[GUI Plugin] Kindle Collections (old)

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by MiraSlunicko

I came across the same idea - that it is something with Python installation. But, unfortunatelly, I am not a Pythonist and I am not able to determine the source of the problem.

Anyway, I'll try to install the plugin on a notebook where is only Python 2.6 and will se if it works there and then I'll publish the results here.

Mira

I'm definitely interested in your results. I'm not a Pythonist either but I am a long-time Windows user and have seen some pretty interesting issues over the years and have had pretty good luck fixing them. Sometimes Windows (and other software) treats the registry like a gas station bathroom.

Calibre installs with all required dependencies, but it's peacefully coexisting with a standard Py 2.6 install on my system. I'm thinking the issue has to do with the stuff that the Kindelabra package installed, either a conflict of some sort or just a glitch when it installed that may have left some mixed up registry issues.

If it works on the other computer, I recommend uninstalling those other things using RevoUninstaller if you're comfortable with it. It does a deep clean but it lets you see everything before you give it the okay to delete any extra files or registry entries.

Or you can use CCleaner to check for registry errors and export them to a text file without actually making any changes to your system. I can explain it if you're interested and have never used it. (I never actually instruct people to clean their registry - I try to find problems and give possible options. CCleaner has never messed anything up for me but I don't want to be responsible if it ever does. I'd rather see what it finds and see if that points to the problem. No need to use a nuke when a flyswatter will do.)

[chilady1]

Right out the gate want to say sorry if this has been asked. Here goes. Before the plug-in my collections looked like this:

0 Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake
0 J.D. Robb - In Death
You get the picture. The 0 was added only as a first character in order for the collections to alpha correctly.

After the plug-in I show the following:

_Business (1)
_Catalog (2)
_Chick Lit (8)....
These are all tags - then it starts to list my collections:

_Accidental Friends (4)
_Advice Column Mystery (3)

TWO QUESTIONS:

1. Can I somehow get my collections to list author and series name? If so, how do I do this?
2. Even if it is just the series name I am ok with that, but can I get all of the tag like collections to disappear before the actual collections begin?

I have customized the plug-in to just show authors and series. Somehow the tags are still being picked up. Hope these questions make sense and hope someone can help me with this. Love the plug-in by the way. Being able to do everything within Calibre is a big timesaver (once I get it situated the way I want it.) I know it is just a matter of the settings but not sure, what I am doing wrong. Thanks All!

P.S. I have read the first post here regarding how to customize and have been trying to figure this out on my own.

[meme]

Originally Posted by chilady1

1. Can I somehow get my collections to list author and series name? If so, how do I do this?
2. Even if it is just the series name I am ok with that, but can I get all of the tag like collections to disappear before the actual collections begin?

This has gotten to be a long thread hasn't it. No problem in asking questions, that's why its here

Use the preview mode to test things out - saves lots of Restarts - and the report tells you what's setup.


2. If Calibre tags are showing up as Kindle collections, are you sure the tags row is unchecked - you may need to scroll the window to see it. Look at the preview report as it will show which Calibre fields are selected and will tell you if a collection comes from the Kindle or Calibre. Try a different prefix to see if its really using the tags info.

1. What do you mean by getting your collections to list author and series name? I'll take a guess but it may not be what you're looking for so, e.g. :
To simply show the Series names as Collection names, check the box next to 'series' in the customization window. Uncheck the other boxes if you don't want authors, tags, etc.

To create Collection names with names like 'MyAuthor - SeriesA' you probably need to create a custom column in Calibre,e.g. (are you sitting down...):

• Make sure you are running 0.7.45 or later to support custom templates in the metadata on the Kindle
• Select Preferences -> 'Add your own columns' (or right click on Calibre's column header (where it says Author/Title/Series/etc) and select 'Add your own columns'
• Click 'Add custom column'
• Enter 'author_series' as the 'Lookup name'
• Enter 'Author - Series' as the 'Column heading'
• Select 'column created from other columns' in the drop down
• Enter the following text as the 'Template' - every book will show an author_series value of 'Author - Series' or 'Author')
  

  {author}{series:| - |}

  ...or enter this text as the template to collect only books in a series - books not in series won't have a value, but those in a series will be 'Author - Series'
  

  {series:'test(field('series'),strcat(field('author'),' - ',field('series')), '')'}

• Save, and restart Calibre
• You will now see your new column - check that it looks right
• You may need to use send books to device to force the column info onto the Kindle (still need to test this more)
• Disconnect and reconnect your Kindle - so that the new column information updated on the Kindle
• Customize the plugin and check the box next to 'author_series'
• And run Preview to see if its what you want

See 'Common composite columns' in https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=118563. And if anyone has a simpler way of doing the second template let me know.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by meme

• Enter the following text ...snip...
  ...or enter this text as the template to collect only books in a series - books not in series won't have a value, but those in a series will be 'Author - Series'
  

  {series:'test(field('series'),strcat(field('author'),' - ',field('series')), '')'}

And if anyone has a simpler way of doing the second template let me know.

