[scribus] [Scribus] Modifying SLA files outside Scribus

[John Beardmore]

Gregory Pittman wrote:
> John Beardmore wrote:
>> I've got some SLA files which may be corrupt. Ideally I'd like to 
>> recover them, but to be realistic it may be quicker to recreate the 
>> document.
>>
>> I'm working under windows XP, but I'm curious to know if the same 
>> problems are encountered by linux users.  If it turns out to be a 
>> general problem, I guess it could lead to a bug report.
>>
>> As the files have come confidential content I shouldn't really upload 
>> them unmodified for others to test without modification.
>>
>> I understand that I should be able to examine / edit SLA files with 
>> Notepad++ because they are UTF-8.  Is that right ?
>>
>> Can I just overwrite the confidential text with other characters, then 
>> save the file for other people to try ?
>>
>> I assume that after the file is loaded, and certainly before it is 
>> saved, I'll need to do
>>
>>      Format->Encode UTF-8 without BOM
>>
>>   
> A starting point would be to simply look at them and identify what 
> version they were made with,

1.3.3.10


> then see if you can find any loadable ones 
> from the same version to compare features.

The features look reasonably similar and sensible, but I don't really 
understand the object hierarchy, and I'm pretty clueless about XML too.


> If you're going to start modifying them, make sure you use copies 
> sequestered in a directory of its own, because you will want to be able 
> to clean up the mess you make as you start fiddling with the files.

:)   Already done that.


> Once you look at them you should see content in blocks. In versions 
> before 1.3.5svn you will see "<PAGEOBJECT..." blocks for various frames, 
> and "<ITEXT..." blocks for text content of text frames. A simple thing 
> to do might be to delete all content (PAGEOBJECTs and ITEXTs) and see if 
> the file loads.

OK -  fascinating !  I've deleted the PAGEOBJECTs and their embedded 
ITEXTs and it still crashes the same way.

If I delete PAGEOBJECTs, do I need to delete PAGE lines too ?

Can I also delete MASTEROBJECTs ?  And the voluminous COLOR tags and the 
PDF section ?

What's the difference between a tag with a '/' at the end as opposed to 
the beginning ?  Does it just mean that it has no corresponding end
tag ?

Having now deleted all MASTEROBJECTs and ITEXTs it still crashes.  In 
case anybody would like to try loading it, I've put a copy of the file 
on a web server.  Click below if curious.

     http://www.t4sustainability.co.uk/RNC/Demo0000.sla


Many thanks, J/.
-- 
John Beardmore, MSc EDM (Open), B.A. Chem (Oxon), CMIOSH, AIEMA, MEI
Managing Director, T4 Sustainability Limited. http://www.T4sLtd.co.uk/
Carbon Trust Consultant: Energy Audit, Carbon Footprint, Design Advice
Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme, (EEAS), Registered Assessor
Phone: 0845 4561332   Mobile: 07785 563116   Skype: t4sustainability