Ubuntu Manpage: ebook - create and manipulate e-books from the command line

Provided by: libebook-tools-perl_0.5.4-1.3_amd64

NAME

       ebook - create and manipulate e-books from the command line

SYNOPSIS

        ebook COMMAND arg1 arg2 --opt1 --opt2

       See also "EXAMPLES".

COMMANDS

"adddoc"
Adds a documents to both the book manifest and spine.

Options

"--opffile"
"--opf"
The OPF file to modify. If not specified one will be searched for in the current directory.

"--identifier"
"--id"
The ID attribute to use for the added manifest item. This is required, and ebook will abort if it is
not specified.

"--mimetype"
"--mtype"
The mime type string to use for the added manifest item. If not specified, it will be autodetected
via File::Mimeinfo::Magic. This may not result in an optimal string.

Example

ebook adddoc --opf mybook.opf --id 'text-ch1' chapter1.html

"additem"
Add an item to the book manifest, but not the spine.

Note that the "fix" command will automatically insert manifest items for any local files referenced by
existing manifest items.

Options

"--opffile"
"--opf"
The OPF file to modify. If not specified one will be searched for in the current directory.

"--identifier"
"--id"
The ID attribute to use for the added manifest item. This is required, and ebook will abort if it is
not specified.

"--mimetype"
"--mtype"
The mime type string to use for the added manifest item. If not specified, it will be autodetected
via File::Mimeinfo::Magic. This may not result in an optimal string.

Example

ebook additem --opf mybook.opf --id 'illus-ch1' chapter1-illus.jpg

"bisac"
Search for a BISAC code matching a case-insensitive regular expression.

Options

"regexp"
The first argument is taken as a regular expression to use for the search. If this is either '.' or
not specified, the entire list of valid codes is printed.

This requires that the BISAC codes be downloaded ahead of time. (See "dlbisac".)

"blank"
Create a blank e-book structure.

Options

"--opffile filename.opf"
"--opf filename.opf"
Use the specified OPF file. This can also be specified as the first non-option argument, which will
override this option if it exists. If no file is specified, the program will abort with an error.
=item "--author" "Author Name"

The author of the book. If not specified, defaults to "Unknown Author".

"--title" "Title Name"
The title of the book. If not specified, defaults to "Unknown Title".

"--dir directory"
"-d directory"
Output the OPF file in this directory, creating it if necessary.

Example

ebook blank newfile.opf --author "Me Myself" --title "New File"
ebook blank --opffile newfile.opf --author "Me Myself" --title "New File"

Both of those commands have the same effect.

"config"
Make changes to the EBook::Tools configuration file.

The configuration file itself is located as either "$ENV{HOME}/.ebooktools/config.ini" or as
"$ENV{USERPROFILE}\Application Data\EBook-Tools", depending on platform and which directory is found
first. See "userconfigdir()" in EBook::Tools for details.

Arguments / Subcommands

Configuration is always handled in the format of:

ebook config subcommand value

• "default"

Replace any existing configuration file with a default template. This creates the file if it does
not exist. This should be done once before any other configuration manipulation is done, unless a
configuration file has been manually created ahead of time.

• "debug"

Sets the default debugging level when no verbosity is specified. Note that verbosity can only be
increased, not decreased, with the "-v" option.

• "tidysafety"

Sets the default safety level when tidy is used. Valid values are from 0-4. See "unpack" for
details on what each value means.

• "mobipids"

A comma-separated list of Mobipocket PIDs to try to use to decrypt e-books. This value is only used
if the appropriate plug-in modules or helper applications are available, as DRM is not supported
natively by EBook::Tools. Note that if the PID includes a $ character, the entire PID string has to
be enclosed in single quotes.

Examples

ebook config default
ebook config debug 2
ebook config mobipids '1234567890,2345678$90'

"convert"
Unpacks the ebook specified as the first argument, runs standard fixes on the contents, and repacks it
into a new format in the output file specified as the second argument. Currently the only supported
output format is epub, which is the format you will get irrespective of the extension you actually give
the output file.

