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Old 09-30-2013, 04:56 AM   #16
samhy
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Have you tried Ubuntu? It's not as refined as some (Deja Vu serif, say), but it's thicker yet not too thick.
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Old 09-30-2013, 05:49 AM   #17
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Have you tried Ubuntu? It's not as refined as some (Deja Vu serif, say), but it's thicker yet not too thick.
I don't like it: it is more a "stylised" font than one proper for reading.
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Old 09-30-2013, 05:53 AM   #18
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I don't like it: it is more a "stylised" font than one proper for reading.
I thought it wasn't going to be to your liking
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Old 09-30-2013, 06:56 AM   #19
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segoe UI bold for me
or vedrana bold or tahoma bold

I like bold fonts
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Old 04-13-2014, 09:20 AM   #20
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The settings in the configuration file will be used whenever you open a new book or reopen a book that doesn't have saved settings.

.
that is potentially most confusing, but could explain my recent tests.
so the only way to lock a a specific book to the defaults that were in use when it was first opened, is to alter the settings for that book in order to force a book-specific save.

& if that is not done, then changing the default for some other book means that the 1st book will look different when re-opened ?

what a curious design.. for curious, please insert your own preferred label
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Old 04-13-2014, 09:30 AM   #21
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I don't know. I've been thinking that there is something different about it, but I don't change fonts enough to have seen a pattern. And I haven't tested it. I'll try it in the next few days and see.
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Old 04-13-2014, 11:00 AM   #22
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I am seeing a pattern but I cannot pin it down to a set of logical rules.

the user guide says that when you open a new book, the current default ( i.e. the position you last places the sliders in,) is applied . I think we both buy into that statement.
so imagine a device with just one book. we open that & establish a future default.( but maybe we have to move a slider to force that defalt to register ? )

the next puzzle is what happens when we then add another book to the device ( via sideload or via purchase) & then 1. open another new book & 2. change the sliders: we think that change is now recorded at book level.

So what do we expect to see if we now open the 1st book, does what we see depend on whether we forced a "save" for the 1st book.

then, exactly what action forces a save, is it moving a slider while the book is open ? the user guide offers no insight, & its not like a PC where you can look to see if the disc write light flashes on.

The logic is also complicated by apparent differences between kepub & epub, which is what got me into re-thinking what I thought I'd previously puzzled out.

What I want is for any book that I've already opened to remember it's settings, ( if I have to nudge a slider to left & then to right to "force" that so be it, but i don't want that book to be affected to any tweaks I make within other books )
I want a new book to open with a similar layout to what I've using for other books. If it intents to default to whatever last think I did with the sliders then again so be it. but It does not appear to be documented anywhere.

I'd just like to fully understand the firmware's logic, then I can train myself to use an appropriate workflow with no surprises.

once I can get the aura HD behaviour sussed, I can attempt the same for the Kobo android app , which I think has simpler rules - the app treats everything as kepub, it has a slider for font size (which I think it applies globally), and it has a choice of 3 fonts - publisher default, droid serif, droid sans serif - which I again think it applies globally.

So I don't think the android app saves any per-book settings,

I read that the aura HD stores epubs as single files & kepubs within a single database, so maybe it has two locations for storing slider settings i.e. it stores one set per format ?

Last edited by cybmole; 04-13-2014 at 11:06 AM.
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Old 04-13-2014, 02:51 PM   #23
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Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but, to the best of my knowledge ...

When you open a book the Kobo checks its database for an entry for that book in the content_settings table (stores bookId, font family, size, alignment, line-height, left/right margin plus some other fields). If there isn't an entry then the settings in the config file (.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf) are used instead.

An entry in content_settings, is created for a book when the Aa-font-icon is pressed from within that book and at least one of the sliders and/or buttons is pressed. At that point all the slider/button values are stored in the entry.

For a standard epub, the bookId is the filename. I'm not sure what kepubs use for bookId.

... so your plan of nudging a font slider left&right for each new book, to 'set' the per-book values should work, I think.
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Old 04-13-2014, 03:10 PM   #24
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very clear thanks. So to be safe, press Aa then go - , then + on any one of the 3 sliders to force a per-book save of the initial values

when a book is removed from the device, are it's settings erased or will they still be there in case the book is ever re-sent / re-downloaded either as epub or kepub ?



I would expect then to be deleted along with any annotations, bookmarks etc. I think there's actually a warning that those will go when you begin to delete a book.

I suppose a peek at the content settings table will answer that, if I can find it & decipher it !. And I suspect that the tablet versions do not have that table, so they hold only a single, global set of values.

If so, then a sequence of delete epub, send kepub instead will be treated like a new book ?
I'm not going to be the first to tempt fate by sending a kepub version of an epub that's already there, or vice versa!

