Exporting "ebook-viewer.exe" read list

[LostHisMarbles]

Greetings,

Am on Win10 Enterpise x64 and i'm using a very old Calibre version, 3.36.0, never had the need to upgrade up to now (if it works, don't fix it).
Am interested in a plugin that would necessitate my upgrading to the greatest and latest (any version above 7.0.0), which brings me to my question.

Is there a way to find and export the list of read documents/books saved inside the ebook-viewer.exe file?
* i presume they're internally saved, if not, by all means enlighten me.

I've got thousands of documents that it remembers, will open them to where i had them last. Can't lose that. I don't know how much has changed in Calibre, but reading the change notes, i saw the ebook-viewer has been overhauled, so i've no clue if the kind of "porting" i'm interested in is even possible.

Any help would be appreciated.

[ownedbycats]

I am not sure how much has changed since 3.36 but in the current version:

Preferences > Miscellaneous > Open calibre configuration folder

Open viewer-webengine.json in a text editor or a dedicated viewer (MiTeC's JSON Viewer, free for personal use) and look for standalone_recently_opened.

Be careful not to edit the JSON file. They're very delicate and will reset themselves if there's any error.

There's also the \viewer\annots\ subfolder. I think the reading positions re stored here but there's no way I know of to connect them to the books.

[Comfy.n]

A while ago I had to merge two JSONs and it was a pain. Downloaded a bunch of json editors, but none would allow copying/pasting nodes. Ended up having to figure how to insert the values in the proper placements, which took a long time for me.

[LostHisMarbles]

Appreciate the swift reply

- Unfortunately, i find no "viewer-webengine.json" anywhere in my folder structures, be it inside the actual installation folder or in appdata. There is a "viewer.js" file, but looking inside with Notepad++ search i see no list anywhere, whether i search for "recently", "recent", "index", or other similar words.
- In my dinosaur version of Calibre, there is no \viewer\annots folder at all am afraid.

Anyway, my thanks for your time, sincerely. Hopefully someone else may drop in and assist?

[Comfy.n]

I have a portable 3.48 install and found the relevant file: should be viewer.json, in the section named "viewer_open_history".

(this, assuming there isn't much difference between 3.36 and 3.48)

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

A while ago I had to merge two JSONs and it was a pain. Downloaded a bunch of json editors, but none would allow copying/pasting nodes. Ended up having to figure how to insert the values in the proper placements, which took a long time for me.

Yeah, there doesn't seem to be any decent standalone JSON editors - at least Notepad++ has syntax highlighting. MiTeC's isn't really good for editing, but it's good for examining the structure.

[Comfy.n]

I've tried NP ++ json plugin and it looked promising at first, however for some reason it doesn't jump to the section clicked in the outline panel:



may be something conflicting in my settings

[ownedbycats]

I never got that plugin to work right either, lol.

[Comfy.n]

then I'm glad it's not personal

[LostHisMarbles]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

I have a portable 3.48 install and found the relevant file: should be viewer.json, in the section named "viewer_open_history".

(this, assuming there isn't much difference between 3.36 and 3.48)

Appreciate your time Comfy, but am afraid there's no viewer.json in my version; there's the aforementioned viewer.js, but no relevant "viewer_open_history" entry in there.
Did another search inside it using words from documents i know it has stored, but none were found, so i don't think anything's saved in there.

There's also a bookmarks.js, but that's near empty, so not there either.

Regardless, my thanks once again

If no one else chips in, am thinking i'll use my current 3.3.6 as is and use a portable 7+ version just for the plugin. Just me trying to do it tidy first.

[LostHisMarbles]

My editing time limit is 5 minutes, so apologies for the follow up;

I have a very good executable unpacker program, am thinking when i get back home i'll unpack the ebook-viewer.exe in my 3.3.6 version, see if maybe i get so lucky there's some usable form of a list inside?

I mean if it's nowehere else, like i said in the OP, i presume it must be internally saved, right?

If i get anywhere, i'll post again just in case this helps anyone else in the future. Sincere apologies for the double posting.

[ownedbycats]

When Kovid comes around, he might have a better idea of where it's stored. But it might be worth opening all the JSONs and searching for a book title that was recently opened, or do a search of the config folder if you have a tool for that (SearchMyFiles, use the "file contains").

[BetterRed]

It'll be where Comfy says:

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

I have a portable 3.48 install and found the relevant file: should be viewer.json, in the section named "viewer_open_history".

(this, assuming there isn't much difference between 3.36 and 3.48)

Back up the config folder and libraries and then install version 7.21 and see what you get when you run the viewer. Knowing how much Kovid does give a damn, the list may well be preserved. If it isn't you can reinstall version 3.36 and restore the config folder.

If the plugin you want to use updates the library database you could run into trouble accessing it in version 3.36 after its been updated in Portable version 7.nn.

BR

[theducks]

AFAIK Plugins never update the Library (metadata.db) version.
Only Calibre migrates the version up when needed (and this can stop using that Library from being used with an older Calibre without hoop jumping.

[LostHisMarbles]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

It'll be where Comfy says

Appreciate the replying, except as i've pointed out already, it unfortunately isn't, no such file in my version. It's right there in my reply to him.

Am still on the move, unless someone has anything else i could try, i'll try unpacking the executable first when i get back (don't carry everything in my flash drives).
If that fails, which it almost definitely will, i'll start messing the two versions, which is even more likely to produce no results as the new viewer appears to be vastly changed compared to mine.

If this all has begun to sound a bit over-complicated.. i don't mind having two versions. I will mind when busy from work i forget myself and open the wrong one. Ask me how i know this will happen eventually

* And yet again, thank you all so much for your patience.