Either

{series:'test($,template('[[series]] - [[authors]]'),'')'}

or

program:test(field('series'),template('{series} - {authors}'),'')

[meme]

Ah, the template function (and program) is what I was missing, thanks.

I think I like this one best since it makes it clear its a program and doesn't use series: at the start which isn't really used in the code:

Originally Posted by chaley

program:test(field('series'),template('{authors} - {series}'),'')

Of course, its probably the simple template (always show author name) that is more useful, but it was a good way to understand template code a bit more.

[chilady1]

Originally Posted by meme

This has gotten to be a long thread hasn't it. No problem in asking questions, that's why its here

Use the preview mode to test things out - saves lots of Restarts - and the report tells you what's setup.


2. If Calibre tags are showing up as Kindle collections, are you sure the tags row is unchecked - you may need to scroll the window to see it. Look at the preview report as it will show which Calibre fields are selected and will tell you if a collection comes from the Kindle or Calibre. Try a different prefix to see if its really using the tags info.

1. What do you mean by getting your collections to list author and series name? I'll take a guess but it may not be what you're looking for so, e.g. :
To simply show the Series names as Collection names, check the box next to 'series' in the customization window. Uncheck the other boxes if you don't want authors, tags, etc.

To create Collection names with names like 'MyAuthor - SeriesA' you probably need to create a custom column in Calibre,e.g. (are you sitting down...):

• Make sure you are running 0.7.45 or later to support custom templates in the metadata on the Kindle
• Select Preferences -> 'Add your own columns' (or right click on Calibre's column header (where it says Author/Title/Series/etc) and select 'Add your own columns'
• Click 'Add custom column'
• Enter 'author_series' as the 'Lookup name'
• Enter 'Author - Series' as the 'Column heading'
• Select 'column created from other columns' in the drop down
• Enter the following text as the 'Template' - every book will show an author_series value of 'Author - Series' or 'Author')
  

  {author}{series:| - |}

  ...or enter this text as the template to collect only books in a series - books not in series won't have a value, but those in a series will be 'Author - Series'
  

  {series:'test(field('series'),strcat(field('author'),' - ',field('series')), '')'}

• Save, and restart Calibre
• You will now see your new column - check that it looks right
• You may need to use send books to device to force the column info onto the Kindle (still need to test this more)
• Disconnect and reconnect your Kindle - so that the new column information updated on the Kindle
• Customize the plugin and check the box next to 'author_series'
• And run Preview to see if its what you want

See 'Common composite columns' in https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=118563. And if anyone has a simpler way of doing the second template let me know.

Thanks Meme for the plugin and the great step by step instructions. Will try later when I get home. Appreciate the effort !

[Rie142]

Originally Posted by chilady1

Thanks Meme for the plugin and the great step by step instructions. Will try later when I get home. Appreciate the effort !

Meme: I also wanted to thank you very much. It works great now that I have fixed all MY errors. Thank you so very much for all the help and the great program.

I also wanted to thank everyone else for the help.

[Algiedi]

I found this thread while I was looking for a way to manage tags, to use with the "folder structure to .json" thingy (I lost the relevant thread), after trying the Kindle Collection Manager (this forum is an incredible maze of awesome stuff for a brand new user) and...

Well my point was that your plugin works perfectly and that I'm infinitely grateful for it
So I just wanted to say kudos and thanks so much for sharing your hard work with us!

[pchrist7]

Hi meme.
Thank you So much !
Been looking at your plugin for quite some sime, but was never brave enough to try it.
Had a bad, sad week since calibre/K3 got totally out of sync. I suspect a corrupted metadata.calibre file on my K3. All tries to fix failed, so had to factory reset my K3 and start over. Your plugin is so cool ! I only have 1 amazon book so far that gets removed when re-running your plugin.
I REALLY love this plugin !
AND Thanks to ALL the testers as well, making my week end on a bright note

[meme]

pchrist7 (and korinian, rie142), thanks for your thanks. Much appreciated

For that 1 amazon book that gets removed, I'd like to know more about it - the report might indicate why it gets deleted.

