Unknown Author PNG & SVG Books appearing in Home

[Tattvadarzin]

I see my books in the Home screen, the ones I am currently reading, a collection called My Books and a collection called Unknown Author.

On picking Unknown Author I see a list of SVG and PNG files, some with non-language names. I presume these are graphic files.

How do I prevent them being added to the Kobo database? All my files are in a top level folder called Library. These files live elsewhere. Perhaps there is a way of pointing the Kobo software at Library to stop it scanning the whole device?

It may be related, but I recently installed using the one-touch installation, KOReader and Plato.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Tattvadarzin

It may be related, but I recently installed using the one-touch installation, KOReader and Plato.

I would suggest re-installing the one-click package using the script from the second message in that thread to set ExcludeSyncFolders properly. Alternatively, you can add:

[FeatureSettings]
ExcludeSyncFolders=(\\.(?!kobo|adobe).*?|([^.][^/]*/)+\\..+)

to the Kobo eReader.conf file located in the .kobo\Kobo directory. If the [FeatureSettings] line is already present, just add the ExcludeSyncFolders line below it.

[Tattvadarzin]

Crikey before I retired I could handle regexs, but this had my head in a twist, especially the \\. .
Is there an IncludeSyncFolders?
How about ExcludeSyncFolders=[^Library] ?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Tattvadarzin

Crikey before I retired I could handle regexs, but this had my head in a twist, especially the \\. .
Is there an IncludeSyncFolders?
How about ExcludeSyncFolders=[^Library] ?

You do not have to understand it. You just have to copy it and past it in the correct place.

Also, once you've put this in the .conf file, you should reboot. You will have to reinstall KOReader as you will lose some of the files.

[Tattvadarzin]

But I do, I was the first C programmer in my country (Scotland, UK) when we had a PDP 11 running Unix, doing a computing Ph. D. in the late 70s. I first came across regular expressions round then. I am rusty now but I think there is a much simpler regex for my needs so I do need to understand. The example eliminates adobe and kobo directories starting with a dot. For me, who intends to put all his books in \Library, I can future proof any folder name changes by Kobo by excluding any folder not called Library.

Your rant has added no value to the thread. The need arises for future proofing not to mention the principle of simplicity. I am not a techno-illiterate sheep .

I'll try variations on ^\\(?!Library$)

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Tattvadarzin

But I do, I was the first C programmer in my country (Scotland, UK) when we had a PDP 11 running Unix, doing a computing Ph. D. in the late 70s. I first came across regular expressions round then. I am rusty now but I think there is a much simpler regex for my needs so I do need to understand. The example eliminates adobe and kobo directories starting with a dot. For me, who intends to put all his books in \Library, I can future proof any folder name changes by Kobo by excluding any folder not called Library.

Your rant has added no value to the thread. The need arises for future proofing not to mention the principle of simplicity. I am not a techno-illiterate sheep .

I'll try variations on ^\\(?!Library$)

You need to exclude multiple folders but allowing access to others so using the posted regex is simpler. BTW, the \\ is a \ which needs to be escaped. Unless you want to play with negative lookaheads, I would go with the posted solution.

If you haven't already hit this site, try regex101: build, test, and debug regex and select Python to test your regexes.

And sorry but Kobo only added the ExcludeSyncFolders. As for the folder name changes, Kobo hasn't done any name changes in quite a while and I think it's pretty safe to suggest that they won't.

And as Jon mentioned, when you change the excluded folders, your Kobo will remove the content that had been added to the library from those folders. So the simplest solution is to run the one-click install script.

[Tattvadarzin]

I edited my post to add ^\\(?!Library$) which employs negative lookahead, but you may not have seen that.

Thanks for the Python hint. I was using regex cribs and test sites (I used to use them before I retired - they are so useful. Back in the day, the internet didn't exist so all my hand rolled regexes were tried with great pain.)

I am stubborn enough to try my way. I admit I do not understand the bit about reinstalling. If I have it right:
Change .conf file
Disconnect and reboot.
Kobo removes old info, rescans and adds to database.
Connect to PC
Extract one click zip to Kobo root.
Disconnect and reboot.

Things look better but I see 3 png files in My Books: kfmon, koreader and plato. I will need to redo the above as I am not sure which regex I used.

I don't understand why I need the reinstall unless Kobo physically removes files on the rescan.

Anyway thanks for the help. I like to understand what is going on under the hood.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Tattvadarzin

I edited my post to add ^\\(?!Library$) which employs negative lookahead, but you may not have seen that.

Things look better but I see 3 png files in My Books: kfmon, koreader and plato. I will need to redo the above as I am not sure which regex I used.

I don't understand why I need the reinstall unless Kobo physically removes files on the rescan.

Anyway thanks for the help. I like to understand what is going on under the hood.

Kobo treats those now excluded files as being removed from the device so to keep things consistent, they remove the files.

As for those 3 files, I suspect they are the icons used by KFMon to launch the programs. I use NickelMenu to launch so I deleted those files.

I tend to be the same why which is why I have a Clara HD to experiment with and a Forma to read on. If I'm going to experiment, a device such as the Clara HD with it's removable internal μSD card is essential if I don't want to indulge in brick production.

Edit: the KOReader and KFMon icons should be in the root of your Kobo's exposed storage while the Plato icon is in the icons folder in the root of the storage.

[Tattvadarzin]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Kobo treats those now excluded files as being removed from the device so to keep things consistent, they remove the files.

As for those 3 files, I suspect they are the icons used by KFMon to launch the programs. I use NickelMenu to launch so I deleted those files.


Edit: the KOReader and KFMon icons should be in the root of your Kobo's exposed storage while the Plato icon is in the icons folder in the root of the storage.

If Kobo willy nilly deletes files because of a mistake then poor pity the person who gets files in Koboo's standard directories deleted. It is one thing to delete files in user directories but quite another to compromise the operation of the device. I suspect Kobo automatically excludes its own directories. I am trying to remember if E:\.kobo\guide\userguide.pdf is in my list of books.

If this is the case then the "standard" exclusion regex is perhaps overkilling since it excludes .kobo.* directories and .adobe.* directories. It doesn't seem to exclude fonts or icons subdirectories.

Yes kfmon.png and koreader.png appear in the top level directory. The exclusion regex perhaps should exclude those files but since it is a folder exclusion there may be no way to exclude it presumably. The one click installation gives me NickelMenu so can I delete them too?

I have taken my questions regarding ExcludeSyncFolders over to the Developers Corner. I still want to delve deeper into Kobo's file removal algorithm. Any pointers?

[DNSB]

Moved response to other thread.