MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Feature request: Calibre Multi user/device access

Cool Javelin · 06-08-2018, 02:42 PM

First, right off the bat, I just like to say Calibre is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is mature, stable, and does whet it is designed to do extremely well. Better in fact then most other programs I use.

Kovid.

That said:

My guess is this has been asked from time to time but I'd just like to add another brick on the wall.

It would be nice if the Calibre database could be accessed by more then one user/computer at a time.

I have my database on one of my slowest computers as the server seems to perform OK there, and the web access is slow anyway. But I like to edit the database (via Calibre proper) from my fastest computer which is the one I generally sit at.

I understand this is bad to alter the database via the network, so I have been using a remote desktop to run Calibre on my slow machine and that is, well, slow.

I think multi user access could be implemented by having a Database Server Engine (DSE) on the computer with the database, and all other programs (Calibre, Content Server, etc...) alter the db via the DSE similar to the way Quickbooks handles multi user access.

You could use sockets, or maybe another IPC (inter process communication) method. Basically, change all reads/writes from/to the database to socket requests and the single DSE handles them in some kind of order.

This would eliminate the issue of one user altering the database without another user knowing about it and corrupting the database.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for listening,
Mark.

06-08-2018, 02:42 PM	#1
Cool Javelin Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 18222 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: Kindle (early)	Feature request: Calibre Multi user/device access First, right off the bat, I just like to say Calibre is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is mature, stable, and does whet it is designed to do extremely well. Better in fact then most other programs I use. Kovid. That said: My guess is this has been asked from time to time but I'd just like to add another brick on the wall. It would be nice if the Calibre database could be accessed by more then one user/computer at a time. I have my database on one of my slowest computers as the server seems to perform OK there, and the web access is slow anyway. But I like to edit the database (via Calibre proper) from my fastest computer which is the one I generally sit at. I understand this is bad to alter the database via the network, so I have been using a remote desktop to run Calibre on my slow machine and that is, well, slow. I think multi user access could be implemented by having a Database Server Engine (DSE) on the computer with the database, and all other programs (Calibre, Content Server, etc...) alter the db via the DSE similar to the way Quickbooks handles multi user access. You could use sockets, or maybe another IPC (inter process communication) method. Basically, change all reads/writes from/to the database to socket requests and the single DSE handles them in some kind of order. This would eliminate the issue of one user altering the database without another user knowing about it and corrupting the database. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for listening, Mark.