Do Calibre metadata updates automatically get sent to CC?

[HarryT]

A scenario:

1. I send a book from Calibre to CC.
2. While CC is offline, I edit the metadata of the book in Calibre.
3. At some later time, I reconnect CC.

Will the metadata in CC automatically get updated, or do I need to delete the book from CC and re-add it?

A related question: same scenario, but I update the actual book in Calibre. Does the book get re-sent to CC when I next connect, or do I delete/re-add?

Thanks!

[chaley]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A scenario:

1. I send a book from Calibre to CC.
2. While CC is offline, I edit the metadata of the book in Calibre.
3. At some later time, I reconnect CC.

Will the metadata in CC automatically get updated, or do I need to delete the book from CC and re-add it?

CC updates the metadata for all books in its library on every connect as a wireless device. The metadata in the book is not used by CC.

A related question: same scenario, but I update the actual book in Calibre. Does the book get re-sent to CC when I next connect, or do I delete/re-add?

You do need to resend the book, but there is no reason to delete it first unless your reader app insists on that.

You can use the Reading List plugin to help automate the process. If you connect a reading list to the device then any books on that list will be automatically sent whenever CC connects. In your case you would (I think) need to use two lists because you are using two devices.

Having CC automatically check for changes to the actual books is on the wish list. It will happen eventually, but perhaps not this cycle. We will see. One issue is that it isn't obvious exactly how the wireless device driver would queue jobs to send. It would be much easier to add a temporary mark and leave the decision about what to do up to the user, but that solution is a bit funky.

[HarryT]

Thanks, Chaley. That's what I thought would happen, but I wanted to check. Updating books isn't something I do very often, but I'll remember to resend them should it occur.

Appreciate the help, as always.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A scenario:

1. I send a book from Calibre to CC.
2. While CC is offline, I edit the metadata of the book in Calibre.
3. At some later time, I reconnect CC.

Will the metadata in CC automatically get updated, or do I need to delete the book from CC and re-add it?

Automatically updated, including the cover.

Originally Posted by HarryT

A related question: same scenario, but I update the actual book in Calibre. Does the book get re-sent to CC when I next connect, or do I delete/re-add?

Need to re-send but not necessarily delete beforehand. Personally, I only pre-delete if the metadata changes will result in the new version having a different filename as I don't want 2 versions of the same book on the device.

[Tanjamuse]

Can I somehow disable that it synchronizes the covers, so that I can keep the one I have on my tablet?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

Can I somehow disable that it synchronizes the covers, so that I can keep the one I have on my tablet?

No. CC uses the cover defined in calibre. It does not use the cover in the book. If you change the cover in calibre then CC will get the new cover the next time you sync.

[Tanjamuse]

Bummer ... I would have loved to have the cover with author and title in CC and not in Calibre.

I don't suppose it's a setting you would consider adding? "Not synchronizing Cover"

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

I don't suppose it's a setting you would consider adding? "Not synchronizing Cover"

No. Having that option would mean that CC would accept covers from books until the option was changed, after which it wouldn't. That would mean that any book sent after the option was changed would have no cover. That would mean that the next request would be to have the option per book, or to have separately-defined covers for books, neither of which are practical.

[Tanjamuse]

Of course, I didn't think of that.

I guess I'll be deciding what to do next

Thanks anyway

[Tanjamuse]

Why can't CC see my books if I connect via usb?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

Why can't CC see my books if I connect via usb?

CC's database it not updated by a USB transfer, so the only way CC can see these books is by a "scan for new books" during a connect. The scan will work only if the books were placed into the folders defined in CC's settings, which is not guaranteed.

One should use CC or a cable, not both.

[Tanjamuse]

Can I add the User Categories to CC?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

Can I add the User Categories to CC?

No. They aren't provided for books by calibre.