Calibre Companion: To be or not to be

[sophieturgeon]

Hello everyone,

I will be getting my Samsung Tab 3 Lite tomorrow. Last year's model, but it should be enough for my needs. Of course, I want to use it as an ereader device as well and I was wondering if I should install CC or not. I don't want to have to manage the same library on 2 different devices. Here are the things I am looking for:

-keep and manage my library on my PC
-have my top 10 favorites books on the tablet
-have the next 4 or 5 books I intend to read on my tablet
-be able to download the books to the tablet using WiFi
-it would be nice to be able to see the metadata info on the tablet

Can I do all these things simply by using FBreader with Caliber Connection? Or are there other suggestions that might keep things very simple? I look forward to your input.

[gsparks2]

You should be able to do this. I know nothing of FBreader but I know CC can do this.

[chaley]

You can do what you want with the demo (free) version of CC. It lets you have 20 books on your device. CC integrates well with fbreader. Don't bother with using fbreader's library features, just use it as a reader app.

Of course I wouldn't mind if you bought the full version of CC , but I suggest you try the demo version so you are sure that it does what you want and works well on your home network.

[sophieturgeon]

Hello everyone. I am in the process of testing CC. So far so good. When researching this forums, I read a few people having problem installing it and getting it to work. But it was easy to figure out. Before moving to the big version, I want to organize and tag my almost 3000-books library. So I am moving on to the metadata plugboards. Someone said it can help me. I am certain you will hear from me soon, with questions!

Thanks everyone!

[chaley]

Originally Posted by sophieturgeon

So I am moving on to the metadata plugboards. Someone said it can help me. I am certain you will hear from me soon, with questions!

Thanks everyone!

If you are using CC as your library organizer (which is the recommended way to use it), metadata plugboards serve no useful purpose. They are needed only when using a reader app as the organizer. Reason: CC sees all the calibre metadata, so there is no need to embed that metadata into book titles etc. CC never looks inside a book for information.

[DoctorOhh]

@sophieturgeon I moved your most recent post to a calibre forum so you can get more eyes on your specific request.

[redjohn]

I am going to try CC I have the kindle app on my tablet Samsung tab 3 lite do I still need a reading app or will the books go into the kindle app like they do on my kindle

[chaley]

Originally Posted by redjohn

I am going to try CC I have the kindle app on my tablet Samsung tab 3 lite do I still need a reading app or will the books go into the kindle app like they do on my kindle

As long as you tell CC to put amazon formats (mobi etc) into the directory /kindle on your tablet (CC Settings / Formats and folders), the kindle app (K4A) works as a reading app for CC. There is one exception: when you "read" a book in CC, it can launch K4A but cannot tell K4A which book to open. K4A launches then you must navigate to the book yourself. This is due to a limitation in K4A.

I suggest you install the free CC Demo version to be sure that CC works properly on your network and that it does what you want.

[cybmole]

I thought cc opened the correct mobi book but always at page one ?
That was a couple of versions back but Maybe I only tested with one book ?

[cybmole]

Or am I thinking of behaviour that is specific to kindle fire tablet ?

[PeterT]

I don't think CC can control what page a book opens on; that's a behavior of the actual reading program.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by cybmole

Or am I thinking of behaviour that is specific to kindle fire tablet ?

On the Kindle Fire (perhaps not all models) CC is able to tell the native reader app to open the book. In this case, even if the book is already open in the native reader but at some other page, it will reset to the first page.

On any device that uses K4A, CC can only open the app to display the library view.

Most other reader apps will open the book to whatever page was last displayed.

[Thomas_AR]

As i am also checking out CC for several reasons i have a simple question:
Situation:
1. downloaded via CC <-> "Calibre server on PC" book "x" to my tablet.
2. After some days i edit the meta-files of book "X" in Calibre

Question:
Does CC seas this changes when opening and connecting to the Calibre server and actualizes/re-downloads the book?

[Terisa de morgan]

Yes, updated metadata are sent to CC (and the book, if you edit it and you choose the option in CC).

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Thomas_AR

As i am also checking out CC for several reasons i have a simple question:
Situation:
1. downloaded via CC <-> "Calibre server on PC" book "x" to my tablet.
2. After some days i edit the meta-files of book "X" in Calibre

Question:
Does CC seas this changes when opening and connecting to the Calibre server and actualizes/re-downloads the book?

To amplify on what Terisa de morgan said:

It depends on which calibre server you are using. For content server connections the answer is "no". It does not update metadata for books previously sent.

For wireless device connections the answer is "yes". Metadata & covers for all books on the device are updated on every connection. If you have changed a book file since you last sent it then the file can optionally be updated as well.

There is nothing that will automatically send a book file if that file has not changed but the metadata for the book has changed. CC has no need to update the book.