Not all collections get added to Kobo Forma

Mossop · 07-27-2019, 11:54 AM

I just got a Kobo Forma and I'm having some problems with setting up collections. I'm not sure if I'm just misunderstanding something, doing something wrong or hitting a bug.

I've tried using the Kobo Touch plugin and the Kobo Touch Extended plugin with similar results.

I have two custom columns set up:

#genre - Text but with a fixed set of permitted values.
#reading - Column built from other columns, behaves like tags (which is always "Read", "Unread" or "Reading").

In the plugin collections settings I have collections turned on and put in "#genre, #reading" and have create/delete checked.

I have metadata management set to automatic.

I haver transferred all my books to the device and disconnected and reconnected multiple times to try to get all the metadata and collections synced across but I'm hitting issues.

The collections for all of the #genre values are getting created just fine. #reading though doesn't seem to be working ok. With the Kobo Touch Extended plugin it created a collection for 'Unread' but none of the other options. When I switched to the Kobo Touch plugin it then also created the 'Reading' collection. But the 'Read' collection never shows up.

What am I doing wrong?

davidfor · 07-28-2019, 10:17 AM

Firstly, the KoboTouchExtended driver uses the KoboTouch driver for things like the collection management. If one works or fails, the other will work or fail in exactly the same way. But, they do not share the configuration. If you swap between them, you will need to keep the configuration in sync.

From what you say, it should be working with either driver. Both columns look like they can be used for collections. To see what is happening, can you run calibre in debug mode and post the debug log? Use whichever driver is the one you most want to use, but make sure the configuration is what you want. From the debug log, I can generally see what is the issue.

Mossop · 07-28-2019, 11:13 AM

See attached.

davidfor · 07-28-2019, 08:13 PM

There isn't anything obviously wrong there. The driver configuration looks correct. The automatic metadata update option is on.

And looking at this, I realised I should have asked what was missing. What collection isn't being created? Or isn't being populated correctly?

When you connect the device, the list of collections on it is:

Code:

DEBUG:    0.6 KoboTouch:books - shelf list: [u'ReadingList', u'Fantasy', u'Science Fiction', u'Science', u'Biography', u'Time Management', u'Computer Science', u'Unread', u'Psychology', u'Photography', u'Comedy', u'Management', u'Dystopian', u'Reading', u'Economics', u'Religion']

Is there anything missing from that? Or extras? "ReadingList" should be an internal to Kobo list that isn't used.

Code:

DEBUG:    3.9 KTCollectionsBookList:get_collections - start - collection_attributes= [u'#genre', u'#reading']
DEBUG:    3.9 KTCollectionsBookList:get_collections - collection_attributes= [u'#genre', u'#reading']
DEBUG:    4.0 KTCollectionsBookList:get_collections - end
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Religion' books=2
Job: 2 Get list of books on device finished
No details available.
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Religion'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Management' books=5
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Management'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Fantasy' books=131
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Fantasy'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Dystopian' books=1
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Dystopian'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Unread' books=40
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Unread'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Time Management' books=1
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Time Management'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Psychology' books=6
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Psychology'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Reading' books=1
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Reading'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Comedy' books=5
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Comedy'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Science Fiction' books=209
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Science Fiction'
DEBUG:    4.0 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Read' books=331
.
.
.
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Read'
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Science' books=7
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Science'
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Photography' books=1
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Photography'
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Biography' books=1
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Biography'
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Computer Science' books=1
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Computer Science'
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - category='Economics' books=2
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - end for category='Economics'
DEBUG:    4.1 KoboTouch:update_device_database_collections - managing bookshelves and series.

That shows how many books the driver thinks should be on each collection. Is there anything missing there? Do the number of books shown agree with what is on the device in each collection?

Mossop · 07-28-2019, 08:20 PM

It's the "Read" collection that is missing from the device. Looks like it is showing up in the logs and the numbers look right. I wonder if maybe this is a reserved category name or something?

davidfor · 07-28-2019, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mossop

It's the "Read" collection that is missing from the device. Looks like it is showing up in the logs and the numbers look right. I wonder if maybe this is a reserved category name or something?

Ahh, the penny drops! The driver treats "Read" as a virtual collection. When you finish a book on the device, it is marked as "Read". When the driver is collecting the list of books, it puts all the read books into this collection and shows them in the device list. Then, when updating the books on the device, the driver is treating books in this collection differently. It doesn't add an actual collection because at that time, it doesn't know if the user put the book in the collection, or it is there because it has been read. In calibre, my #status column has "Finished" for books that I have finished reading. I was looking at this recently and trying to work out why this wasn't consistent with my "Unread" and "Reading" statuses. This explains why.

There are some other virtual collections used by the driver:

"Im_Reading" for books marked as being read.
"Overdrive" for books borrowed from the library and downloaded from Kobo.
"Preview" and "Recommendation" for previews recommendations from Kobo. But, these are only seen if the appropriate driver options are turned on.
"Shortlist" is from older firmware. At that time, there were no collections and this was a way to group a few books together.

Plus some others that I don't think happen in recent firmware.

Mossop · 07-29-2019, 11:24 AM

Ah, thanks for figuring it out! I'll switch the names I'm using and hopefully that will solve it.

jackie_w · 07-29-2019, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mossop

Ah, thanks for figuring it out! I'll switch the names I'm using and hopefully that will solve it.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your problem but, do you actually need those particular extra Collections when the "Filter" menu already allows you to choose "Reading", "Unread" and "Finished".

07-27-2019, 11:54 AM	#1
Mossop Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kobo Forma	Not all collections get added to Kobo Forma I just got a Kobo Forma and I'm having some problems with setting up collections. I'm not sure if I'm just misunderstanding something, doing something wrong or hitting a bug. I've tried using the Kobo Touch plugin and the Kobo Touch Extended plugin with similar results. I have two custom columns set up: #genre - Text but with a fixed set of permitted values. #reading - Column built from other columns, behaves like tags (which is always "Read", "Unread" or "Reading"). In the plugin collections settings I have collections turned on and put in "#genre, #reading" and have create/delete checked. I have metadata management set to automatic. I haver transferred all my books to the device and disconnected and reconnected multiple times to try to get all the metadata and collections synced across but I'm hitting issues. The collections for all of the #genre values are getting created just fine. #reading though doesn't seem to be working ok. With the Kobo Touch Extended plugin it created a collection for 'Unread' but none of the other options. When I switched to the Kobo Touch plugin it then also created the 'Reading' collection. But the 'Read' collection never shows up. What am I doing wrong?

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07-28-2019, 10:17 AM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	Firstly, the KoboTouchExtended driver uses the KoboTouch driver for things like the collection management. If one works or fails, the other will work or fail in exactly the same way. But, they do not share the configuration. If you swap between them, you will need to keep the configuration in sync. From what you say, it should be working with either driver. Both columns look like they can be used for collections. To see what is happening, can you run calibre in debug mode and post the debug log? Use whichever driver is the one you most want to use, but make sure the configuration is what you want. From the debug log, I can generally see what is the issue.

07-28-2019, 08:20 PM	#5
Mossop Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kobo Forma	It's the "Read" collection that is missing from the device. Looks like it is showing up in the logs and the numbers look right. I wonder if maybe this is a reserved category name or something?

07-29-2019, 11:24 AM	#7
Mossop Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kobo Forma	Ah, thanks for figuring it out! I'll switch the names I'm using and hopefully that will solve it.