Calibre won't connect to iTunes (OS X)

[GRiker]

Originally Posted by mwheinz

GRiker,

It occurs to me from digging around that it might work if calibre generated a *.scpt file then executed it with osascript. Might only be a temporary fix, however, if Apple is really going to eliminate scripting.

Hmmm... I assume that means Automator is gone, too...

If you take a look at the Apple driver code you will see that there are dozens of calls to iTunes in any given transfer operation. If someone wants to tackle re-engineering the Apple driver to use this approach, they're welcome to tackle it, but it's not something I'm going to do.

I believe what we're seeing is the first step of iTunes becoming fully sandboxed.

[GRiker]

Originally Posted by ashamam

Hmm a simple workable solution atm would be to tune the save to disk functionality to be able to perform the same metadata magic that the direct import to iTunes used to. I have tried all sorts of exports and cannot get metadata to stick and update in the export files when dumped into iTunes. Now either iTunes is either remembering the first import and then overwriting all future imports of the same book (after deletion in iTunes) or the metadata isn't updating properly on export.

I've set the appropriate preferences to update metadata, I've also tried converting from epub to epub and also tried the modify epub plugging.

But exporting to a folder and dragging to iTunes would be relatively painless. Obviously non-ibooks readers are also an option but you lose the push updates to your multiple devices and page syncing.

The 'metadata magic' happens when talking directly to iTunes after the initial transfer of the book. There's a limited amount of metadata that iTunes pulls from the OPF file in the EPUB (title/author/subject), but the rest happens through OSA, mimicking what would happen if the user were manually editing the other fields after adding the book.

[mwheinz]

Odd that the Windows version still works. I assume you have to use a completely different mechanism for Windows?

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by mwheinz

Odd that the Windows version still works. I assume you have to use a completely different mechanism for Windows?

That will be because the Sandboxing is an OS level facility that is specific to Mac OSX Lion - and thus does not have a direct equivalent in Windows.

[GRiker]

Originally Posted by mwheinz

Odd that the Windows version still works. I assume you have to use a completely different mechanism for Windows?

itimpi is correct - the automation interface for Windows is entirely different than OS X. If you look at the Apple driver source code, you'll see that the low-level I/O functions with iTunes are partitioned into 'if OSX' and 'if Windows', each with their own peculiarities and capabilities.

It makes sense that Apple is more concerned about rogue apps in the OS X space than Windows.

G

[sdow1]

I suppose it's silly to even ask, but I'm guessing this means that the option to connect directly to iPad (even though somewhat depreciated) won't work either as an alternative?

I have been attempting to set up the content-server option, but after hours of trying, I am left completely stymied. It may seem easy to others, but I'm at a loss there. For the moment I have my calibre library stored in my DropBox folder, and I'm manually importing things to ibooks, but it means after reading, I now have to think about deleting items in multiple places (calibre, iTunes, iPad, etc.) rather than managing it all via calibre with iTunes connected.

The iTunes option was so easy and manageable for me, and this just...sucks.

argh.

[GRiker]

The direct connect feature worked through iTunes, so it no longer works either.

Argh indeed.

[mwheinz]

Sigh.

External application scripts: Apps can also use AppleScripts “externally”—which is to say the user initiates them, typically from the app’s Scripts menu. In Mountain Lion, such scripts will have to be installed in app-specific folders within ~/Library/Application Scripts. By default, applications in Mountain Lion won’t be able to save files to that folder, but users will be able to.

A developer offering a sandboxed app could therefore offer a downloadable set of AppleScripts from its own website. If the user then installs those scripts in the proper location, those scripts can be freely run by the user within the app, with no special entitlements needed. That’s because the user needed to intentionally install those scripts and then to trigger their execution. Because Apple considers the user the ultimate authority over his or her own Mac, the script will be allowed to run.

Developers who worry about whether or not users will install scripts in the right place will be able to create installers that place the scripts correctly; if the user runs and authorizes the installer, that’s treated as permission to put the scripts in the right place.

So, basically, it sounds like someone would have to write an Apple Script that could read the Calibre database and import files to iTunes.

Except, of course, Apple Script has been the lonely stepchild of Apple development for seven or eight years now.

I really like how apparently even the scripts I have in ~/Libraries/Scripts will have to be moved to a new folder in order to continue running.

[mwheinz]

GRiker,

I've pulled the source to take a look at my idea of generating a .scpt file and running it with osascript; but I'm not going to make any promises - I've got several commitments over the next several weeks so I may not be able to look at this till late July.

Another possibility, based on the above quote, is to have calibre export a list of files and meta data, then have the user manually execute a script that reads the list and imports the files into iTunes.

Not nearly as good as the current model.

[txpece]

Long time Calbre user, first time poster here-

I sent a complaint to Apple about the sandboxing issue with Calibre communicating to iTunes and on a whim I emailed it to Tim Cook. Long Story short, I got an email from Apple Corporate Relations asking to have a phone conversation tomorrow. Any words of advice when I talk to them? Anything specific I should mention about this issue?

Thanks in advance.

[mwheinz]

I would simply point out how many tools have been developed over the years that need this interface - and how poorly Apple has communicated these changes to their users.

After all - did they warn anyone that iTunes 10.6.3 would break our scripts?

If you google for "itunes 10.6.3 applescript" you'll see developers complaining on stackoverflow, (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1...90383#11090383) and users complaining about their scripts breaking (http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/201...hon-appscript/).

[GRiker]

Originally Posted by txpece

Long time Calbre user, first time poster here-

I sent a complaint to Apple about the sandboxing issue with Calibre communicating to iTunes and on a whim I emailed it to Tim Cook. Long Story short, I got an email from Apple Corporate Relations asking to have a phone conversation tomorrow. Any words of advice when I talk to them? Anything specific I should mention about this issue?

Thanks in advance.

I filed a bug report #11676187 with Apple on June 15.

G

[charliecat]

Hello all,
i have a new ipad, where can find a copy of the old itunes 10.6.1, everywhere i look gives me the latest version. The only copy i can find is in oldapps and it is the Win version, there are no old copies for Mac
thanks

[GRiker]

If you use Time Machine, and you've recently updated iTunes, you can roll back to the previous version that was installed on your machine.

G

[charliecat]

Thanks G, brand new, this is the only version...
so, no books on my ipad them