Downloading metadata in background

tleon · 10-12-2014, 08:56 AM

It is possible in calibre to download metadata in the background. This is a feature that I use quite often.

What annoys me about this feature is the popup dialog which appears as soon as the job is finished. It happens quite often that I'm editing some metadata (inline in the table, not in the separate metadata dialog) while the job is running and when I hit Enter to finish what I just typed this dialog pops up and is directly closed because of me hitting Enter.

So my question is. Does someone know a way to prevent this dialog from poping up? I would be happy if the fact that the job finished is just displayed in the status bar.

BetterRed · 10-12-2014, 04:21 PM

@tleon - this has also happened to me, and I don't know of a way to fix it.

It also happens on other jobs that have a terminating dialogue (eg Count Pages and Modify) but the ramifications of 'blindly' accepting the results of those operations is less of a 'problem' than doing the same for the Metadata Download operation.

One solution might be to make Review Metadata downloaded button the default button rather than the Yes button. And that might need to be configurable so as to not disturb those that like it the way it is

BR

tleon · 10-15-2014, 04:24 PM

That sounds like a good idea. Now we need to hope that someone picks it up.

BetterRed · 10-15-2014, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tleon

That sounds like a good idea. Now we need to hope that someone picks it up.

@tleon - rather than hope - why don't you post a request here ==>> Bugs : calibre

BR

stanmarsh · 10-17-2014, 11:44 AM

i would like to see this in calibre as well, sort of like auto apply metadata.

tleon · 10-17-2014, 02:56 PM

While it is not a bug I will give it a try.

BetterRed · 10-17-2014, 04:11 PM

@tleon - the calibre bugs site is not limited to reporting defects, its also a place to 'formally' request enhancements. Here's a recent example that's in the latest release - [Enhancement] Keyboard Shortcut To Toggle Search ...

The developers do monitor posts here and will frequently pick up suggestions, but there's no 'guarantee' of that. However my experience is that they will always respond to a formal request - even if it's to decline the request. Even then they'll sometimes change their minds and do it anyway, maybe because it gives them a chance to try something new

BR

ms233 · 10-17-2014, 08:57 PM

I agree. For what it's worth, I do quite a bit of metadata work as well and I would also find this handy.

kovidgoyal · 10-17-2014, 11:23 PM

The popup has to be there and it cannot be applied automatically. You could end up with data loss that way, think about what happens if you are editing the metadata of a book whose metadata is changed out from under you in the background by the metadata download process. And that's just one possibility, there are many, many thing you can do in calirbe that could cause conflicting changes to the metadata of the same book.

And it cannot be shown in the status bar, as there can be multiple such notifications, and they have to be responded to by the user.

tleon · 10-18-2014, 09:10 AM

Thanks for the explanation. What about making the preview button the default one? I did that in my source code by editing edit_metadata.py line 167. As not everybody likes that it could be configurable which button is the default one.

I posted such a feature request in launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre/+bug/1382795) and I added a comment after reading your explanation.

tleon · 10-19-2014, 10:45 AM

Kovid implemented a fix that disables the Space and Enter keys triggering the buttons in the dialog.

That helps "pop-up challenged people" like me a lot.

BetterRed · 10-25-2014, 01:17 AM

to tleon & Kovid for making this new feature happen

I found a PI where it doesn't always operate... Extract ISBN, I posted in its thread.

Took me a moment to figure out that I can use the button accelerator keys.

'Tis very nice

Slightly OT - I stumbled on the sliding method of ordering the columns in CSV catalogues. It must have sneaked past me last week. IMO it's better than the up/down green arrows.

BR

BetterRed · 10-25-2014, 07:38 PM

IMO the Review button needs an accelerator key. The origin of the new end of job dialogues was because the modal ones had the side effect of stealing keyboard focus - which interrupted users who edit metadata on the Book List. Nevertheless, the old dialogue could at least be driven via the keyboard by tapping the arrow keys to move focus between buttons.

This doesn't seem to possible on the new Notify dialogues. To get the Review option one must use the mouse. For keyboard-centric, mouse-averse people such as me (often due to injury, or conditions such as stroke, PD, MS, ALS etc) this regrettable.

IMO all the buttons on end of Job notify dialogues need accelerator keys. Otherwise one of the prime motives for their introduction is, in part at least, thwarted.

