EPUB parameters: (epub.cover.id)

[Robert Nagle]

Hi, I'm a docbook newbie who has been testing the latest 1.7.5.1 epub
transform in Oxygen.

I'm having trouble figuring out the meaning of the epub parameters,
especially the ones related to cover. (see bottom)

I know that docbook has a cover element, but "cover" in the context of
epub parameters seems to mean something  different.  (Or am I supposed
to assume that the cover image information should be inside a
mediaobject element which is inside docbook's cover element?)

Does epub.cover.filename assume that the file is an html file or a
graphic file?

Will the epub.cover.image.id refer to a file name or simply be  an
identifying attribute?

Finally, I see this note on docbook.xsl

   <!-- Via Martin Goerner: On covers: the IDPF2.0 standard
unfortunately does not have a provision for
            covers. We had to add one and we did so in conjunction
with the IDPF and
            various publishers. The tag chosen to define the covers is:
            <meta name="cover" content="-reference to a manifest item-">
            Then, we also added a bit of logic to get rid cleanly of
the HTML cover
            people usually add because the logical cover is not
specced by the IDPF. So,
            if the HTML cover item is marked linear="no" AND there is
a guide item of
            type="cover" pointing to it AND there is a logical cover
specified in a
            <meta name="cover"> tag, THEN, the HTML cover is discarded. -->

I'm sorry; I don't understand exactly what this means. Does he mean
that in the html output from docbook you include cover information in
a meta tag ? Is there a file reference inside this meta tag?

Also, when epub.cover.linear = 0 or 1, what does that mean?

It would be nice to see a simple example of the values used to produce a cover.

Thanks for your help. Robert



  <xsl:param name="epub.autolabel" select="'1'"/>


  <xsl:param name="manifest.in.base.dir" select="'1'"/>
  <xsl:param name="base.dir" select="$epub.oebps.dir"/>

  <xsl:param name="epub.oebps.dir" select="'OEBPS/'"/>
  <xsl:param name="epub.ncx.filename" select="'toc.ncx'"/>
  <xsl:param name="epub.container.filename" select="'container.xml'"/>
  <xsl:param name="epub.opf.filename" select="concat($epub.oebps.dir,
'content.opf')"/>
  <xsl:param name="epub.cover.filename"
select="concat($epub.oebps.dir, 'cover', $html.ext)"/>
  <xsl:param name="epub.cover.id" select="'cover'"/>
  <xsl:param name="epub.cover.image.id" select="'cover-image'"/>
  <xsl:param name="epub.cover.linear" select="0" />
  <xsl:param name="epub.ncx.toc.id">ncxtoc</xsl:param>
  <xsl:param name="epub.html.toc.id">htmltoc</xsl:param>
  <xsl:param name="epub.metainf.dir" select="'META-INF/'"/>

  <xsl:param name="epub.embedded.font"></xsl:param>

--
Robert Nagle
12777 Ashford Point Dr #1417
Houston, Texas 77082
713 893 3424
htpt://www.robertnagle.info

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[Keith Fahlgren-3]

On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 2:32 PM, Robert Nagle<idiotprogrammer@...> wrote:
> I'm having trouble figuring out the meaning of the epub parameters,
> especially the ones related to cover. (see bottom)

The cover can be a little bit tricky to generate generically in
DocBook 4.x because of the lack of the <cover> element. It should be
simpler in DocBook 5.0.

> I know that docbook has a cover element, but "cover" in the context of
> epub parameters seems to mean something  different.  (Or am I supposed
> to assume that the cover image information should be inside a
> mediaobject element which is inside docbook's cover element?)


> Does epub.cover.filename assume that the file is an html file or a
> graphic file?

In general, most of the epub.* parameters should be left as the
default unless you're writing an EPUB generation tool.

The epub.cover.filename contains the name of the generated cover XHTML file.

> Will the epub.cover.image.id refer to a file name or simply be  an
> identifying attribute?

The epub.cover.image.id is used to identify the cover in the OPF file.

> Finally, I see this note on docbook.xsl
>
>   <!-- Via Martin Goerner: On covers: the IDPF2.0 standard
> ...
> I'm sorry; I don't understand exactly what this means. Does he mean
> that in the html output from docbook you include cover information in
> a meta tag ? Is there a file reference inside this meta tag?

You shouldn't need to worry about this.

> Also, when epub.cover.linear = 0 or 1, what does that mean?

One typically keeps the cover out of the OPF spine. The default of "0"
keeps it out.

> It would be nice to see a simple example of the values used to produce a cover.

You can see an example of a DocBook 4.x cover here (less clearly):
https://docbook.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/docbook/trunk/xsl/epub/bin/spec/files/orm.book.001.xml
and 5.0 here (more clearly):
https://docbook.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/docbook/trunk/xsl/epub/bin/spec/files/v5cover.xml


Keith

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