Editor Window settings

[BetterRed]

Maybe this is already doable - but I couldn't figure out how. And maybe its already been raised - but I couldn't find it.

One of the visual differences I notice between Sigil & the calibre Book Editor is that Sigil puts a 'blank line' between 'paragraphs' etc. The Book Editor only throws a new line. I find it much easier to read the text if there's some separation between blocks of text.

So I would like to see a setting in Editor Preferences to do roughly what Sigil does, except ideally it would use the relevant margins in the CSS, so if lines of poetry had no space between them in Preview then this would be reflected in the editor panel.

This is not a case of me being familiar with Sigil and not being familiar with the Book Editor. I've been using Sigil a lot more since the calibre Book Editor was released than I ever did before (which was almost never). Mainly because I 'fell in love' with its Spell Checker, thanks to posts by Tex2002ans & mrmikel in this forum.

BR

[theducks]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Maybe this is already doable - but I couldn't figure out how. And maybe its already been raised - but I couldn't find it.

One of the visual differences I notice between Sigil & the calibre Book Editor is that Sigil puts a 'blank line' between 'paragraphs' etc. The Book Editor only throws a new line. I find it much easier to read the text if there's some separation between blocks of text.

So I would like to see a setting in Editor Preferences to do roughly what Sigil does, except ideally it would use the relevant margins in the CSS, so if lines of poetry had no space between them in Preview then this would be reflected in the editor panel.

This is not a case of me being familiar with Sigil and not being familiar with the Book Editor. I've been using Sigil a lot more since the calibre Book Editor was released than I ever did before (which was almost never). Mainly because I 'fell in love' with its Spell Checker, thanks to posts by Tex2002ans & mrmikel in this forum.

BR

Beautify!
Can be applied (only) on the current window or
Use Tools for all files (includes the CSS)

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

Beautify!
Can be applied (only) on the current window or
Use Tools for all files (includes the CSS)

- apart from the lack of blank lines the code I'm dealing with is good enough for me - so I've never used beautify in this editor, don't often use such things elsewhere either, unless I'm confronted with joycean code.

I think I recall reading that Sigil beautifies automatically when book is opened

So there is a difference - assuming I'm right in saying Sigil beautifies when book is opened, it follows then that it doesn't require me to save if I don't make any substantive changes; whereas Book Editor will because I'll have to do the beautify manually

But there's always undo - I can live with that

BR

[arspr]

Yes, Sigil always processes and modifies your book just by open it (folder structure of the stored files, automatic "beautification" in its way, and much more). Calibre on the other side does no changes to the books unless you explicitly decide.

I personally prefer the Calibre way. I've dropped Sigil even with no dictonary support in Calibre (yet).

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by arspr

Calibre on the other side does no changes to the books unless you explicitly decide.

I thought the calibre editor would auto-update the book on opening it, if Integration...->Update metadata embedded in the book when opening is checked. I have it unchecked.

I'm agnostic on calibre editor v Sigil, I'll use whatever gets the job done. When the book editor gets a spell check, and assuming its as good or better than Sigil's is, then I too will put Sigil in the cupboard.

Its the presentation of error words in a list that I really like, even though it's a bit quirky with apostrophes and has some even quirkier spellings in its UK dictionary. One little addition I would like in the calibre spell checker is the ability to export the list of error words and counts.

But as to my original query, using beautify is easily liveable with, I just wish I'd thought of it myself

BR

[eschwartz]

Sigil does weird things with apostrophes, yes... but I've noticed it seems to work fine on linux, it's only on Windows that it insists every apostrophe is an error.

I think someone explained once why that might be so (and implied it works for some people) but I forgot.

[Divingduck]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I thought the calibre editor would auto-update the book on opening it, if Integration...->Update metadata embedded in the book when opening is checked. I have it unchecked.

This is the place for auto-beautify on opening a book:

[arspr]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I thought the calibre editor would auto-update the book on opening it, if Integration...->Update metadata embedded in the book when opening is checked. I have it unchecked.

You've just said it. You can decide about automatic modification or not. In Sigil you cannot decide.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by arspr

You've just said it. You can decide about automatic modification or not. In Sigil you cannot decide.

On my system at least - Sigil 0.7.4 doesn't save the results of its beautification if I don't change the file in some other way, nor does it suggest I should save the file. The file dates and checksums don't change, and if I open the file I just had open in Sigil in the calibre editor I don't run up against the   punctuation differences - I use non breaking spaces because I prefer two spaces between sentences.

Originally Posted by Divingduck

This is the place for auto-beautify on opening a book:

Thanks - hadn't spotted that. If I check the setting and I make no direct changes then I get the "do you really want exit without saving your changes" message, which I find a bit 'annoying' because my reaction is 'what xxx changes' and to bash crtl/z to undo them. But I'll leave the setting off - ctrl/alt/b is easy enough.

I have a mild preference for the Sigil way but its not something I care much about. Providing the two editors are consistent within themselves, which in my limited experience they are, then I can happily live with both.

BR

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Sigil does weird things with apostrophes, yes... but I've noticed it seems to work fine on linux, it's only on Windows that it insists every apostrophe is an error.

I think someone explained once why that might be so (and implied it works for some people) but I forgot.

I don't mind a few quirks here and there, adds a bit of spice, also gives me something to laugh, curse and cry about, I've cleaned up the some of quirks in the dictionary

BR

[arspr]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

On my system at least - Sigil 0.7.4 doesn't save the results of its beautification if I don't change the file in some other way, nor does it suggest I should save the file. The file dates and checksums don't change, and if I open the file I just had open in Sigil in the calibre editor I don't run up against the   punctuation differences - I use non breaking spaces because I prefer two spaces between sentences.

Good point. Sigil does not modify anything unless you save, but Calibre can make automatic modifications in the opf file because of the metadata update (if selected by the user).

Nevertheless those are the only "unasked for" modifications Calibre does (if not explicitly disabled), which are quite minor. Sigil completely rebuilds your book from scratch, so when you save because you've edited a single character, your whole book is completely modified.

[weberr]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I don't mind a few quirks here and there, adds a bit of spice, also gives me something to laugh, curse and cry about, I've cleaned up the some of quirks in the dictionary

BR

I too am a long-time enthusiast of Sigil -- over the years having learned so many ways to get something accomplished so easily -- it is difficult to relearn new ways of accomplishing things. Now I am trying to wean myself over to calibre with some growing success, but every once in a while when I can't figure out how to get something done in calibre I'll revert to Sigil to get it done then revert back to calibre. One of the things I sometimes use Sigil for is to fix code errors that calibre detects but I can't figure out what's wrong.

The thing I understand least about is the Inspector function. Anybody know of a reference book or guide that explains the Inspector function for elements, resources, etc. and how to use them to accomplish what?
RW

[eschwartz]

The inspector is built into webkit (Firefox has one too, though) and basically allows you to see which elements are on the page, and which css rules apply to it. Some are crossed out, indicating they were overridden by a later/stronger rule.

Not sure what resources are available; I learned from trial and error, an only basic html+css. Which is all you need for ebooks, though.

[theducks]

The Inspector is more than that. I made changes in the (right panel) properties and could see the effect (not permanent)

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by theducks

The Inspector is more than that. I made changes in the (right panel) properties and could see the effect (not permanent)

Yes, that too. I use it in FF/Chrome but not in the editor, since I usually do simple stuff and know exactly what the effect will be.