Emblem in Cover Grid not updating instantly like it used to

[Comfy.n]

Hi,

I've been using successfully, for a long time now, a rule that sets an emblem in Cover Grid, as following:

"If the #lastopened column is set (single condition), add emblem X"

Issue is that, since Calibre 6, IIRC, the emblem will not display instantly after viewing any book (of any filetype).

The custom column #lastopened is updating instantly as it used to. I have it displayed on the details sidebar, so I can see it's working as usual.

Today I tried switching from this PI to use the Job Spy PI similar functionality, that updates the custom column, but the emblem still won't show up after opening/viewing the books, unless I restart Calibre.

(BTW, I'm not sure whether a PI is really necessary to get the #lastopened custom column updated.)

Anyway, problem is just that the emblem won't show up instantly as it used to. Thoughts?

I should clarify that I have many titles that were added to the Library, however haven't been viewed, hence I find that emblem kind of useful.


Update: today I tested again JS Plugin "Activate Last-viewed" option, and to my pleasant surprise, I had the emblem update instantly, after viewing any title even with external viewers. (JS version 1.0.196)

[igorius]

I can confirm that certain rows dont get updated instantly (using external plugins), but normally if i do something in the library (open a book, add a new book or whatever), the affected rows get updated.
I dont use emblems, so this "problem" could be something different.
Maybe your row #lastopened is "malformed": Look inside the row settings, if that row only contains the date without hour, the row only gets updated once a day...
My setting is german view, set yours according your language

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by igorius

I can confirm that certain rows dont get updated instantly (using external plugins), but normally if i do something in the library (open a book, add a new book or whatever), the affected rows get updated.
I dont use emblems, so this "problem" could be something different.
Maybe your row #lastopened is "malformed": Look inside the row settings, if that row only contains the date without hour, the row only gets updated once a day...
My setting is german view, set yours according your language

Thanks! My setting has always been hh:mm, and I remember clearly that same behaviour you described, starting from some version...

So I think I had three different behaviours happen as Calibre/QT versions would change:

1) All good, once I viewed any title, the emblem would show instantly;

2) The behaviour you described: while doing other things in the library, at some point the emblem would show up; and...

3) The current issue: emblem for that condition only shows up after restarting the program.

I just tried setting #lastopened to dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm:ss and still no good.

[igorius]

Ok, some silly question: What kind of value is your #lastopened? Is it of type date? Then your rule is wrong! is set expects a yes/no, but if its a date in this field, your rule has to fail! I tested this here.
When its date you should change to whatever has to do with date/time-settings. The only one which works is "not set". It applies when no date is set.
My faulty first answer, i should have looked better to your pic...
Sorry!
Hope that helps

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by igorius

Ok, some silly question: What kind of value is your #lastopened? Is it of type date? Then your rule is wrong! is set expects a yes/no, but if its a date in this field, your rule has to fail! I tested this here.
When its date you should change to whatever has to do with date/time-settings. The only one which works is "not set". It applies when no date is set.
My faulty first answer, i should have looked better to your pic...
Sorry!
Hope that helps

Rule is correct. As I said or perhaps implied, it's been working for years now.
When #lastopened has any stored value (which in this case is a Date), emblem should show up instantly, as it used to.

The last field in this kind of rule is greyed out (disabled), meaning "there's no value to assign, since this rule will just see if there's any date stored in database for that custom column".

BTW, yesterday I found a workaround to have the emblem show up lol

It goes like this:

1) View any book (emblem still won't show up, right?)
2) Click the EDIT METADATA button, for any title in the library. Don't change anything after the dialog box comes up. Just click OK. (Boom, emblem in that previously viewed book now SHOWS UP)

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

BTW, yesterday I found a workaround to have the emblem show up lol

It goes like this:

1) View any book (emblem still won't show up, right?)
2) Click the EDIT METADATA button, for any title in the library. Don't change anything after the dialog box comes up. Just click OK. (Boom, emblem in that previously viewed book now SHOWS UP)

Try pressing the Focus the book list shortcut. On Windows you may have to set it to something other than the default… Ctrl+Esc… which pops the Start Menu. It's in the Miscellaneous shortcut group.

BR

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Try pressing the Focus the book list shortcut. On Windows you may have to set it to something other than the default… Ctrl+Esc… which pops the Start Menu. It's in the Miscellaneous shortcut group.