Options

All options from "unpack" and "fix" are technically valid here as well, though of course some options
are nonsensical in this context and will likely break the conversion (e.g. --nosave).

Example

ebook convert MyBook.prc MyBook.epub
ebook convert --name MyBook.lit /home/myname/MyBook.epub

"dlbisac"
Downloads and caches the Book Industry Study Group BISAC codes into a local database. This will destroy
the existing contents of that table if this has been done previously.

"downconvert"
"dc"
If the appropriate helpers or plugins are available, write a copy of the input file with the DRM
restrictions removed.

NOTE: no actual DRM-removal code is present in this package. This is just presents a unified interface
to other programs that have that capability.

Arguments

• "infile"

The first non-option argument is taken to be the input file. If not specified, the program exits
with an error.

• "outfile"

The second non-option argument is taken to be the output file. If not specified, the program will
use a name based on the input file, appending '-nodrm' to the basename and keeping the extension. In
the special case of Mobipocket files ending in '-sm', the '-sm' portion of the basename is simply
removed, and nothing else is appended.

• "key"

The third non-option argument is taken to be either the decryption key/PID, or in the case of
Microsoft Reader (.lit) files, the "keys.txt" file containing the decryption keys.

If not specified, this will be looked up from the configuration file. Convertlit keyfiles will be
looked for in standard locations. If no key is found, the command aborts and exits with an error.

Example

ebook downconvert NewBook.lit NewBook-readable.lit mykeys.txt
ebook dc MyBook-sm.prc

"fix"
Find and fix problems with an e-book, including enforcing a standard specification and ensuring that all
linked objects are present in the manifest.

Options

"--oeb12"
Force the OPF to conform to the OEB 1.2 standard. This is the default.

"--opf20"
Force the OPF to conform to the OPF 2.0 standard. If both this and "--oeb12" are specified, the
program will abort with an error.

"--mobi"
Correct Mobipocket-specific elements, creating an output element to force UTF-8 output if one does
not yet exist.

"--erotic" or "--sex"
Enable special handling for erotic fiction (most notably special subject normalization rules).

"--names"
Normalize names to standard capitalization and format (primary name display is "First Middle Last",
but file-as is "Last, First Middle".

This is not done by default as it can damage unusual but correct names.

"genepub"
Generate a .epub book from existing OPF data.

Options

"--input filename.opf"
"--i filename.opf"
"--opffile filename.opf"
"--opf filename.opf"
Use the specified OPF file. If no file is specified, one will be searched for.

"--output bookname.epub"
"-o bookname.epub"
Use the specified name for the final output file. This can also be specified as the first non-option
argument, which will override this option if it exists. If not specified, the book will have the
same filename as the OPF file, with the extension changed to ".epub".

"--dir directory"
"-d directory"
Output the final .epub book into the specified directory. The default is to use the current working
directory.

Example

ebook genepub mybook.opf -o my_special_book.epub -d ../epubbooks

or in the simplest case:

ebook genepub

"genimp"
Generate a eBookwise .imp book from a .RES directory

Options

"--input DIRNAME.RES"
"-i DIRNAME.RES"
Specifies the resource directory to use for input. A valid resource directory will contain at least
a "RSRC.INF" file, a "DATA.FRK" file, and several other files with four-capital-letter filenames.

This can also be specified as the first non-option argument, which will override this option if it
exists. If not specified, the current directory will be used.

"--output bookname.epub"
"-o bookname.epub"
Use the specified name for the final output file. If not specified, the book will have the same
filename as the input, with the extension changed to ".imp".

Examples

ebook genimp MyUnpackedBook.RES MyBook.imp
ebook genimp --resdir ../MyUnpackedBook.RES -f imp/MyBook.imp

"genmobi"
Generate a Mobipocket .mobi/.prc book from OPF, HTML, or ePub input.

