Calibre2OPDS problems

[kksdragons]

Firstly, Thanks for this great program (and of course Calibre!)! Please bear with me as I'm not very computer savvy.


After working on a 4,000+ ebook library in Calibre, I finally got around to posting it on a server for my family using Calibre2OPDS in HTML and I have a few things I can't figure out and couldn't seem to find via searching:

1. When I go to d/l an epub from the server, the path shows an epub but when the d/l dialog box opens, it is a zip file. This will obviously not work! Why is this happening and how do I fix it? Did I do something wrong?
2. The Search page doesn't work. It says "Calibre library - Demo - pure OPDS" at the top. Does Search only work in OPDS, not HTML? Is this fixable?
3. I also seem to have to open the C2OPDS GUI by navigating to the folder and double-clicking the "OpdsOutput-3.1-SNAPSHOT.jar" file. Isn't there an .exe file for this?
4. I did search for incremental updates but can't make sense of if this is possible or not for a large library or how to do it?

I'm running v.3.1 on W7/64-bit and there were no error msgs when I ran the library through C2OPDS.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by kksdragons

When I go to d/l an epub from the server, the path shows an epub but when the d/l dialog box opens, it is a zip file. This will obviously not work! Why is this happening and how do I fix it? Did I do something wrong?

There are two possible scenarios for this:
- you are using Internet Explorer as your browser. IE ignores the mime type and says it is a zip file by looking at the content (an ePub IS a zip file under the covers). In this case the only recourse is to rename the file back to ePub.
- the web server you are using ignores the mime type in the HTML and needs it setting up explicitly in the web server configuration for ePub file types

The Search page doesn't work. It says "Calibre library - Demo - pure OPDS" at the top. Does Search only work in OPDS, not HTML? Is this fixable?

the developer who was working on search seems to have gone quiet so no real idea. My personal experience is that it only seems to work on small libraries.

I also seem to have to open the C2OPDS GUI by navigating to the folder and double-clicking the "OpdsOutput-3.1-SNAPSHOT.jar" file. Isn't there an .exe file for this?

There is no exe as the program is written in Java. The install should have set up a menu shortcut to start via the rungui.cmd batch file. Note that there is a fixed version of this file for use on 64 bit Windows systems.

did search for incremental updates but can't make sense of if this is possible or not for a large library or how to do it?

There is no incremental update facility. The generation process does try and optimise a bit and avoid updating any generated files that are the same as the last run. Improving the optimisations further to speed up generation is on the roadmap, but I have no idea of likely timescales as some of the C2O developers seem to have little/no time free to work on it.

[kksdragons]

Thanks itimpi! I appreciate your speedy reply!

OK....

Originally Posted by itimpi

There are two possible scenarios for this:
- you are using Internet Explorer as your browser. IE ignores the mime type and says it is a zip file by looking at the content (an ePub IS a zip file under the covers). In this case the only recourse is to rename the file back to ePub.

Yes, I use IE, as do several members of my family who will be using the library. Way too many books to try to rename them all!

Originally Posted by itimpi

- the web server you are using ignores the mime type in the HTML and needs it setting up explicitly in the web server configuration for ePub file types.

This sounds like the best option for my large (and still growing) library. HOW, exactly do I do this?? Is there a specific code that needs to go somewhere? And, once done, does whatever this is need to be redone every time I generate a new library?

Originally Posted by itimpi

the developer who was working on search seems to have gone quiet so no real idea. My personal experience is that it only seems to work on small libraries.

Rats! Hope s/he wakes up soon!

Originally Posted by itimpi

There is no incremental update facility. The generation process does try and optimise a bit and avoid updating any generated files that are the same as the last run. Improving the optimisations further to speed up generation is on the roadmap, but I have no idea of likely timescales as some of the C2O developers seem to have little/no time free to work on it.

Sure would be a nice-to-have function!

Is there a list of the various options you can check/modifications/customizations you can make on the different tabs within the GUI? I start looking at these tabs and my eyes glaze over (even with the pop-up explanations). My erstwhile coding skills are about 30 years out of date!

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by kksdragons

Yes, I use IE, as do several members of my family who will be using the library. Way too many books to try to rename them all!

. I meant the file needs renaming at download time - not in the library! This appears to be behaviour that Microsoft in their Wisdom have built into IE.

This sounds like the best option for my large (and still growing) library. HOW, exactly do I do this?? Is there a specific code that needs to go somewhere? And, once done, does whatever this is need to be redone every time I generate a new library?

this is for fixing the issue if it is occurring in browsers that are NOT IE. it is a fix in the settings for the web server - you have not mentioned what web server you are using. It is a one-off fix if it what is required. C2O already sets the mime type on the download link, but as I said many web servers seem to ignore it.

Is there a list of the various options you can check/modifications/customizations you can make on the different tabs within the GUI?[/B] I start looking at these tabs and my eyes glaze over (even with the pop-up explanations). My erstwhile coding skills are about 30 years out of date!

There is the online User manual which has all the option detailed and a lot more information than the tool tips. This is linked to both from the generated catalog and via the C2O Help menu. Are you looking for something else? If so what?