Attn plugin developers: calibre moving to Qt 5

[BetterRed]

Jon makes a good point

Irrespective of what version of what OS they use, many folks only upgrade calibre when there is something worth having. And a new plugin could certainly be worth having, without having to stumble around the 'baggage' of new features in the core.

BR

[stanking]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Jon makes a good point

Irrespective of what version of what OS they use, many folks only upgrade calibre when there is something worth having. And a new plugin could certainly be worth having, without having to stumble around the 'baggage' of new features in the core.

BR

It IS a good point. The strange thing is that it could be used to argue either direction. If the lure of additional functionality encourages the current user base to upgrade to the current version, that would be good for future developers. Those stats you pointed out only list 25% of the installs, but if we extrapolate, that's 40% who are still using a pre-1.x version, which is sad.

Personally, I'll code for the current version, and if the code works for earlier versions, that's a bonus. And if it doesn't and users upgrade to get the plugins, that's a bonus too. If there were a significant percentage who COULDN'T upgrade, that would affect my thinking, but I suspect it's more a matter of the users not bothering than an inability.

When my code is ready, I'll test it for compatibility, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it if it doesn't run on Calibre 0.1.5.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by stanking

It IS a good point. The strange thing is that it could be used to argue either direction. If the lure of additional functionality encourages the current user base to upgrade to the current version, that would be good for future developers. Those stats you pointed out only list 25% of the installs, but if we extrapolate, that's 40% who are still using a pre-1.x version, which is sad.

Personally, I'll code for the current version, and if the code works for earlier versions, that's a bonus. And if it doesn't and users upgrade to get the plugins, that's a bonus too. If there were a significant percentage who COULDN'T upgrade, that would affect my thinking, but I suspect it's more a matter of the users not bothering than an inability.

When my code is ready, I'll test it for compatibility, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it if it doesn't run on Calibre 0.1.5.

1.48 (forty-eight) is the last Qt4 version. 1.5 (five) is a much earlier version.

You have to specifically code for Qt4. It doesn't just work with Qt4 when coded for Qt5. You have to put in the installs to handle if it's running under Qt4 vs Qt5. I don't know the specifics, but if you code for just the latest version, then your plugin will not work for 1.48.

The point is, if your plugin can run under Qt4 & Qt5 with just a little extra coding, do so and make it compatible to more people.

[stanking]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

1.48 (forty-eight) is the last Qt4 version. 1.5 (five) is a much earlier version.

Jon, I typed 0.1.5, not 1.5. I was just using it as a symbol for older versions. I'm not going to code for 0.9.6 either, even though more than 1% of users have that version installed. Kovid has made the decision to move forward, and all future versions of Calibre are running off Qt5. It makes sense to me that plugin development matches that policy. If my plugin works with what Kovid is doing, that's good enough for me.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The point is, if your plugin can run under Qt4 & Qt5 with just a little extra coding, do so and make it compatible to more people.

I don't want to be rude, but I'd like to set a clear boundary. I asked if there was a reason to include Qt4 references. I didn't ask for advice, and certainly not for instructions. You're overstepping. I'm going to build and improve my plugin for free, and I'm going to share the results for free. But unless you're paying me, you don't tell me to do a little extra coding. I have no problem with you stating what you'd prefer or what you think would be useful, but just don't tell me what to do. Deal?

[eschwartz]

So just to be clear:

nice people spend the minimum effort wrapping imports in try--except-with-Qt4 blocks and other compatibility shims, so XP users aren't left out. (Users who don't want to download an update will have to decide if the plugin is worth it, there is nothing wrong with using old versions but it's worth noting that every bug response starts with "does this problem manifest on the latest version also". )

If it doesn't work, don't lose any sleep over it, the same way those users will not have access to other 2.x features, this won't work either. No effort will be spent on bending over backward to use legacy APIs.

Now that we have a definition of "nice people" that matches what (most) every other plugin developer is already doing, are we all happy, since we apparently agreed all along?

@stanking, I anticipate seeing cool stuff from you and I am confident you will make a good judgment call on whether it is worth your time to support Qt4 or not -- without anyone else's direction.

[theducks]

Unstuck - this has bee around long enough that PI developers should be aware

[leefa]

I'm having issues with one of my personal plugins after upgrading to the newest version of calibre. I was previously on 1.48. I'm trying to make my plugins compatible with the new version using QT 5.