Options

"--input filename"
"--i filename"
Use the specified file for input. Valid formats are OPF, HTML, and ePub. This can also be specified
as the first non-option argument, which will override this option if it exists. If no file is
specified, an OPF file in the current directory will be searched for.

"--output bookname.prc"
"-o bookname.prc"
Use the specified name for the final output file. If not specified, the book will have the same
filename as the input file, with the extension changed to ".mobi" (this file is always created by
"mobigen", specifying a different filename only causes it to be renamed afterwards).

This can also be specified as the second non-option argument, which will override this option if it
exists.

"--dir directory"
"-d directory"
Output the final book into the specified directory. The default is to use the current working
directory, which is where "mobigen" will always place it initially; if specified this only forces the
file to be moved after generation.

"--compression x"
"-c x"
Use the specified compression level "x", where 0 is no compression, 1 is PalmDoc compression, and 2
is HUFF/CDIC compression. If not specified, defaults to 1 (PalmDoc compression).

Example

ebook genmobi mybook.opf -o my_special_book.prc -d ../mobibooks
ebook genmobi mybook.html mybook.prc -c2

or in the simplest case:

ebook genmobi

"genncx"
Given an OPF file, creates a NCX-format table of contents from the package unique-identifier, the
dc:title, dc:creator, and spine elements, and then add the NCX entry to the manifest if it is not already
referenced.

The OPF file will be cleaned to OPF20 format before this happens.

Options

"impmeta"
Set specific metadata values in an ETI .imp file.

Options

• "--input filename.imp"

• "-i filename.imp"

Specify the input filename. This can also be specified as the first argument, in which case the -i
option will be ignored.

• "--output modified.imp"

• "-o modified.imp"

Specify the output filename. If not specified, the input file will be overwritten.

• "--identifier"

Specify the identifier metadata.

• "--category"

• "--cat"

Specify the category metadata.

• "--subcategory"

• "--subcat"

Specify the subcategory metadata.

• "--title"

Specify the title metadata.

• "--lastname"

Specify the author last name metadata.

• "--middlename"

Specify the author middle name metadata.

• "--firstname"

Specify the author first name metadata. Note that IMP files commonly place the full name in this
component, and leave the middlename and lastname entries blank.

Examples

ebook impmeta mybook.imp --title 'Fixed Title' --lastname 'John Q. Brandy'
ebook impmeta -i mybook.imp -o fixed.imp --title 'Fixed Title'

"setcover"
Sets the cover image

Takes as a single argument the href of the file to use.

Options

• "--opffile"

• "--opf"

Specifies the OPF file to modify. If not specified, the script will attempt to find one

• "--identifier"

• "--id"

Specifies the ID to assign to the associated manifest item.

"setmeta"
Set specific metadata values on an OPF file, creating a new entry if none exists.

Both the element to set and the value are specified as additional arguments, not as options.

The elements that can be set are currently:

author
date
description
publisher
rights
series
subject
title
type

The 'series' values can take an extra argument containing the series index position.

The 'subject' elements can be added multiple times (including in a single command-line, though --id will
only set the ID on the first one specified). Other entries will be overwritten.

The element argument can be shortened to the minimum number of letters necessary to uniquely identify it.

Options

• "--opffile" =item * "--opf"

Specifies the OPF file to modify. If not specified, the script will attempt to find one in the
current directory.

• "--delete"

Allows the deletion of subject and series metadata. Has no effect on other elements.

• "--fileas"

Specifies the 'file-as' attribute when setting an author. Has no effect on other elements.

• "--identifier"

• "--id"

Specifies the ID to assign to the element.

Examples

ebook setmeta series 'Some Other Series' 03
ebook setmeta title 'My Great Title'
ebook setmeta t 'My Great Title'
ebook --opf newfile.opf setmeta author 'John Smith' --fileas 'Smith, John' --id mainauthor

"splitmeta"
Split the <metadata>...</metadata> block out of a pseudo-HTML file that contains one.

"splitpre"
Split <pre>...</pre> blocks out of an existing HTML file, wrapping each one found into a separate HTML
file.