PS I have a related font-size puzzle on-going in the calibre extended kobo driver plug in thread, if you have the time to help out there also.
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Old 04-13-2014, 04:16 PM   #25
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when a book is removed from the device, are it's settings erased or will they still be there in case the book is ever re-sent / re-downloaded either as epub or kepub ?
I think the font settings are deleted when the book is deleted, but I haven't double-checked. BTW SQLiteSpy works well (on Windows) for peeking at the Kobo database.

I'm afraid I can't offer any enlightenment on all-things-kepub as I've never found a compelling reason to use them. I get all the control I need with standard epubs and calibre's standard Kobo driver.

I had a quick look at the android Kobo app last week but didn't like it at all. I found it to be just about as feature-poor as the Kindle app. I'll stick with Mantano and CalibreCompanion as my android combo of choice.
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Old 04-14-2014, 01:42 AM   #26
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I
I had a quick look at the android Kobo app last week but didn't like it at all. I found it to be just about as feature-poor as the Kindle app. I'll stick with Mantano and CalibreCompanion as my android combo of choice.
feature-poor is fine for me if the basics are done very well. So yes the Kobo app imposes lots of white space , but on a big tablet that actually looks OK so I don't begrudge it.

Hmm, maybe i was too quick to dismiss mantano- what does it off that the Kobo, Kindle apps dont have ?

It could be a tough challenge to get the paid for version onto the Kindle Fire tablet though, I think I disliked the free version because I don't want adds when I read. I can get free apps to copy over from goolge play store - that is how I tried Mantano free , but I have yet to find a way of buying an app from there & then getting hold of the installer
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Old 04-14-2014, 02:42 AM   #27
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What jackie_w says is how I understand the font settings are handled. When you make a change to the font settings, they are written to the config file and a content_settings row is created or updated for the book. If there are no stored settings for a book, then the settings are read from the config file.

These rules don't change for the different formats. epub, kepub, text, mobi, etc all use the same settings mechanism. They don't all use all the settings, but the basic mechanism is the same.

I have just done some testing with a few epubs and sideloaded kepubs. The settings are being saved as described above into the database and config file. And opening a new book will always use the settings in the config file.
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Old 04-14-2014, 03:12 AM   #28
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ok , thanks to all. If I'd designed it there'd be a write to the settings fiile when any book was first opened, so every book on the device had it's own record.

with their design, you can open a book - it looks fine so you you tke no action but then you mess with the sliders for some other book and it impacts the one that you were previously OK with - that is where I got confused

we've been saying "font settings" but I assume that margin, line spacing , justification and font choice are all handled the same way i.e. everything that you can access via that Aa button.

just out of interest, is this true for all Kobo dedicated e-readers - do thy all have the same controls set , & the same database design
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Old 04-14-2014, 05:02 AM   #29
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Sorry - back again with more Qs.
for most fonts (but not for document default) there is another set of controls once you tap on advanced. You get to another font size slider + weight & sharpness sliders. are those extra advanced settings stored in the same table , with the same logic i.e. or does a save of the advanced values have to be triggered by altering one of them, rather then by altering one of the basic levels ?

to put it another way are we dealing with 2 independent sets of values , basic and advanced, or are both levels saved together at book level whenever you make a change at either level ?

are the advantages to using one font size slider vs the other l e.g. for better fine tuning within the useful reading-size range?
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Old 04-14-2014, 06:43 AM   #30
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Firstly, yes, the database is basically the same for all firmware on the e-ink ereaders. It has changed over time, but the schema is backwardly compatible. The WiFi can use the same database schema as the Aura. In fact, the desktop app will update the database schema even if you do not let it update the firmware. The older firmware won't touch the content_settings table and other parts of the database.

For the font settings, there have been changes. My memory says the advanced settings was not in the 1,9.x firmware. With 3.2.0, the advanced settings combined two of the sliders into one. The other difference is that the values behind the line height settings have changed once when Kobo reduced the minimum setting.

The individual font settings was added around FW2.2. Before that, all books used the settings in the config file. I think that is part of the reason for the way it is handled. They added saving the individual settings onto what was already happening. Personally, I'm happy with the way it works. I rarely change the settings, so it means there aren't extra rows in the database. It also works for me as I tend to read a book from start to finish.

The advanced settings is only there for the fonts supplied on the device. It isn't on the "Document default" because that is not actually a font. That says to use whatever font the book specified and it if doesn't use a default the firmware specified. If you choose a font, it overrides the set by the book. I'm not sure if it overrides the font everywhere or only certain uses.

The advanced settings are only stored in the config file. I think the expectation is that you tune them once to suit once. The other settings override or adjust things in the books, so storing them at the book level makes sense. The font slider on the advanced settings is the same setting as the main dialog, I think the idea is that as you adjust the sharpness/weight, you might find that you can use a different font size. The advanced settings are stored for each font in the config file.
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