Minimalist Windows App for Calibre

[Marty_B]

New version has been submitted. Changes include:
1. By default, Calibre Viewer now hides multiple formats of one book. The available formats are shown in the details panel, and in the narrow listview itself. You can revert to the old behavior through an option in the settings panel (charms bar).
2. A cover view has been added. In cover view, a right-tap will show available formats. Work on this is ongoing, but the current version appears functional and stable.
3. The detail panel can be hidden.

Work on resizable panels is ongoing. This was not quite stable yet, so it was not included in this release. Look for it in the next one. Options to switch between tags, authors, and series will likely also be included.

[bluej]

The cover view works great! What about hiding the cover in the Details View when using Cover View? That could give more space to the book comments section. (Maybe make the font size of the Title larger if the cover is hidden.)

You said earlier that supporting custom columns would hard. What about virtual libraries instead? Do they have a common interface? (I believe they use a search expression with #'s in front of custom columns: rating:4 #read:false)

How about the star ratings? Or maybe a couple of fields that can be edited to show specific columns the user has in their database (standard or custom).

The app works great as-is and is already 10 times better than anything else. So, no pressure!

[Marty_B]

Originally Posted by bluej

The cover view works great! What about hiding the cover in the Details View when using Cover View? That could give more space to the book comments section. (Maybe make the font size of the Title larger if the cover is hidden.)

You said earlier that supporting custom columns would hard. What about virtual libraries instead? Do they have a common interface? (I believe they use a search expression with #'s in front of custom columns: rating:4 #read:false)

How about the star ratings? Or maybe a couple of fields that can be edited to show specific columns the user has in their database (standard or custom).

The app works great as-is and is already 10 times better than anything else. So, no pressure!

Actually, I had intended to remove the cover in that -- no use in seeing the cover twice on the same screen. I just completely forgot. That's a quick fix, I'll do that when I have time.
I can add other details, of course, without any problem. I'm thinking of creating an options screen to allow you to choose what to include.

Virtual libraries? I haven't used that myself, so that would be why I'd never thought of that. I will look into that to see if I can insert that without having to overhaul the entire structure.

[ajan]

I am very interested in the app. Sadly it seems not to be available in Germany. Any chance that you will change this?

[ajan]

Hi again. I switched to US and installed the test-version. Works great on my sony tablet.
Two wishes:
The selected items are displayed in dark blue background and black text. So the text is nearly unreadable.
The list of tags is good, but I personly am more addicted to authors, so i love the Calibre-Autor-List. Is it possible to change the tag-list to show the author-list?
Over all, a great app, thanks very much

[Marty_B]

Originally Posted by ajan

Hi again. I switched to US and installed the test-version. Works great on my sony tablet.
Two wishes:
The selected items are displayed in dark blue background and black text. So the text is nearly unreadable.
The list of tags is good, but I personly am more addicted to authors, so i love the Calibre-Autor-List. Is it possible to change the tag-list to show the author-list?
Over all, a great app, thanks very much

Since a few bug fixes are needed, I will be submitting a newer version fairly soon. When I do, I will add Germany as a market.

I am aware of the issue with the selected text color. Note that I am using absolutely unchanged Microsoft standard settings. I will see about fixing that. It irritates me as well.

I am planning some future enhancements to allow more flexibility in showing details such as the ones you request. That will take some work, so it won't be included in the next release, but it is in the works.

[phanmo]

Hi,

I'm still setting up my libraries on calibre, so I haven't had a chance to try out Calibre Viewer yet but I just wanted to encourage you! I feel that the Modern side of Windows 8.1 is underutilized so I'm happy when I come across a useful app.

BTW I currently live in France and had to switch to the US in order to install it.

[solomon]

Hi Marty, fabulous looking app! I just installed from the App store so I should have the latest - though I don't see an "About" option to tell?

Questions:
1) What should "Sort Options -> Series Ascending" do? With no tags selected (I don't currently have unique tags per series) I seem to see all books sorted by series name in descending order, then alphabetically ascending by title.

E.g.
A Spell for Chameleon
Anthony, Piers
Xanth

Board Stiff
Anthony, Piers
Xanth

Castle Roogna
Anthony, Piers
Xanth

....

Wizard's Bane
Cook, Rick
Wiz Biz

The Wizardry Con
Cook, Rick
Wiz Biz

and so on.


2) Is there a way to show/hide the detail panel without going into settings? A button like cover view would be perfect IMO.



These are really more enhancement/suggestions:
A) Could the Sort Options have a check mark or something by them to show what sort is selected?

B) Related to #1, I'd like to be able to sort by series number ascending if that's not what's supposed to happen with "Series Ascending" now.

C) Multi-level sort: I'd personally love to have something like Sort By Series Name Ascending then Sort By Series Number Ascending.

D) Option to pick "Series" instead of "Tags" - honestly if I can make the rest work, I'm willing to go back and make a corresponding Tag for every Series, but that's going to be painful and feels kinda kludgy....

E) An About menu item in Settings or somewhere (assuming I didn't just miss it)

F) A donation option somewhere - I'm happy to pay $0.99 for the app, but I'd also happily kick in more to help encourage future development, as I'm sure you're not making money on this thing!

Thanks in advance,
Richard

[Sweetpea]

I installed it today, picked my Calibre library and then it closed. Whenever I now open it, it closes again.

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I installed it today, picked my Calibre library and then it closed. Whenever I now open it, it closes again.

I have the same problem. For me it seems to be related to the size of the library; small (very small!) libraries seem to be fine, larger ones the behavior is as you describe. It is the same on 32 and 64bit notebooks and 64bit PC. If I recall correctly this behavior did not appear with earlier versions.

That said, I do find that some other store apps of various other types do the same thing.

***I may not be able to respond promptly to any questions as I am travelling in locations with only occasional internet/cellular access***

[mrbrimi]

Has anyone seen a resolution to this problem? On a library of 1007 books works fine but on library of 2034 books the program opens then crashes.

[solomon]

I tried contacting the author a few months back to no avail - I'm afraid s/he has abandoned the project

[rjupiter]

has Marty B fully abandoned the project?