[chaley]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Re: 1 - If I open a book from the "All by Author" Collection sorted by Author, then Options - Back to List, the sort by Author seems to be retained. But if navigating Home - Collections - All by Author, then sort by Added Order seems to be the default starting position. I don't know whether calibre controls this default. All I can see in the media.xml file for Collections (playlist) is title, sourceid, id, uuid. I don't think items 1, 3 and 4 define sort sequence, I'm not sure what sourceid is but it doesn't sound much like a sort sequence. We'd need chaley again.

As far as I know, calibre has no role in what kind of sort/display the device uses. Calibre puts information into the DB. The reader displays it how it wants to.

For collections, calibre adds books so that the 'added order' is the order calibre thinks the collection should be in. This order is controllable by the user using tweaks and plugboards. The default is 'series index order' for collections built from series metadata columns and title_sort order for collections built from non-series columns. The tweak sony_collection_sorting_rules is used to indicate that another metadata column is to be used to sort a collection. Plugboards can be used to change the value of title_sort.

The sourceid tells the sony where the collection is -- main memory or on a card. IIRC, ids 1-L are in memory, L+1 - M are on card A, and M+1 - N are on card B. SourceID is set to L+1 or M+1, depending. I am operating from memory, so I might have the values wrong.

Re: 2 - I don't have any DRM'd books or Library books, so I was hoping you'd know more than me on that front. Your guess is as good as mine.

I also have no idea. I have a 300 that doesn't have such a collection, and in any event I have never put a DRMed book on my device.

Originally Posted by seanbob

I do sometimes use ADE to add borrowed library books, but do not create collections. If I continue to use automatic metadata management in Calibre, will I have a problem using ADE to load/read library rentals on my device? Or is it only a problem if I've created collections for them in ADE?

ADE puts books in a place that calibre doesn't know about. Because of this, calibre thinks that the books don't exist and deletes them from the database. The reader will re-add them, but their presence in collections is lost. I also think that bookmarks and the like are lost.

I have considered enhancing calibre's sony device driver to scan for books in these other special places. My problem is that I don't know where these special places are or what the side effects might be.

I tried to find an answer for myself, but it just led to more questions...
I added DRM'ed library books into Calibre, which added them to the Reader just fine, but with a different look. It appeared as if their DRM had been stripped out since it no longer showed the usual expiration countdown. Is there an explanation for this behavior? Could they still be DRM'ed, but not showing it? Can Calibre automatically create a custom collection based on books that are DRM'ed, such as library rentals?

My guess is that the clock appears for books in ADE's special folder. If the book is elsewhere, then the reader thinks that it is a normal DRMed book. The books are most definitely still DRMed.

As for creating a special collection: no, not easily. The problem is that calibre doesn't know a book is DRMed until it tries to manipulate it, something that happens outside the part of code that deals with collections. My suggestion is to tag (perhaps a custom column) these books when you add them, then build a collection from the column. If you are a programmer, then consider writing a plugin to add library books, tagging them in the process.