Even though is looks like my plugin gets loaded (Amazon Title Series && My Amazon && Kindle Collections Leefa ) they aren't available to add to the toolbar and/or aren't added to the toolbar

I've attached the plugins

Here is the log:

calibre 2.14 [64bit] isfrozen: True is64bit: True
Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '7', '6.1.7601')
Python 2.7.8
Windows: ('7', '6.1.7601', 'SP1', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Successfully initialized third party plugins: Amazon Title Series && DeDRM && Go
odreads Sync && MobiDeDRM && After Kindle Add To Library Plugin && Save To Forma
t && Goodreads && Open With && My Amazon && Kindle Collections Leefa && Extract
ISBN && Kindle Collections && Search The Internet
Starting up...
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 150, in __init__
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 164, in init_iaction
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\__init__.py", line 582, in load_actual_p
lugin
File "importlib\__init__.py", line 37, in import_module
ImportError: No module named AfterKindleAddToLibrary.ui
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 150, in __init__
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 164, in init_iaction
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\__init__.py", line 582, in load_actual_p
lugin
File "importlib\__init__.py", line 37, in import_module
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 179, in load_module
File "calibre_plugins.savetoformat.savetoformatacti on", line 3, in <module>
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 179, in load_module
File "calibre_plugins.savetoformat.gui.prompt", line 5, in <module>
ImportError: cannot import name NONE
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 150, in __init__
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 164, in init_iaction
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\__init__.py", line 582, in load_actual_p
lugin
File "importlib\__init__.py", line 37, in import_module
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 179, in load_module
File "calibre_plugins.myamazon.myamazonaction", line 3, in <module>
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 179, in load_module
File "calibre_plugins.myamazon.gui.prompt", line 5, in <module>
ImportError: cannot import name NONE
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 150, in __init__
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 164, in init_iaction
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\__init__.py", line 582, in load_actual_p
lugin
File "importlib\__init__.py", line 37, in import_module
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 179, in load_module
File "calibre_plugins.KindleCollectionsLeefa.ui", line 21, in <module>
ImportError: No module named kindleCollectionsLeefa.messages
Started up in 3.73 seconds with 244 books
Problem creating accessible interface for: QLabel(0xa129a60)
Make sure to deploy Qt with accessibility plugins.
Job:Q T1e xtCurGet device informations ostarterd:
:setPosition: Position '8' out of range
DeviceJob: 1 Get device information done, calling callback
DeviceJob: 1 Get device information callback returned
Job: Job:2 1 Get device information Set library informationfinished
startedNo details available.

DeviceJob: 2 Set library information done, calling callback
QTextCursor::setPosition: Position '8' out of range
DeviceJob: 2 Set library information callback returned
Job: 3 Get list of books on device started
DEBUG: 0.0 USBMS: Fetching list of books from device. Device= KINDLE2 oncard=
None
DEBUG: 0.0 USBMS: dirs are: J:\ documents
DEBUG: 0.6 USBMS: scan from root False J:\documents
Job: 2 Set library information finished
No details available.
QTextCursor::setPosition: Position '8' out of range
DEBUG: 2.9 USBMS: count found in cache: 96, count of files in metadata: 96, n
eed_sync: False
DEBUG: 2.9 USBMS: Finished fetching list of books from device. oncard= None
DEBUG: 2.9 USBMS: Fetching list of books from device. Device= KINDLE2 oncard=
carda
DEBUG: 2.9 USBMS: Fetching list of books from device. Device= KINDLE2 oncard=
cardb
DeviceJob: 3 Get list of books on device done, calling callback
DeviceJob: metadata_downloaded: Starting set_books_in_library
DeviceJob: set_books_in_library: books to process= 96
DeviceJob: set_books_in_library finished: time= 0.00799989700317
DeviceJob: metadata_downloaded: updating views
DeviceJob: metadata_downloaded: syncing
DeviceJob: metadata_downloaded: refreshing ondevice
DeviceJob: metadata_downloaded: sending metadata_available signal
DeviceJob: 3 Get list of books on device callback returned
Job: 3 Get list of books on device finished
No details available.
QTextCursor::setPosition: Position '8' out of range

[kovidgoyal]

See the line

ImportError: cannot import name NONE

There is no NONE in Qt 5, use None instead.