BR

stanmarsh · 10-25-2014, 11:33 PM

to Kovid, the new notification is amazing! thank you!

kovidgoyal · 10-25-2014, 11:35 PM

You're welcome

10-12-2014, 08:56 AM	#1
tleon Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle	Downloading metadata in background It is possible in calibre to download metadata in the background. This is a feature that I use quite often. What annoys me about this feature is the popup dialog which appears as soon as the job is finished. It happens quite often that I'm editing some metadata (inline in the table, not in the separate metadata dialog) while the job is running and when I hit Enter to finish what I just typed this dialog pops up and is directly closed because of me hitting Enter. So my question is. Does someone know a way to prevent this dialog from poping up? I would be happy if the fact that the job finished is just displayed in the status bar.

10-17-2014, 04:11 PM	#7
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,555 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@tleon - the calibre bugs site is not limited to reporting defects, its also a place to 'formally' request enhancements. Here's a recent example that's in the latest release - [Enhancement] Keyboard Shortcut To Toggle Search ... The developers do monitor posts here and will frequently pick up suggestions, but there's no 'guarantee' of that. However my experience is that they will always respond to a formal request - even if it's to decline the request. Even then they'll sometimes change their minds and do it anyway, maybe because it gives them a chance to try something new BR Last edited by BetterRed; 10-17-2014 at 09:00 PM.

10-25-2014, 01:17 AM	#12
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,555 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	to tleon & Kovid for making this new feature happen I found a PI where it doesn't always operate... Extract ISBN, I posted in its thread. Took me a moment to figure out that I can use the button accelerator keys. 'Tis very nice Slightly OT - I stumbled on the sliding method of ordering the columns in CSV catalogues. It must have sneaked past me last week. IMO it's better than the up/down green arrows. BR Last edited by BetterRed; 10-25-2014 at 01:48 AM.

10-25-2014, 07:38 PM	#13
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,555 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	IMO the Review button needs an accelerator key. The origin of the new end of job dialogues was because the modal ones had the side effect of stealing keyboard focus - which interrupted users who edit metadata on the Book List. Nevertheless, the old dialogue could at least be driven via the keyboard by tapping the arrow keys to move focus between buttons. This doesn't seem to possible on the new Notify dialogues. To get the Review option one must use the mouse. For keyboard-centric, mouse-averse people such as me (often due to injury, or conditions such as stroke, PD, MS, ALS etc) this regrettable. IMO all the buttons on end of Job notify dialogues need accelerator keys. Otherwise one of the prime motives for their introduction is, in part at least, thwarted. BR Last edited by BetterRed; 10-25-2014 at 09:19 PM.

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10-12-2014, 04:21 PM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,555 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@tleon - this has also happened to me, and I don't know of a way to fix it. It also happens on other jobs that have a terminating dialogue (eg Count Pages and Modify) but the ramifications of 'blindly' accepting the results of those operations is less of a 'problem' than doing the same for the Metadata Download operation. One solution might be to make Review Metadata downloaded button the default button rather than the Yes button. And that might need to be configurable so as to not disturb those that like it the way it is BR

10-15-2014, 04:24 PM	#3
tleon Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle	That sounds like a good idea. Now we need to hope that someone picks it up.

10-17-2014, 11:44 AM	#5
stanmarsh Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2011 Device: galaxy tab	i would like to see this in calibre as well, sort of like auto apply metadata.

10-17-2014, 02:56 PM	#6
tleon Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle	While it is not a bug I will give it a try.

10-17-2014, 08:57 PM	#8
ms233 Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: Kobo	I agree. For what it's worth, I do quite a bit of metadata work as well and I would also find this handy.

10-17-2014, 11:23 PM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The popup has to be there and it cannot be applied automatically. You could end up with data loss that way, think about what happens if you are editing the metadata of a book whose metadata is changed out from under you in the background by the metadata download process. And that's just one possibility, there are many, many thing you can do in calirbe that could cause conflicting changes to the metadata of the same book. And it cannot be shown in the status bar, as there can be multiple such notifications, and they have to be responded to by the user.

10-18-2014, 09:10 AM	#10
tleon Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle	Thanks for the explanation. What about making the preview button the default one? I did that in my source code by editing edit_metadata.py line 167. As not everybody likes that it could be configurable which button is the default one. I posted such a feature request in launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre/+bug/1382795) and I added a comment after reading your explanation.

10-19-2014, 10:45 AM	#11
tleon Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle	Kovid implemented a fix that disables the Space and Enter keys triggering the buttons in the dialog. That helps "pop-up challenged people" like me a lot.

10-25-2014, 11:33 PM	#14
stanmarsh Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2011 Device: galaxy tab	to Kovid, the new notification is amazing! thank you!

10-25-2014, 11:35 PM	#15
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You're welcome

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