Transfer only highlights from one Kobo to another?

[psycake]

Hello, hope you all are doing fine!

My Kobo Clara Colour was recently stolen and I replaced it with a Libra Colour. Thankfully I had a recent backup of its full storage (including the main KoboReader.sqlite database) so I didn't really lose any data.

My first thought was to just copy everything from the Clara backup over to the Libra but since they are different models I figured it would be best to keep the default files/db of the Libra and only copy what I really need.

I retransferred my books with Calibre then simply thought of copying all entries in the relevant tables of the KoboReader.sqlite database. I see highlights (and notes and bookmarks) are stored in the Bookmark table, while saved words are stored in WordList.

Copying over the entries in WordList was successful and I was able to get them all back, being linked to the correct book (which I see is identified by its route). However, I can't seem to get the highlights copied over.

I did notice that every entry has an associated UserID, the same as the one in the user table. This ID has changed for me as I had to create a new account to "sign out" of the stolen Clara, so I made sure to change that column on every entry. Still, the Libra doesn't seem to show the transferred highlights, and the entries for the highlights of synced books (i.e. not sideloaded) even get deleted after a sync.

(Just as a sidenote, yes, I want to copy over the highlights for my synced books, since this move to the new account made me lose them as well.)

The book routes in columns VolumeID and ContentID seem correct and match the file structure in the Libra, so I'm not sure what I'm missing?

Tangentially, I have also tried to transfer the time spent reading of my books by changing the TimeSpentReading column for every book in the content table, but it doesn't seem to work.

Any guidance? Thanks in advance!

[uncolored490]

I would back up the storage on the new device, then manually re-create a highlight. Then compare how the storage has changed since the backup. Not just the database. But of course also check how that entry looks and try to find the matching entry in your old device's backup.

Sorry I can't be of any more help. I don't own any E-Reader yet but am/was interessted in the Kobo Libra Colour due to me reading mostly non-fiction and always carrying a set of markers and pens with me so I can highlight stuff and sometimes even scribble little remarks between the lines. The fact that Kobo doesn't let you sync all that information is what pulled me into a big rabbit hole that led me to your post. The case you are describing is what my main concern is: what if I lose or break my device? Even what happens if I just want to upgrade to a newer device (by the same company), what happens to my notes, highlights, scribbles? This feature is very important to me, but pretty much all e-reader makers seem to not care at all about more than your position in the book. Kindle probably does it best, but I don't want to buy a Kindle device.

Another thing I found out is that the scribbles you can make with the Kobo Stylus are NOT stored in the database. It seems like the files are accessible, but it's probably some proprietary binary format that I'm not sure would transfer to a different Kobo device (especially a newer model). Lucky for you that's probably not your issue since you don't have any handwritten notes yet, but just as a word of warning: if the issue you are currently facing is a problem, scribbles will be even harder to resolve if you find yourself in the same situation with your new KLC lost or broken.

I guess I shouldn't complain: if I lose a book I also lose all my notes in it. But at least they are in my home, and that means losing my notes in my books would probably be my least concern. But if I spend that much money I would at least want to be able to carry my notes with me. If I replace my bookshelf it will retain all the notes - an e-reader is just a digital bookshelf.