editor open wrong book when showing books on device

[cybmole]

with a connected device and with library view set to show books on device. the editor is not opening the highlighted-row book

when i press T it is opening the same book no matter what book is highlighted.

is this something that others can replicate.

I vaguely remember seeing this same issue way back when the editor was still called tweak-epub.
v1.24 64 bit

[davidfor]

I assume you mean the device view. The list you see when you press the device button when a device is connected.

A quick test here shows that it is opening the book that is selected in the library view. I don't think it is expected to edit the book that is on the device. Doing that might cause problems on different devices. It will on a Kobo. Exactly what happens depends on the changes made.

[cybmole]

thanks, it would be better if calibre said "cannot edit file on device" then ?

I was wanting to inspect the book file on the device as part of testing the kobotouch driver add CSS function.

open (book on device) with sigil seemed to work OK though. I did not try saving any edits,

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by cybmole

thanks, it would be better if calibre said "cannot edit file on device" then ?

Yes, it was unexpected for the option to pass back to the over list.

I was wanting to inspect the book file on the device as part of testing the kobotouch driver add CSS function.

open (book on device) with sigil seemed to work OK though. I did not try saving any edits,

I usually open the directory on the device and either unzip the file to look at it manually or use Sigil. I should associate the calibre editor with epubs, but I still tend to use Sigil.

[arspr]

Originally Posted by cybmole

open (book on device) with sigil seemed to work OK though. I did not try saving any edits,

Extremelly dangerous thing to do. Sigil automatically modifes your epub on loading. If by any chance you save that book even with no manual editing made, it will be in fact a modified version of it.

Nevertheless if you assume the implied risks you could launch the Calibre editor and then through Open book navigate to the device version of the book and open it. It would be risky but less than with Sigil as calibre editor does not perform any kind of modification on book opening and because through its Checkpoint system you do actually have a snapshot of the original opened book even if you did and saved real modifications on it.

[DiapDealer]

I understand the desire to warn about using caution when editing a file on the device, but there's nothing "really" dangerous about it. It won't hurt the device at all, and the file on the device is hardly going to be considered the master copy/backup of the ebook (even under the weirdest of circumstances)--especially if calibre is being used by the end-user. I say experiment away! Just keep good backups.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I understand the desire to warn about using caution when editing a file on the device, but there's nothing "really" dangerous about it. It won't hurt the device at all, and the file on the device is hardly going to be considered the master copy/backup of the ebook (even under the weirdest of circumstances)--especially if calibre is being used by the end-user. I say experiment away! Just keep good backups.

I am not so sure about that 'not master' thing.
(But then, why would they even bother to edit it)
Day after day, I see posts of users that not only don't keep alternate formats, but insist on cleaning the library of any book sent to the device

True, I belong to the user type that keep (OK, HOARD) my (E or Paper) books, so I don't understand the need to instantly nuke a format/book that is read or transferred.
But some do.

My vote : Tweak should be blocked in device view, at least there should be a permanent nag screen.-
If you want to check a book that is on the device, View does work upon the device view copy.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by theducks

I am not so sure about that 'not master' thing.
(But then, why would they even bother to edit it)

Exactly. If they're using calibre to launch the editor in the first place, they're probably using calibre to send books to the device. From a library.

By all means, everyone should use caution when editing ... period. But editing the file on the device doesn't seem (to me) to be the "Danger! Danger! Will Robinson" scenario some are making it. No more dangerous than editing, say... the MAIN COPY IN THE LIBRARY (which people don't seem to go out of their way to warn users about doing).

[theducks]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Exactly. If they're using calibre to launch the editor in the first place, they're probably using calibre to send books to the device. From a library.

By all means, everyone should use caution when editing ... period. But editing the file on the device doesn't seem (to me) to be the "Danger! Danger! Will Robinson" scenario some are making it. No more dangerous than editing, say... the MAIN COPY IN THE LIBRARY (which people don't seem to go out of their way to warn users about doing).

The danger is the confusion caused, that they are NOT editing the more-master copy in the Library

"But I edited that error, already" ( Been there and I cant blame Calibre )

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by theducks

The danger is the confusion caused, that they are NOT editing the more-master copy in the Library

I get that. Avoiding confusion is a good thing. But that still doesn't make it "dangerous" in--and of--itself.

"Make sure you know what you're editing" vs "OMG, you never want to do that ... ever!"

[PeterT]

Actually one OTHER concern is that Kobo do store the size of the book in the database; if a change is made to the copy ON THE device then unpredictable things DO happen. (AT least I can't remember exactly what they are, but I knopw they are not desired; I'm sure that once Davidfor is awake, he will chime in with details).

[DiapDealer]

But is it anything that can't be fixed by deleting the book from the Kobo? Surely it can't cause permanent damage to a device to write to a location the user has permission to write to?

Sorry, maybe I'm just blowing this out of proportion, but I was picking up a definite Doom & Gloom vibe from the various warnings. Seemed a little disproportionate to the worst that could realistically happen, is all.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Sorry, maybe I'm just blowing this out of proportion, but I was picking up a definite Doom & Gloom vibe from the various warnings. Seemed a little disproportionate to the worst that could realistically happen, is all.

just a little

Damaging Hardware is not likely.

To me, any Corruption is still Damage.
It may be recoverable, but it was still damage and it takes additional time and effort so it should be avoided .

Loss is severe damage. IMHO editing the wrong copy can lead to loss of that effort, thus I think the practice should be discouraged

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Actually one OTHER concern is that Kobo do store the size of the book in the database; if a change is made to the copy ON THE device then unpredictable things DO happen. (AT least I can't remember exactly what they are, but I knopw they are not desired; I'm sure that once Davidfor is awake, he will chime in with details).

I've been bitten by this problem before I knew better. The Kobo will delete the book after disconnecting if you make an on-device change. I can't remember if it's a change in filesize or file timestamp (or both?) which does the damage. Either way, it's best avoided Opening with 7-zip or WinRar is OK as long as you quit without changing anything.

A semi-related warning: if you have checked the box 'Update metadata embedded in book when opening' in Editor Edit - Prefs - Integration with calibre, then be aware that if you open an epub from within calibre the epub's opf file will be updated and saved even if you File- Quit without saving. If you want File-Quit to mean 'Quit and don't change anything', you need to uncheck that box. The default is checked (or at least it used to be).

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by arspr

Extremelly dangerous thing to do. Sigil automatically modifes your epub on loading. If by any chance you save that book even with no manual editing made, it will be in fact a modified version of it.

I think edit-book does too. See Edit->Preferences->Integration with calibre->Update metadata in book when opening - the default value is checked

Can't recall what it does to the metadata, it's here somewhere. I have it unchecked.

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One of the things I've noticed about the editor is that I can't easily determine the path of the file that its editing - a Properties/Summary option in File would be nice. Sigil doesn't have it either, however it's Save As option assumes same location as the file under edit.

BR