Two or more computers access

[Bernie123]

Is it possible to allow two computers to access the same Calibre Library as we have to catalog about 10,000 books and need more than one access point

Thanks in anticipation

Bernie

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Bernie123

Is it possible to allow two computers to access the same Calibre Library as we have to catalog about 10,000 books and need more than one access point

Thanks in anticipation

Bernie

Read only mode, using the Calibre Content server and a standard browser.
Only ONE computer can be running the Calibre GUI/CLI at any time or bad things can happen to the DB or books.

[mrmikel]

As I understand it, you can also get into trouble if you try to work on the same database with different operating systems, such as Windows and Linux or Mac, even one at a time. This is because the different operating systems recognize or don't that capitals are different from smaller case. That is something else to watch out for.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by mrmikel

As I understand it, you can also get into trouble if you try to work on the same database with different operating systems, such as Windows and Linux or Mac, even one at a time. This is because the different operating systems recognize or don't that capitals are different from smaller case. That is something else to watch out for.

Truth

[Man Eating Duck]

Originally Posted by mrmikel

As I understand it, you can also get into trouble if you try to work on the same database with different operating systems, such as Windows and Linux or Mac, even one at a time. This is because the different operating systems recognize or don't that capitals are different from smaller case. That is something else to watch out for.

(My emphasis) I don't access them simultaneously which makes this a bit offtopic, but I store my libraries in Dropbox on Windows 7 and Linux Mint, and I haven't had those problems for a long time (somewhere around Calibre 0.7.20-ish IIRC). To make things even more complicated I also use the same Dropbox folder stored on an NTFS partition both from Linux and Windows on my home desktop (I use mount --bind in Linux).

I honestly thought that setup would end in disaster when I tried it, either because of Dropbox or Calibre, but it has worked without a hitch for quite some time. I suspect that always keeping it on NTFS helps. I also do frequent automated differential backups which enable me to recover to points in time, this allows me to comfortably experiment like this.

YMMV, no guarantees and so on, but if you have good backups (and have tested recovery) you can try things like this without too much risk. It takes some work to set it up, but I love the flexibility of my current setup

[Bernie123]

OK thanks, In this day of shared access I do see this as a major weakness in the software. Most modern databases offer shared access with record locking for editing. Its a great pity as I love the product in all other aspects it works well

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Bernie123

OK thanks, In this day of shared access I do see this as a major weakness in the software. Most modern databases offer shared access with record locking for editing. Its a great pity as I love the product in all other aspects it works well

The file system is part (the actual book part) of the database.
'Record locking' that when it is used in any way(RWDC), is a big hurdle.
It has to work flawlessly cross platform
it has to work on a simple, User class CPU (Think Project Gutenberg. How many RACKS of servers just to make that work?)

There are some very smart (not me) people working on this