EPUB TOC

A Python tool for extracting table of contents from EPUB files with hierarchical structure support.

Features

• Multiple extraction methods support (NCX, epub_meta, OPF)
• Automatic best method selection
• Hierarchical TOC structure preservation
• Russian and English language support
• JSON output format
• Detailed logging
• EPUB file analysis reports

Installation

pip install epub_toc

Usage

As a module

from epub_toc import EPUBTOCParser

# Create parser
parser = EPUBTOCParser('path/to/book.epub')

# Extract TOC
toc = parser.extract_toc()

# Print to console
parser.print_toc()

# Save to JSON
parser.save_toc_to_json('output.json')

From command line

epub-toc path/to/book.epub

EPUB File Analysis

To analyze all EPUB files in tests/data/epub_samples directory:

python tests/integration/test_epub_analysis.py

Analysis results are saved in reports/ directory:

• epub_analysis_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.json - detailed report in JSON format
• epub_analysis_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.txt - brief report in text format
• toc/*.json - extracted TOCs for each EPUB file

Report structure:

1. JSON report contains:

   • Overall statistics for all files
   • Extraction methods success rate
   • Detailed results for each file
   • Links to extracted TOC files

2. Text report includes:

   • Brief statistics
   • Information about each file
   • Paths to extracted TOCs

3. TOC files:

   • Saved in toc/ subdirectory
   • Named as book_name_toc.json
   • Contain complete TOC in JSON format

Output Format

TOC is saved in JSON format with the following structure:

{
  "metadata": {
    "title": "Book Title",
    "authors": ["Author 1", "Author 2"],
    "publisher": "Publisher Name",
    "publication_date": "2024-01-01",
    "language": "en",
    "description": "Book description",
    "cover_image_path": "path/to/cover.jpg",
    "isbn": "978-3-16-148410-0",
    "rights": "Copyright information",
    "series": "Series Name",
    "series_index": 1,
    "identifiers": {
      "isbn13": "978-3-16-148410-0",
      "uuid": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
    },
    "subjects": ["Fiction", "Adventure"],
    "file_size": 1234567,
    "file_name": "book.epub"
  },
  "toc": [
    {
      "title": "Chapter 1",
      "href": "chapter1.html",
      "level": 0,
      "children": [
        {
          "title": "Section 1.1",
          "href": "chapter1.html#section1",
          "level": 1,
          "children": []
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

All metadata fields are optional and will be omitted if not available in the EPUB file.

Testing

The module has been successfully tested on various EPUB files:

• Russian books (NCX method)
• English books (epub_meta method)
• Files with different TOC structures
• Files of different sizes (from 400KB to 8MB)

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• epub_meta>=0.0.7
• lxml>=4.9.3
• beautifulsoup4>=4.12.2

Contributing

We welcome contributions! If you'd like to help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a branch for your changes
3. Make changes and add tests
4. Ensure all tests pass
5. Create a Pull Request

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

Security

If you discover a security vulnerability, please DO NOT create a public issue. Instead, send a report following the instructions in SECURITY.md

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE file for details.

Roadmap

• Additional EPUB format support
• Improved complex hierarchical structure handling
• Integration with popular e-readers
• Web service API
• Additional language support