Viewer read status oddity

[Uncle Robin]

I've been updating my current read regularly using the Kobo Utilties plugin, but also reading the same book in the viewer, for 100% hands-free reading courtesy of auto-scroll. It's led to an odd discrepancy that has curious, as shown in the screen shot.

It's not just the difference in the read position that I'm curious about, it's the "book last read" - I read some of this book in the viewer just yesterday. Another case of "lies, damned lies, and statistics"?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I've been updating my current read regularly using the Kobo Utilties plugin, but also reading the same book in the viewer, for 100% hands-free reading courtesy of auto-scroll. It's led to an odd discrepancy that has curious, as shown in the screen shot.

It's not just the difference in the read position that I'm curious about, it's the "book last read" - I read some of this book in the viewer just yesterday. Another case of "lies, damned lies, and statistics"?

Looks like you are mixing statistics from your Kobo reader and from calibre's viewer. And ne'er the twain shall meet.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Looks like you are mixing statistics from your Kobo reader and from calibre's viewer. And ne'er the twain shall meet.

Yes, I did consider that as a possibility, which is why I said it was the "book last read" entry that was most puzzling. The date given was wrong by more than a week, for both the viewer and my Libra. I've probably read a third of the book on my viewer over multiple sessions, yet none of them affected that "last read" date. After posting my query here, I opened the viewer, started the book from the very beginning and let it auto-scroll until it reached 15%. The "book last read date" and the "Percentage read" figures remain exactly as in that screenshot.

[davidfor]

How are you updating the last read date when using the viewer? There was a plugin to do it, but, it hasn't been updated. And I don't remember another way.

For the reading status from the Kobo device, that does require the device to be connected and whether the status is fetched will depend on the options. One of those looks at the last time read so that it only updates the status if the device has a newer time. If you are sharing this column with the time for the viewer, you might not always get the status from the device.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by davidfor

How are you updating the last read date when using the viewer? There was a plugin to do it, but, it hasn't been updated. And I don't remember another way.

For the reading status from the Kobo device, that does require the device to be connected and whether the status is fetched will depend on the options. One of those looks at the last time read so that it only updates the status if the device has a newer time. If you are sharing this column with the time for the viewer, you might not always get the status from the device.

My Calibre is setup so that the first job it does on connecting is check for any books on the device that need updating. I can't answer the bolded question because I have no idea - I only just noticed it last night.

[theducks]

When we say 'Viewer', we mean the on built into Calibre (V), not the reading app on a device.
But i Wonder if there is a need for the built ni one to behave more like folk want their device to do. ie Sync to last connected location regardless of the (supporting) device or Calibre

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by theducks

When we say 'Viewer', we mean the on built into Calibre (V), not the reading app on a device.
But i Wonder if there is a need for the built ni one to behave more like folk want their device to do. ie Sync to last connected location regardless of the (supporting) device or Calibre

This is one of the things that makes that "12 percent" a bit weird - when I open the viewer, it opens to the last location it was at, very close to the same mark as on my Libra. So it opens at, for example, 67% but says 12% read.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

This is one of the things that makes that "12 percent" a bit weird - when I open the viewer, it opens to the last location it was at, very close to the same mark as on my Libra. So it opens at, for example, 67% but says 12% read.

So what happens when you open the book in the viewer, go to different spot. I think you would need to go far enough away to change the percent read.

And was the reading status actually updated the last time the device was connected. That's what I was asking before. If you had been reading on both the device and then in calibre and then connected the device, and the last update was using the same column, the way I have this configured is that it wouldn't get the reading status from the device. Which could mean some inconsistencies.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by davidfor

How are you updating the last read date when using the viewer? There was a plugin to do it, but, it hasn't been updated. And I don't remember another way.

The feature is included in Job Spy too.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by davidfor

So what happens when you open the book in the viewer, go to different spot. I think you would need to go far enough away to change the percent read.

