Sigil Crashes when creating HTML ToC

seampub · 06-09-2017, 12:59 AM

I'm running Sigil 0.9.8 to format an epub 3.0 file that was created in InDesign CC. I've done this a dozen times, but this one book keeps crashing. I've got everything thing done, all the formatting, the TOC generated, but when I go to create the HTML table of contents, one of two things happens. Either the HTML TOC overwrites the entire file, so that I only have the TOC but no content, or Sigil just crashes. This has happened over a dozen times now.

Any clues as to what might be the problem?

KevinH · 06-09-2017, 10:12 AM

Probably some naming conflict betwwen the nav and the html toc. What semantics are set on the nav? Please check that the nav property is properly set.

The best approach would be to start with a copy of the problem epub and (if copyrighted material that can't be shared, either use find and replace or a plugin to obfuscate just its text and save the problematic epub. Then privately post the epub someplace and pm me here with the location. That way I can see exactly what is causing a problem and get it fixed.

KevinH · 06-10-2017, 11:06 AM

The problem is that your content.opf has a guide setting that says that you already have a html toc and that it is actually your main document! This causes the main document to be either replaced or the whole thing to crash since it is circular.

Sigil should not crash ever so I will look into detecting this circularity and preventing the crash in a future release.

In the meanwhile, you need to manually remove this incorrect circularity:

1. Open the content.opf for editing and remove the following line in the guide section:

Code:

<reference type="toc" title="Table of Contents" href="Text/Nail_Your_Story.xhtml#_idContainer001"/>

This is the line that says your main chapter is actually your html toc when it clearly is not. Also your current file "toc.xhtml" is actually your required epub3 "nav" which fills the roll of a html toc and InDesign has set it to come last in your spine order.

If you do add another html toc, you should probably make sure the required current nav is not in the spine otherwise you will have two copies of the html toc on display to the user.

Thanks for your bug report and testcase.

seampub · 06-10-2017, 04:57 PM

Thanks. I don't like using the toc.xhtml file as my HTML toc because it is very particular about how it is formatted and so is my client. I did check the other books I did for this client and it looks like Sigil automatically replaces the required nav with the formatted one in the spine automatically.

And thanks for making (and making free) such awesome software!

Notjohn · 07-03-2017, 01:07 PM

I had a crash today after repairing several external links in my daughter's Sigil-built epub. It wasn't a big deal, since I can repeat the repair in fifteen minutes. It's an epub 2, and I am using 0.9.8 on Windows 7 professional.

She has two TOCs in the book, one with just the chapter titles, and a detailed TOC with subsections added. There are also two empty files, but Flight Crew doesn't seem to care about that. (She apparently does not have Flight Crew downloaded, nor does she have internet access to fetch it. We communicate by satellite email.)

KevinH · 07-03-2017, 01:47 PM

Unfortunately, without a test epub or more details, we can not easily help. Repairing links to external resources should have no impact on Sigil. Having multiple epubs should not crash anything in Sigil either. The op problem was he had a totally incorrect guide item that said his main book chapter was actually the toc and that confused Sigil as it tried to rebuild the toc but could not as a result of it being the only main chapter. More likely, you are seeing the last bug we already fixed when deleting an empty file that was cached for use by the Preview if enabled.

If you can post a sample epub and pm me with the exact steps to recreate the issue (as the op did), I would be happy to look at it.

Notjohn · 07-04-2017, 10:44 AM

Well, all is now copacetic. Just thought it might be useful knowledge. It wasn't the first crash I've had with 0.9.8, though I've never before had Sigil crash on me, and I have used it since January 2012.

Thanks!

06-09-2017, 12:59 AM	#1
seampub Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2017 Device: Kindle Fire 2nd Gen	Sigil Crashes when creating HTML ToC I'm running Sigil 0.9.8 to format an epub 3.0 file that was created in InDesign CC. I've done this a dozen times, but this one book keeps crashing. I've got everything thing done, all the formatting, the TOC generated, but when I go to create the HTML table of contents, one of two things happens. Either the HTML TOC overwrites the entire file, so that I only have the TOC but no content, or Sigil just crashes. This has happened over a dozen times now. Any clues as to what might be the problem?

06-10-2017, 11:06 AM	#3
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,160 Karma: 5450818 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	The problem is that your content.opf has a guide setting that says that you already have a html toc and that it is actually your main document! This causes the main document to be either replaced or the whole thing to crash since it is circular. Sigil should not crash ever so I will look into detecting this circularity and preventing the crash in a future release. In the meanwhile, you need to manually remove this incorrect circularity: 1. Open the content.opf for editing and remove the following line in the guide section: Code: <reference type="toc" title="Table of Contents" href="Text/Nail_Your_Story.xhtml#_idContainer001"/> This is the line that says your main chapter is actually your html toc when it clearly is not. Also your current file "toc.xhtml" is actually your required epub3 "nav" which fills the roll of a html toc and InDesign has set it to come last in your spine order. If you do add another html toc, you should probably make sure the required current nav is not in the spine otherwise you will have two copies of the html toc on display to the user. Thanks for your bug report and testcase. Last edited by KevinH; 06-10-2017 at 01:22 PM.

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06-09-2017, 10:12 AM	#2
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,160 Karma: 5450818 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Probably some naming conflict betwwen the nav and the html toc. What semantics are set on the nav? Please check that the nav property is properly set. The best approach would be to start with a copy of the problem epub and (if copyrighted material that can't be shared, either use find and replace or a plugin to obfuscate just its text and save the problematic epub. Then privately post the epub someplace and pm me here with the location. That way I can see exactly what is causing a problem and get it fixed.

06-10-2017, 04:57 PM	#4
seampub Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2017 Device: Kindle Fire 2nd Gen	Thanks. I don't like using the toc.xhtml file as my HTML toc because it is very particular about how it is formatted and so is my client. I did check the other books I did for this client and it looks like Sigil automatically replaces the required nav with the formatted one in the spine automatically. And thanks for making (and making free) such awesome software!

07-03-2017, 01:07 PM	#5
Notjohn mostly an observer Posts: 1,515 Karma: 987654 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: Kindle	I had a crash today after repairing several external links in my daughter's Sigil-built epub. It wasn't a big deal, since I can repeat the repair in fifteen minutes. It's an epub 2, and I am using 0.9.8 on Windows 7 professional. She has two TOCs in the book, one with just the chapter titles, and a detailed TOC with subsections added. There are also two empty files, but Flight Crew doesn't seem to care about that. (She apparently does not have Flight Crew downloaded, nor does she have internet access to fetch it. We communicate by satellite email.)

07-03-2017, 01:47 PM	#6
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,160 Karma: 5450818 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Unfortunately, without a test epub or more details, we can not easily help. Repairing links to external resources should have no impact on Sigil. Having multiple epubs should not crash anything in Sigil either. The op problem was he had a totally incorrect guide item that said his main book chapter was actually the toc and that confused Sigil as it tried to rebuild the toc but could not as a result of it being the only main chapter. More likely, you are seeing the last bug we already fixed when deleting an empty file that was cached for use by the Preview if enabled. If you can post a sample epub and pm me with the exact steps to recreate the issue (as the op did), I would be happy to look at it.

07-04-2017, 10:44 AM	#7
Notjohn mostly an observer Posts: 1,515 Karma: 987654 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: Kindle	Well, all is now copacetic. Just thought it might be useful knowledge. It wasn't the first crash I've had with 0.9.8, though I've never before had Sigil crash on me, and I have used it since January 2012. Thanks!