[GUI Plugin] Annotations

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by squizzie

Since the Kindle reader on iPad and Android now sync annotations and highlights with each other and with Kindle devices I just wanted to check whether those made on another device and synced across to the connected Kindle device will also import into Calibre, or will it only work for annotations/highlights made on the device USB connected Kindle itself?

The plugin reads the "My Clippings.txt" file on the device. I'm pretty sure that only has the annotations made on the device.

[Iroman]

Originally Posted by davidfor

No. The way the annotations plugin imports them is not compatible with the way calibre does annotations. I intend to change this, but, haven't gotten to it yet. And, it will depend on the device. I'm not sure I can do it for the Kindle devices as the location information the plugin sees is not enough to match to the actual location in the book.

Thank your for your reply and great work Dave!
I would like to help if it is possible for someone with limited experience in python?

This is an important feature for my workflow and I haven't found a solution yet.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by davidfor

...I'm not sure I can do it for the Kindle devices as the location information the plugin sees is not enough to match to the actual location in the book.

Kindles store more detailed annotation information in a separate file associated with each book. Using those instead of My Clippings would have some advantages since they use exact positions within the book text, include annotations made using other devices, and don't include annotations that have been deleted by the user. A big disadvantage is that they do not include any content from the book. The position information must be used to obtain the annotated text from the format of the book found on the Kindle.

Most Kindle books delivered by Amazon will be in KFX format with unbroken DRM so there will be no way to extract the annotated content. Because the positions are tied to that particular Kindle format they will not be usable to locate text within a copy of the same book obtained elsewhere. However the annotation positions would be usable with sideloaded books and personal documents since they don't use KFX format or DRM.

For more information see the threads azw3r highlight and note extraction info and KRDS - A parser for Kindle reader data store files.

[squizzie]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The plugin reads the "My Clippings.txt" file on the device. I'm pretty sure that only has the annotations made on the device.

This is helpful information - many thanks.

[lsacher]

Long time user of Calibre, but now I want to import annotations. I tried your SampleExportingApp modified to use your highlight example. Using a mockup epub of the "John Smith" book, I get as far as the Import Annotations pop-up showing all the correct info including the 3 annotations. But then I get error messages: Unable to import annotations from SampleExportingApp -and- UnboundLocalError:local variable 'updated_annorations' referenced before assignment. The console log shows:

File "calibre_plugins.annotations.annotations", line 165, in to_HTML
TypeError: '<' not supported between instances of 'NoneType' and 'NoneType'
-and-
File "calibre_plugins.annotations.action", line 1057, in present_annotated_books
UnboundLocalError: local variable 'updated_annotations' referenced before assignment.

I'm using Windows 10 10.0.19041 [64bit] and calibre 5.27 [64bit]

Attached are the my actions, debug console listing and the mockup epub

Thanks
Larry

[kovidgoyal]

What sampleexportingapp?? You can ust opena bug report and attach the original book to it: https://calibre-ebook.com/bugs

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by lsacher

Long time user of Calibre, but now I want to import annotations. I tried your SampleExportingApp modified to use your highlight example. Using a mockup epub of the "John Smith" book, I get as far as the Import Annotations pop-up showing all the correct info including the 3 annotations. But then I get error messages: Unable to import annotations from SampleExportingApp -and- UnboundLocalError:local variable 'updated_annorations' referenced before assignment. The console log shows:

File "calibre_plugins.annotations.annotations", line 165, in to_HTML
TypeError: '<' not supported between instances of 'NoneType' and 'NoneType'
-and-
File "calibre_plugins.annotations.action", line 1057, in present_annotated_books
UnboundLocalError: local variable 'updated_annotations' referenced before assignment.

I'm using Windows 10 10.0.19041 [64bit] and calibre 5.27 [64bit]

Attached are the my actions, debug console listing and the mockup epub

Those errors look like they are coming from the Annotations plugin. Which does have a "SampleExportingApp.py" supplied with it. That is sample code for creating an extra method of importing annotations. This is used for ereader applications that do annotations and have function to export the annotations to a file. The SampleExportingApp.py file contains the sample for a new source of annotations. You would need to modify this to support the format of the file you are importing. The errors above are because no annotations were found when using this.

[lsacher]

Thanks, I'll take your advice.

THIS POST HAS BEEN MOVED TO CALIBRE BUGS

[Savate]

Hello

Is it possible to print annotations that are stored in Calibre? I cannot find a print action but I may be missing it.

Thanks

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Savate

Is it possible to print annotations that are stored in Calibre? I cannot find a print action but I may be missing it.

