Alantis and Kindle previewer

General comments and questions. Technical support.
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kmandiver
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:55 am

Alantis and Kindle previewer

Post by kmandiver »

Have my epub ready to go. But KD previewer does not pickup TOC. It is there, it is fully functional but when selected get a warning that it is not available.
Ncx file is there and works perfectly also.
It shows in Atlantis, is correctly headed(as far as I can tell)and works perfectly also.
Any ideas?
Robert
Posts: 1906
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 8:27 pm

Post by Robert »

Hi,
As things stand, among other things, Atlantis saves the following code to “content.opf” within the EPUB files it generates:

Code: Select all

<guide>
<reference type="cover" title="Cover" href="001.html"/>
</guide>
This is enough to reference the cover page for the Kindle Previewer.

But the Kindle Previewer needs a dedicated line of code for the EPUB TOC within the “<guide></guide>” element:

Code: Select all

<reference type="toc" title="Table Of Contents" href="003.html"/>
In the above example, “003.html” is the HTML file saved to EPUB by Atlantis and containing the document TOC. The file number might differ from one EPUB file to the next. You’ll have to determine which HTML file number corresponds to the EPUB TOC.

In short, you could use the free “tweak_epub” utility (http://atlantiswordprocessor.blogspot.f ... tweak_epub) to modify “content.opf” within your EPUB files so that they include a reference to the TOC file within your EPUB files.

The “<guide></guide>” element in your “content.opf” file should look like this:
<guide>
<reference type="cover" title="Cover" href="001.html"/>
<reference type="toc" title="Table Of Contents" href="003.html"/>
</guide>
Don’t forget that the HTML file number may vary from one EPUB file to the next.

Maybe Atlantis could save this TOC reference to EPUB automatically in future versions? Let’s make this suggestion to Admin.

HTH.
Cheers,
Robert
kmandiver
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:55 am

Post by kmandiver »

Wow, Robert you know your stuff. Sadly, I don't. But you gave me great info and I have time on my hands...so wish me luck.
kmandiver
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:55 am

Thanks to Robert

Post by kmandiver »

Robert, your suggestion and the code worked perfectly.
After searching for the file I decided to open Tweak and there it was.
If anyone else is following this thread, you must open tweak first to modify the files.
On a different note. While downloading to Kindle previewer I noticed several warnings. Checking their log I found one that said there was no Beginning link. Sure enough when I clicked Beginning in preview nothing happened.
I cruised YouTube and found a video in which a strange character was showing his epub files.
Using tweak I modified one of his lines of code and presto, clicking Beginning now takes me to Chapter one. This is the code to insert where and how you suggested.
<reference type="text" title="Beginning" href="006.html" />
As you warned me you have to play around with the 00?html to find Chapter 1.
Thanks so much :D :D :D
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admin
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Post by admin »

The next release of Atlantis Word Processor (1.6.5.10) will automatically generate the "toc" and "text" guide items for documents that contain an "inline" table of contents.

If you want, you can already test this new feature. Just click here to download the setup file of the "pre-official" beta of Atlantis 1.6.5.10. Run the setup file, and follow the onscreen instructions to upgrade your Atlantis.
cjseasyaspie
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Post by cjseasyaspie »

admin wrote:The next release of Atlantis Word Processor (1.6.5.10) will automatically generate the "toc" and "text" guide items for documents that contain an "inline" table of contents.

If you want, you can already test this new feature. Just click here to download the setup file of the "pre-official" beta of Atlantis 1.6.5.10. Run the setup file, and follow the onscreen instructions to upgrade your Atlantis.
Thanks, Admin!

That's what I came here looking for!

Could you please also include a "Start" that the Kindle software will recognize?

Currently, the Kindle recognizes the Start and the TOC bookmarks that I enter with MS Word, if I stay with the Kindle software, but not if I create an ePub with Atlantis, then feed that epub to the Amazon software to generate the Kindle format file.
Happy Kindling,

CJ, at CJ's Easy as Pie Kindle Tutorials
http://www.cjs-easy-as-pie.com/
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Post by admin »

If I am correct, the "text" guide item is what you call "Start". The "go to beginning" command of Kindle is supposed to switch to the location referred by the "text" guide item (please see the above post of kmandiver). If your source document has an inline TOC (inserted through the "Insert | Table of Contents..." command of Atlantis), Atlantis will generate both the "toc" and "text" guide items. Atlantis associates the "text" (or "start", or "beginning") guide item with the location in your book referred by the first item of the TOC. In other words, when your open your eBook with Kindle, it automatically displays the first chapter.
cjseasyaspie
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Post by cjseasyaspie »

admin wrote:If I am correct, the "text" guide item is what you call "Start". The "go to beginning" command of Kindle is supposed to switch to the location referred by the "text" guide item (please see the above post of kmandiver). If your source document has an inline TOC (inserted through the "Insert | Table of Contents..." command of Atlantis), Atlantis will generate both the "toc" and "text" guide items. Atlantis associates the "text" (or "start", or "beginning") guide item with the location in your book referred by the first item of the TOC. In other words, when your open your eBook with Kindle, it automatically displays the first chapter.
Ok, I understand what you are saying, but...

The Kindle gives the author of the book the option to choose to start at any location of the author's choice.

This started way back when the French programmers created Mobipocket Creator, the parent of the Kindle software... so I guess you could say that Kindle authors are "spoiled" by having this feature... which, actually is pretty useful.

Some authors are okay with the "Start" (or "Beginning") at the first page of the first chapter, but others want to start at another location, such as the Preface or Foreword or Title Page.

Many authors plan and write their book with a certain Start place in mind, so it has become pretty much a necessity.

Yes, my ebooks have a Table of Contents, built (at this time) by MS Word, and handled efficiently by Atlantis. (Except that Atlantis doesn't honor the TOC or Start bookmarks I entered in Word.)

I am working towards moving all my tutorials to use Atlantis, so it has become really important to me.
Happy Kindling,

CJ, at CJ's Easy as Pie Kindle Tutorials
http://www.cjs-easy-as-pie.com/
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Post by admin »

OK, Atlantis will support those "toc" and "start" bookmarks. If a source document contains a "toc" bookmark, Atlantis will associate the "toc" guide item of the EPUB with this "toc" bookmark. If a source document contains a "start" bookmark, Atlantis will associate the "text" guide item of the EPUB with this "start" bookmark. Otherwise Atlantis will associate the "toc" guide item with the inline TOC of the source document, and the "text" guide item with the location in your book referred by the first item of the inline TOC.

To have this new feature in your Atlantis, upgrade your Atlantis by clicking this link. Run the setup file, and follow the onscreen instructions to upgrade.
cjseasyaspie
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Post by cjseasyaspie »

admin wrote:OK, Atlantis will support those "toc" and "start" bookmarks. If a source document contains a "toc" bookmark, Atlantis will associate the "toc" guide item of the EPUB with this "toc" bookmark. If a source document contains a "start" bookmark, Atlantis will associate the "text" guide item of the EPUB with this "start" bookmark. Otherwise Atlantis will associate the "toc" guide item with the inline TOC of the source document, and the "text" guide item with the location in your book referred by the first item of the inline TOC.

To have this new feature in your Atlantis, upgrade your Atlantis by clicking this link. Run the setup file, and follow the onscreen instructions to upgrade.
OK... I will download and set it up right now!

Thanks!
Happy Kindling,

CJ, at CJ's Easy as Pie Kindle Tutorials
http://www.cjs-easy-as-pie.com/
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