BR

default was shift+esc. tried it, nothing happened
..changed it to ctrl-alt-J, no good either

anyway, I guess this is a highly irrelevant issue

[kovidgoyal]

Is this happening only when the value is changed using a plugin or when using the edit metadata dialog as well? If its the former, its a bug in the plugin, the plugin must call refresh_ids() after making a change to ensure things are updated.

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Is this happening only when the value is changed using a plugin or when using the edit metadata dialog as well? If its the former, its a bug in the plugin, the plugin must call refresh_ids() after making a change to ensure things are updated.

Hi, Kovid, thanks again for all your work!

Well... I just tested that here, by changing the custom column #lastopened on the Edit Metadata dialog to "today" and the emblem showed up instantly! (I have attached a screenshot)

That indeed indicates a bug in the plugins. I'm using this one, called Auto Datestamp and View. Is there some quick fix I can apply to it? I'm no coder, but sometimes I customise plugins and browser extensions for personal use.

Here is the code of Auto Datestamp and View:

#!/usr/bin/env python2
# vim:fileencoding=UTF-8:ts=4:sw=4:sta:et:sts=4:ai

__license__   = 'GPL v3'
__copyright__ = '2019, Paul'
__docformat__ = 'restructuredtext en'

from calibre.gui2.actions import InterfaceAction
from calibre.customize import InterfaceActionBase
from calibre.gui2 import error_dialog
from calibre.utils.date import format_date
import datetime

class InterfacePluginBase(InterfaceActionBase):
    name                = 'Auto Datestamp and View'
    description         = 'Add a date stamp and view current book'
    supported_platforms = ['windows', 'osx', 'linux']
    author              = 'Paul'
    version             = (0, 0, 9)
    minimum_calibre_version = (0, 7, 53)
    actual_plugin = 'calibre_plugins.auto_datestamp_and_view:AutoDatestampAndView'

class AutoDatestampAndView(InterfaceAction):
    name = 'Auto Datestamp and View'
    action_spec = (_('Date and view book'), None, None, None)
    action_type = 'current'
    
    def genesis(self):
        self.qaction.triggered.connect(self.gui.iactions['View']._view_calibre_books)
        orig_func = self.gui.iactions['View']._view_calibre_books

        def datestamp_and_view(book_ids):
            # View the book(s)
            orig_func(book_ids)
            # Then update the date stamp
            db = self.gui.library_view.model().db
            dateformat = 'iso'
            date_column = '#lastopened'
            custom_columns = db.custom_field_keys()
            # Make sure column exists
            if date_column not in custom_columns: 
                return error_dialog(self.gui, 'Before running this plugin', 
                        'You need to create a custom Date column called %s '%date_column, show=True)
            label = db.field_metadata.key_to_label(date_column)
            # Stamp each one by one
            for book_id in book_ids:
                now = datetime.datetime.now()
                viewdate = format_date(now, dateformat, assume_utc=False, as_utc=False)
                db.set_custom(book_id, viewdate, label=label, commit=True)
        # thanks to Kovid Goyal for the following line, also for Calibre in general
        self.gui.iactions['View']._view_calibre_books = datestamp_and_view

BTW, I tried Job Spy Plugin similar functionality, but the emblem would not update either.

[kovidgoyal]

self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids )

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids )

Wheeeeeeeeeeee !!

That works lol!! NOW THE EMBLEM SHOWS UP INSTANTLY! (for any filetype)


I just added that line here:

   for book_id in book_ids:
                now = datetime.datetime.now()
                viewdate = format_date(now, dateformat, assume_utc=False, as_utc=False)
                db.set_custom(book_id, viewdate, label=label, commit=True)
                self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

Wheeeeeeeeeeee !!