Since posting my initial query, I have read in the viewer from 0% to 15% without changing the "12%". I've subsequently opened the book viewer and gone to 55% then closed the viewer. I have just opened the viewer and read from the last opened position, 55% through to 67%. I then shut the viewer (and Calibre) down, and reopened Calibre then reopened the book in the viewer. It opened at 67%. The percent read showing underneath the metadata remains as in the screenshot, 12%

Originally Posted by davidfor

And was the reading status actually updated the last time the device was connected. That's what I was asking before. If you had been reading on both the device and then in calibre and then connected the device, and the last update was using the same column, the way I have this configured is that it wouldn't get the reading status from the device. Which could mean some inconsistencies.

The last time I connected my Libra the reading status did up date, to the 67% shown in the upper part of the screenshot.

I have just connected my Libra again, and the reading status has changed from 67% to 68% in the relevant column and the date ahs changed too:

Percent Read:
68
Formats:
EPUB, KEPUB
Last Read:
09 Oct 2020

Meanwhile, the 12% and 10-02 date at the bottom have not changed at all.

I chose the word "oddity" with care - this quirk does not trouble me, it intrigues me. I have never noticed a reading status update underneath a book's metadata info as in the screenshot before, and have made no changes to the Calibre setup to account for it. I have no idea how it even got to 12%, nor why it has not moved at all since that time, nearly a week ago. It's a mystery, which is kind of apt given that the book is a mystery anthology.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Since posting my initial query, I have read in the viewer from 0% to 15% without changing the "12%". I've subsequently opened the book viewer and gone to 55% then closed the viewer. I have just opened the viewer and read from the last opened position, 55% through to 67%. I then shut the viewer (and Calibre) down, and reopened Calibre then reopened the book in the viewer. It opened at 67%. The percent read showing underneath the metadata remains as in the screenshot, 12%



The last time I connected my Libra the reading status did up date, to the 67% shown in the upper part of the screenshot.

I have just connected my Libra again, and the reading status has changed from 67% to 68% in the relevant column and the date ahs changed too:


Meanwhile, the 12% and 10-02 date at the bottom have not changed at all.

I chose the word "oddity" with care - this quirk does not trouble me, it intrigues me. I have never noticed a reading status update underneath a book's metadata info as in the screenshot before, and have made no changes to the Calibre setup to account for it. I have no idea how it even got to 12%, nor why it has not moved at all since that time, nearly a week ago. It's a mystery, which is kind of apt given that the book is a mystery anthology.

All of that sounds like it is working correctly. Except for the column that is stuck at 12%. What is that column? How is it defined? If it was being update by a plugin, either the one I mentioned or Job Spy, maybe that isn't working.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by davidfor

All of that sounds like it is working correctly. Except for the column that is stuck at 12%. What is that column? How is it defined? If it was being update by a plugin, either the one I mentioned or Job Spy, maybe that isn't working.

Yes, there has never been an issue with the plugin that measures reading status. That 12% is not in a column (afaik). It's at the bottom of the book details window.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Yes, there has never been an issue with the plugin that measures reading status. That 12% is not in a column (afaik). It's at the bottom of the book details window.

I don't have it, and I can't find an option to add it. Are you sure it isn't a custom column?

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I don't have it, and I can't find an option to add it. Are you sure it isn't a custom column?

Attached is a screenshot of my columns from the Calibre preferences window, and details for the book in question. The data appears at the bottom of the book information in about 20 of the books I've read recently. They all show "Percentage Read 100%" except for this one, and one other. That other one I've finished, but it shows "Percentage Read 5%", where the data imported from the device by Kobo Utilities shows
"Percent Read: 100"


It's curious, to be sure

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Attached is a screenshot of my columns from the Calibre preferences window, and details for the book in question. The data appears at the bottom of the book information in about 20 of the books I've read recently. They all show "Percentage Read 100%" except for this one, and one other. That other one I've finished, but it shows "Percentage Read 5%", where the data imported from the device by Kobo Utilities shows
"Percent Read: 100"


It's curious, to be sure

That looks like it is text at the end of the comments field. And it looks like what calibre's "Fetch Annotations (experimental)" puts in for the reading status. That has to be run manually to update it.