help file
which also says
For any problems, issues or obtaining the latest version of this plugin, please refer to the MobileRead forums for calibre plugins.

but a forum search failed me when looking for any recent discussions of bugs, features, changes for modify epub.

hence me thinking that changing to a more popular plug in or workflow could be the way to go

i see there are several lines in red in help file, saying don't tick this if you ticked that....

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by stumped

i found the plug in help file

Hiding in plain sight no less.

Originally Posted by stumped

i which also says
For any problems, issues or obtaining the latest version of this plugin, please refer to the MobileRead forums for calibre plugins.

but a forum search failed me when looking for any recent discussions of bugs, features, changes for modify epub.

Also - hiding in plain sight



Or there's this ==>> Index of plugins

Life is meant to be easy, despite what Shaw and/or Fraser may have said or not said.

BR

[retiredbiker]

Since you ask for an alternative, here is what I do; I've edited or made thousands of epubs, then sent them to my Kobo as kepubs, and have never had a navigation error. None of this particular work process needs any coding.

Cover: I usually use Edit Metadata to put in a new cover, then use Polish to write it into the book file before editing. Sometimes, if I'm editing using the Editor and want to put in a new cover, I'll just import the file and replace the existing one, marking the new one as the cover image. (Right-click on an image file in the file browser to see many options)

Navigation: I merge and split as you describe. I often rename the files. I have never paid any attention to what the spine is doing, the Editor has always handled that correctly no matter how I rename or move them around. To make the ToC, I use the ToC Editor in the main Editor. I usually remove any entries that are present, and then use the option to build a ToC "from files". (toc.ncx is edited properly, every time) (If it is an epub3, delete the nav.xhtml and let it rebuild)

Sometimes (actually very often) I will edit or rename the ToC entries that come up from building "from files". It's really good at chapter headings if properly coded, but not so much with front matter and end matter files.

Nothing in this workflow will re-arrange your files. I've never seen any navigation error on my Kobo. I keep everything in my library as epub, and just use the Extended Touch plugin to send kepubs to the reader.

[stumped]

excellent, thanks. I will give that process a try next time I have a candidate book

just to be clear, wherever you say " the Editor" you mean the calibre editor- no other tools needed ?

[retiredbiker]

Originally Posted by stumped

excellent, thanks. I will give that process a try next time I have a candidate book

just to be clear, wherever you say " the Editor" you mean the calibre editor- no other tools needed ?

That is correct, the Calibre editor, and the ToC editor that is within the Calibre editor. The only other tool is Polish to write the cover into the book file, if I do it that way, which is mostly. Yeah, can be confusing!

[theducks]

There are/can be 2 TOC in EPUB2
The required 1 is the NCX. Calibre TOC edit (it is also available as a GUI icon ) works on this.
If you used the 'inline' one (in the book), you will need to regenerate after EVERY TOC edit (session) as this as it uses the NCX for for the current links. THIS CAN ONLY be done from the TOOLS: Table of Contents MENU

[Sirtel]

I've also merged, split and renamed files pretty often in the Calibre editor, and I run the Modify plugin on all books I load on my Kobos, but with all options unticked, except for additional css. Haven't noticed any issues. I read kepubs on the Sage, but with header and footer always off, so I have no idea what they would display. The TOC usually behaves correctly. The only instances it doesn't are some self-pubs where I haven't bothered to fix the TOC in Calibre.