The first non-option argument is taken to be the input file. The second non-option argument is taken to
be the basename of the output files.

"stripscript"
Strips <script>...</script> blocks out of a HTML file.

The first non-option argument is taken to be the input file. The second non-option argument is taken to
be the output file. If the latter is not specified, the input file will be overwritten.

Options

• "--noscript"

Strips <noscript>...</noscript> blocks as well.

"tidyxhtml"
Run tidy on a HTML file to enforce valid XHTML output (required by the OPF 2.0 specification).

"tidyxml"
Run tidy an a XML file (for neatness).

"unpack_ebook"
Unpacks an ebook into its component parts, creating an OPF for them if necessary.

Options

"--input" =item "-i"
The filename of the ebook to unpack. This can also be specified as the first non-option argument, in
which case it will override the option if it exists.

"--dir" =item "-d"
The directory to unpack into, which will be created if it does not exist, defaulting to the filename
with the extension removed. This can also be specified as the second non-option argument, in which
case it will override the option if it exists.

"--format"
The unpacking routines should autodetect the type of book under normal conditions. If autodetection
fails, a format can be forced here. See EBook::Tools::Unpack for a list of available formats.

"--htmlconvert"
Attempt to convert the extracted text to HTML. This is obviously only of value if the format doesn't
use HTML normally.

"--raw"
This causes a lot of raw, unparsed, unmodified data to be dumped into the directory along with
everything else. It's useful for debugging exactly what was in the file being unpacked, but not for
much else.

"--author"
Set the primary author of the unpacked e-book, overriding what is detected. Not all e-book formats
contain author metadata, and if none is found and this is not specified the primary author will be
set to 'Unknown Author'.

"--title"
Set the title of the unpacked e-book, overriding what is detected. A title will always be detected
in some form from the e-book, but the exact text can be overridden here.

"--opffile"
"--opf"
The filename of the OPF metadata file that will be generated. If not specified, defaults to
"content.opf".

"--tidy"
Run tidy on any HTML output files to convert them to valid XHTML. Be warned that this can
occasionally change the formatting, as Tidy isn't very forgiving on certain common tricks (such as
empty <pre> elements with style elements) that abuse the standard.

"--tidycmd"
The tidy executable name. This has to be a fully qualified pathname if tidy isn't on the path.
Defaults to 'tidy'.

"--tidysafety"
The safety level to use when running tidy (default is 1). Potential values are:

"$tidysafety < 1":
No checks performed, no error files kept, works like a clean tidy -m

This setting is DANGEROUS!

"$tidysafety == 1":
Overwrites original file if there were no errors, but even if there were warnings. Keeps a log of
errors, but not warnings.

"$tidysafety == 2":
Overwrites original file if there were no errors, but even if there were warnings. Keeps a log of
both errors and warnings.

"$tidysafety == 3":
Overwrites original file only if there were no errors or warnings. Keeps a log of both errors and
warnings.

$tidysafety = 4>:
Never overwrites original file. Keeps a log of both errors and warnings.

Examples

ebook unpack mybook.pdb My_Book --author "By Me"
ebook unpack -i mybook.pdb -d My_Book --author "By Me"

Both of the above commands do the same thing

EXAMPLES

        ebook splitmeta book.html mybook.opf
        ebook tidyxhtml book.html
        ebook tidyxml mybook.opf
        ebook fix mybook.opf --oeb12 --mobi
        ebook genepub

        ebook blank newbook.opf --title "My Title" --author "My Name"
        ebook adddoc myfile.html
        ebook fix newbook.opf --opf20 -v
        ebook genepub

        ebook unpack mybook.pdb my_book
        cd my_book
        ebook addoc new_document.html
        ebook fix
        ebook genepub

BUGS/TODO

       •   Need to implement a one-pass conversion from one format to another.  This will wait until more
           formats are supported by the underlying modules, however.

       •   Documentation is incomplete

       •   Not all configuration file options are actually used

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 2008 Zed Pobre

LICENSE

       Licensed to the public under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2.