That works lol!! NOW THE EMBLEM SHOWS UP INSTANTLY! (for any filetype)


I just added that line here:

   for book_id in book_ids:
                now = datetime.datetime.now()
                viewdate = format_date(now, dateformat, assume_utc=False, as_utc=False)
                db.set_custom(book_id, viewdate, label=label, commit=True)
                self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)

FWIW: the refresh_ids should be after the loop, not in the loop. As it is the code is refreshing all books for every book, which could create a performance problem. I suggest

    for book_id in book_ids:
        now = datetime.datetime.now()
        viewdate = format_date(now, dateformat, assume_utc=False, as_utc=False)
        db.set_custom(book_id, viewdate, label=label, commit=True)
    if book_ids:
        self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by chaley

FWIW: the refresh_ids should be after the loop, not in the loop. As it is the code is refreshing all books for every book, which could create a performance problem. I suggest

    for book_id in book_ids:
        now = datetime.datetime.now()
        viewdate = format_date(now, dateformat, assume_utc=False, as_utc=False)
        db.set_custom(book_id, viewdate, label=label, commit=True)
    if book_ids:
        self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)

Hi Chaley, I used your suggestion, but it gave me an error when installing the plugin, as following:

ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>NameError</b>:name 'book_ids' is not defined
[...]
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "calibre\gui2\preferences\plugins.py", line 325, in add_plugin
  File "calibre\customize\ui.py", line 479, in add_plugin
  File "calibre\customize\ui.py", line 64, in load_plugin
  File "calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 307, in load
  File "polyglot\builtins.py", line 123, in reload
  File "importlib\__init__.py", line 169, in reload
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 619, in _exec
  File "calibre\customize\zipplugin.py", line 208, in exec_module
  File "calibre_plugins.auto_datestamp_and_view.__init__", line 23, in <module>
  File "calibre_plugins.auto_datestamp_and_view.__init__", line 46, in AutoDatestampAndView
NameError: name 'book_ids' is not defined

I have attached a zip archive containing the code alternatives, perhaps all it needs is some syntax correction?

[DNSB]

Looking at the code, chaley posted:

    if book_ids:
        self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)

Looking at the after the loop in the zip archive:

    if book_id:
        self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)

It seems as if you are missing an s in the if line.

Edit: Tried changing book_id to book_ids and got a BOOL error on install.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Looking at the code, chaley posted:

    if book_ids:
        self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)

Looking at the after the loop in the zip archive:

    if book_id:
        self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)

It seems as if you are missing an s in the if line.

Yes, this is part of the problem. However, the main problem is that the indentation isn't right. I think the file should look like

#!/usr/bin/env python2
# vim:fileencoding=UTF-8:ts=4:sw=4:sta:et:sts=4:ai

__license__   = 'GPL v3'
__copyright__ = '2019, Paul'
__docformat__ = 'restructuredtext en'

from calibre.gui2.actions import InterfaceAction
from calibre.customize import InterfaceActionBase
from calibre.gui2 import error_dialog
from calibre.utils.date import format_date
import datetime

class InterfacePluginBase(InterfaceActionBase):
    name                = 'Auto Datestamp and View'
    description         = 'Add a date stamp and view current book'
    supported_platforms = ['windows', 'osx', 'linux']
    author              = 'Paul'
    version             = (0, 0, 9)
    minimum_calibre_version = (0, 7, 53)
    actual_plugin = 'calibre_plugins.auto_datestamp_and_view:AutoDatestampAndView'

class AutoDatestampAndView(InterfaceAction):
    name = 'Auto Datestamp and View'
    action_spec = (_('Date and view book'), None, None, None)
    action_type = 'current'
    
    def genesis(self):
        self.qaction.triggered.connect(self.gui.iactions['View']._view_calibre_books)
        orig_func = self.gui.iactions['View']._view_calibre_books

        def datestamp_and_view(book_ids):
            # View the book(s)
            orig_func(book_ids)
            # Then update the date stamp
            db = self.gui.library_view.model().db
            dateformat = 'iso'
            date_column = '#lastopened'
            custom_columns = db.custom_field_keys()
            # Make sure column exists
            if date_column not in custom_columns: 
                return error_dialog(self.gui, 'Before running this plugin', 
                        'You need to create a custom Date column called %s '%date_column, show=True)
            label = db.field_metadata.key_to_label(date_column)
            # Stamp each one by one
            for book_id in book_ids:
                now = datetime.datetime.now()
                viewdate = format_date(now, dateformat, assume_utc=False, as_utc=False)
                db.set_custom(book_id, viewdate, label=label, commit=True)
            if book_ids:
                self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(book_ids)
            # thanks to Kovid Goyal for the following line, also for Calibre in general
            self.gui.iactions['View']._view_calibre_books = datestamp_and_view

TBH I don't know why the last 2 lines are in this file, but I'm not going to go deep into development.