Not directly. You can generate a catalog and include the column with the annotations in it. Then you can print that.

[aik099]

Hi,

When using AlReader app on the Onyx Boox (or other Android-based devices) it creates a "cites.txt" file in the main memory of the device (readable by Calibre) at "/AlReaderXE-Ink/Sync/cites.txt" location (the first folder name in path likely needs to be configurable, because it depends on the AlReader build).

The file is formatted like this (each citation is separated with 2 new lines):

**> date here
**> book filename without path here
**> book name and author from meta data
citation text (can be multi-line)

**> date here
**> book filename without path here
**> book name and author from meta data
citation text (can be multi-line)

...

Could you please support this?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by aik099

Hi,

When using AlReader app on the Onyx Boox (or other Android-based devices) it creates a "cites.txt" file in the main memory of the device (readable by Calibre) at "/AlReaderXE-Ink/Sync/cites.txt" location (the first folder name in path likely needs to be configurable, because it depends on the AlReader build).

The file is formatted like this (each citation is separated with 2 new lines):

**> date here
**> book filename without path here
**> book name and author from meta data
citation text (can be multi-line)

**> date here
**> book filename without path here
**> book name and author from meta data
citation text (can be multi-line)

...

Could you please support this?

It should be supportable. It will really depend on the exact format and whether it is easily reachable when the device is connected. To do it, someone would need more details about the exact format of the file. IFor example, what is the date format? Or how are the title and author split? How does it handle simple highlights versus annotations. Looking at a real example should show this.

But, I don't usually code the support for devices or apps that I don't use. The plugin is expandable and I encourage people to do this. Then I can add it to the plugin for others to use. And, I don't remember hearing about AlReader before. I don't know anything about it including how popular it is.

If you can post a real example, I might have a look at it. But, I am making no promises as to if or when I do it.

[aik099]

Originally Posted by davidfor

It should be supportable. It will really depend on the exact format and whether it is easily reachable when the device is connected. To do it, someone would need more details about the exact format of the file. IFor example, what is the date format? Or how are the title and author split? How does it handle simple highlights versus annotations. Looking at a real example should show this.

But, I don't usually code the support for devices or apps that I don't use. The plugin is expandable and I encourage people to do this. Then I can add it to the plugin for others to use. And, I don't remember hearing about AlReader before. I don't know anything about it including how popular it is.

If you can post a real example, I might have a look at it. But, I am making no promises as to if or when I do it.

Here is the real file fragment (note 2 empty lines after each citation even after last one):

**>2021-09-17 22:09  3.66% +
**>/Dieti kapitana Granta - Zhiul' Viern.mobi
**>Дети капитана Гранта • Жюль Верн
К чему было еще больше огорчать этих бедных детей и омрачать только что засиявшую перед ними надежду!


**>2021-09-17 22:15  2.65% +
**>/Dieti kapitana Granta - Zhiul' Viern.mobi
**>Дети капитана Гранта • Жюль Верн
Шотландии многие мелкие фермеры, которые не могли заплатить высокую арендную плату бывшим вождям кланов, были изгнаны.


**>2021-09-23 19:51  4,28% +
**>/Prp. ighum. Sierghii Radoniezhskii - Dimitrii Rostovskii.azw3
**>Прп. игум. Се́ргий Радонежский • Димитрий Ростовский
Не любил он детских игр и старательно избегал их; не по сердцу ему приходились веселье и смех сверстников, ибо он знал, что «худые сообщества развращают добрые нравы» (1Кор.15:33).

The name of the book and the author (separated by a circle) in the 3rd citation line, like "Прп. игум. Се́ргий Радонежский • Димитрий Ростовский" could be used to locate the book in the Calibre database.

You've said, that plugin is expandable. Are there anywhere any step-by-step instructions for adding support for different e-readers, that I can use to add support for this reader?

[davidfor]

There is some information on the Github page - https://github.com/davidfor/calibre-annotations. And some in the samples. Or look at the code for the other devices. And ask questions here. I'll answer as well a I can.

[Savate]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Not directly. You can generate a catalog and include the column with the annotations in it. Then you can print that.

Thanks for the tip, I tried that.

Very difficult to use and the procedure does not seem to allow me to select individual books - it always prints the entire library, and the formatting of the outputs is always rudimentary.

Do you know of any plugins that might do the job?

OR

Is there another way to print the contents of my annotations field individually?

OR

is there a chance that a print/export action could be added to the Annotations plugin?

Thanks for any advice