[pchrist7]

Originally Posted by meme

pchrist7 (and korinian, rie142), thanks for your thanks. Much appreciated

For that 1 amazon book that gets removed, I'd like to know more about it - the report might indicate why it gets deleted.

Hi meme
The book is The Winds of Dune, authors set by Amazon is Anderson, Kevin J. & Herbert Brian
I know I could de-DRM, change metadata, but ....
Basically I make collections by author only, and would manually put that book into "Brian Herbert" collection.
No big deal, but any tips are more than welcome

[meme]

Is the book only on the Kindle, or in Calibre and the Kindle?
What does the plugin's report file show for that book?
If its in Calibre, also run calibre-debug -g >out, then preview collections, and search the log for that file and post what it shows.

[pchrist7]

Originally Posted by meme

Is the book only on the Kindle, or in Calibre and the Kindle?
What does the plugin's report file show for that book?
If its in Calibre, also run calibre-debug -g >out, then preview collections, and search the log for that file and post what it shows.

Only on Kindle

[meme]

Just to be clear - the plugin won't remove any books from the Kindle. It only works on the collections. But If you create another collection using Calibre data with the same name as the collection, then only the Calibre books will be in the collection.

In other words, you need to separate collections into Kindle managed collections, and Calibre managed collections (though a book can be in both).

If you have Collection1 on the Kindle with KindleOnlyBook1 in it, and you create a tag called Collection1 in Calibre with a few books in it, then you run the plugin, the result will be that Collection1 is replaced with the Collection1 from Calibre containing only Calibre books. So your Kindle book won't be in the collection anymore (though of course the book is still on the Kindle).


I've considered merging collections so that if a collection exists on the Kindle and has the same name in Calibre, then only the new Calibre books are added. The issue is that if you remove a book from e.g. a tag in Calibre then that book will stay in the collection on the Kindle until you manually delete. And the point of the plugin is to manage it via Calibre.

At this point it seems clearer to say there are Kindle managed collections, and Calibre managed collections and never the twain shall meet. But as always I'm open to change

[SingleEyePhotos]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Go back into your toolbar preferences > Toolbar when a device is connected:

Remove "manage collections" and replace it with "Create Kindle Collections". I believe "manage collections" is a Sony function.

Uh-oh... That was it - thank you C. Watkins-Nash! I think the 1st post on this thread specifically said to pick the menu item 'manage collections' , at least when I started - maybe it's been changed now to be more clear. If not - hint, hint...

Since feedback on the plugin has been requested several times in this thread, I'll provide my experiences and the things I noted.
1. The plugin will only add books that are 'on device' to collections. So, if you have some books in your library that are not on the device, they won't end up in collections. That bit me because about 25% of my books, for whatever reason, were on the device, but Calibre didn't recognize them as 'on device'. I tried sending those books to the device, but it only made duplicates, and if I deleted one (the old one), Calibre said that they weren't on the device any more. I finally took a deep breath, crossed my fingers, and deleted ALL books from my device. I tried running the plugin and kept getting an error. After a few tests, I realized that the books MUST be on the device, not just in the library. Once I loaded all the books to the device, which took some time but went without incident, the error disappeared.

2. Once the issue in #1 was cleared, the plugin worked exactly as described. No problems whatsoever. I did end up with some books that were not in collections, but after thinking about it a bit, I determined that that was a function of incorrect metadata in the library, not the plugin. I deleted them and updated the metadata, then re-did the plugin. That corrected the problem. Sending all my books to the device 'as new' did have the unfortunate effect of wiping out my notes on when I read them (not a big deal, to me) and of removing my place in books that were still in progress. I wasn't happy about that, then realized that I could sync to last page read - which worked perfectly and only took a few minutes to mark the ones that I was still working on.

3. I had a custom 'Collection' column set up, and used that for the plugin. I used that column to mark the ORIGINAL collection the book was in, and used the '+' indicator for the Calibre catalog functon to mark books as read. I would have liked to point the plugin to the Collection column and somehow tell it that if there was a tag '+' to change the data in that column to Already Read. But I couldn't figure that out, and ended up adding 'Already Read' to my Collection column. I think it would be nice if the catalog and collection plugins could somehow be integrated. I didn't want collections built from tags (except for '+'), and I didn't want books listed in 2 collections (Already Read and the original genre collection).

To summarize, it took me a while to do the first run-through with the plugin, but once I got those glitches worked out, the plugin was great! I re-did it again today with only 3 new books, and it only took a few minutes from start to finish. So long as I continue to handle the transfer to library and then back to device consistently, going forward, it should be a fairly quick process to update collections using the Calibre plugin.