[Zealousky]

Originally Posted by theducks

An aside

This practice is not a supported usage. See the FAQ on Network shares or NAS

You may be lucky. then something changes
All I can say Keep good backups


BTW
IIRC Column widths are stored inside the DB.
Consider using the I(nfo) panel (IMHO better than the Details pane)

I've had multiple Calibre libraries on my NAS drive for years without problems. I think I am using ext3 on my N7700 Pro, but I set it up so long ago that I have forgotten. I think that I have only used Calibre installs on Windows machines to access it though. On the few occasions I have accessed the same library on multiple machines, the original machine is locked out of the DB and any unsaved changes are lost. I haven't had any DB corruption though luckily (knock on wood).

Originally Posted by BetterRed

That implies you are using a common calibre configuration folder across the different machines. If that's so, and you haven't already done it, then I suggest you might want to consider implementing some sort of 'in use' semaphore that prevents concurrent access from multiple machines, some day Murphy's (USA only) or Sods' (everywhere else) Laws will kick in.

I have a NAS drive, and its my understanding that the column configuration is stored in the library's metadata, so that is why changing it on one computer changes it on another. I know what you mean by a semaphore, but I have no idea how to implement one in Calibre. Fortunately or unfortunately I am the Keeper of Libraries in my house and most other people don't mess with them, only occasionally my wife. I have a machine set up with multiple instances of Calibre servers (1 for each library) running which is how the books are normally accessed. I do access them from either from my desktop or my laptop though, hence the question. Given the decreasing cost and increasing use of home NAS machines though some sort of in use signal would be a great and useful addition to Calibre even if NAS's still aren't officially supported for other reasons.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

If you put the book details panel at the bottom, by setting Preferences->Look and Feel->User Interface layout (needs restart) to Narrow perhaps you can define a layout that is suitable across your different monitors.

Alternatively, the View Manager plugin may be of some use to you. It can maintain different book list column layouts (including column widths) and sort orders within each library. But it's not monitor aware, so you would need to set up monitor specific views for each library.

BR

Thanks for the idea. View manager sounds promising since I have a single Calibre install on each computer, and each computer is semi-permanently connected to a specific monitor at a specific resolution. I'll dig into it.

Regards,
Simon