External viewers, various Linux Desktops

[fionnbharr]

Howdy, all;

Having some trouble with Calibre calling external viewers under Linux.

If I'm using a KDE interface, I can see external viewers for PDF, ODT, HTML, whatever -- just fine.

If I'm using the LXDE interface, nothing is called; I cannot use any external viewer. Each external program is properly set-up and associated with the proper types of files (both by filename and by 'magic number').

This is the same physical machine; just the user interface (KDE/LXDE) is changing.

Is this a known issue? Is there a workaround?

Thanks!

[wallcraft]

I assume this can be fixed by getting the filename associations right under LXDE. Are you using PCManFM to set the file association? It claims Freedesktop.org interoperability, which is usually all that is needed under Linux for most apps.

In any case, a work around would be to use the Open With GUI Plugin. Once installed, by default (I think) it is included in the context menu for the library (right click on an ebook) but you can use Preferences -> Toolbar to change this. You can add any app to any ebook format. This is also a way to use the internal viewer for a format via "View", but have the option for an external viewer via "Open with"

[fionnbharr]

Hi, Wallcraft;

As I described in the OP, all file associations under LXDE work fine -- and this includes using pcmanfm.

Is there some .config or .rc file for Calibre that specifies the associated file viewers?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by fionnbharr

Hi, Wallcraft;

As I described in the OP, all file associations under LXDE work fine -- and this includes using pcmanfm.

Is there some .config or .rc file for Calibre that specifies the associated file viewers?

No there is only the preference: Use internal viewer

It is up to the OS if the tick is missing.

[fionnbharr]

post deleted in error

[fionnbharr]

Originally Posted by theducks

No there is only the preference: Use internal viewer

It is up to the OS if the tick is missing.

Hi, theducks;

Let me clarify what I said in the OP: the external viewers do indeed work under Linux.

If I use the KDE, start Calibre, and try to view, say, a PDF file from the library, then okular is called and it shows the PDF file just fine.

If I use Gnome, start Calibre, and view the PDF, then okular is also called (it's my preference over the Gnome-default evince), and I can view it just dandy.

If I use LXDE, start Calibre, and view the PDF, something doesn't work: an Error box with the message "No such file or directory" is displayed.

Under LXDE, pcmanfm displays PDFs just fine -- okular is selected as the preferred PDF viewer.

This has nothing to do with using the tick-box to choose the internal Calibre viewer or not; it also has nothing to do with the OS, since the OS isn't changing between using KDE or LXDE. The error message "No such file or directory" indicates that Calibre is looking for *something*, but it's misdirected to a nonexistent file or directory.

How can I change that behavior?

Thanks!

[DiapDealer]

I don't experience the same behavior running Linux Mint 12 LXDE. As long as calibre isn't configured to view the filetype with its internal viewer, it opens fine in whatever is configured as the default app for the system. ODT, PDF, RTF or whatever. Granted... I only ever use one desktop environment at a time per system, so I don't know what (if any) quirks might arise from switching between multiple DE's on the same system. I just know the issue doesn't seem to be endemic to LXDE itself.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by fionnbharr

As I described in the OP, all file associations under LXDE work fine -- and this includes using pcmanfm.

From Ray's Notebook - Desktop - File Associations:

Desktop file mangers like Nautilus and Thunar allow a user to open a file by double-clicking (or similar) on the displayed name or icon of the target file. The application launched depends on the desktop's file associations. By default, freedesktop.org desktops use the associations given in /usr/share/applications/defaults.list. This configuration file sets associations for a recognized MIME type by listing one or more applications suitable for opening files of that type; the lists name desktop entry files to register applications. When a user selects a file to open via Nautilus or Thunar, for example, the choice of applications comes from the list in defaults.list for the MIME type of the selected file. The first application listed for a type becomes the default for that type. The text file defaults.list uses a simple and clear format.

Use a file manager to change the default application for opening files of a given (MIME) type. The details differ by file manager. For Nautilus, Thunar, and PCManFM, at least, start by right-clicking on a file of the desired type. In Thunar, select Open With and then Open with Other Application from the pop-up menus. In PCManFM, select Open With. In Nautilus with GNOME 3, select Properties from the menu, then click the Open With tab; with GNOME 2, select Open with Other Application from the menu.

My suggestion was to explicitly set the default application using PCManFM, i.e. right click and select Open With. Then see if this carries through to Calibre. Also look at /usr/share/applications/defaults.list to see if it looks right.

[fionnbharr]

Interesting ... the /usr/share/applications/defaults.list simply isn't present (where did it go?), and neither is ~/.local/share/applications/defaults.list.

And according to the latest documentation I have, it seems that xdg-open is broken. (I'm using Arch, so see here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...it_should_work )

I'm sure there's a workaround somewhere. I'm working on it.

[pv2008]

Hi,

I am seeing the same problem too: LXDE on Debian, external viewers won't open (in my case pdf documents). Juts wondering if you actually found a workaround - apart from using Calibre's internal viewer which I found to take a very long time to start when loading pdf files.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by pv2008

using Calibre's internal viewer which I found to take a very long time to start when loading pdf files.

No help for your problem, just some insight. Calibre's viewer is essentially a ePub viewer and everything is converted prior to viewing.

[pv2008]

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

No help for your problem, just some insight. Calibre's viewer is essentially a ePub viewer and everything is converted prior to viewing.

I see. That does explain the slowness because my pdf files are usually technical books. Another slight annoyance is that I can't even do "Open Containing Folder". This is on the latest 0.9.28 release.

Cheers.

[kovidgoyal]

Since open containing folder is also delegated to your OS and your OS is broken that's hardly surprising. You need to fix xdg-open for your desktop, or switch to a non-broken desktop.

[Adoby]

See this old thead for more hints:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84767

Also I found this, might be helpful:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LXDE

If not using a display manager you would like to add
export DESKTOP_SESSION=LXDE
to your ~/.bash_profile in order xdg-open to function properly.
...
The application menu works by resolving the .desktop files located in /usr/share/applications. Many desktop environments run programs that supersede these settings to allow customization of the menu. LXDE has yet to create an application menu editor but you can manually build them yourself if you are so inclined. Third party menu editor can be found in AUR - lxmed
To add or edit a menu item, create or link to the .desktop file in /usr/share/applications. Consult the desktop entry specification on freedesktop.org for structures of .desktop files.

[flups]

I found a solution for Ubuntu 13.04.

1. Open /usr/bin/xdg-open as root
2. go to the sub routine open_lxde()
3. After the line
   
   local file="$(echo "$1" | sed 's%^file://%%')"
   
   add the following two lines:
   
   local printf=/usr/bin/printf
   file="$($printf "$(echo "$file" | sed -e 's@%\([a-f0-9A-F]\{2\}\)@\\x\1@g')")"

The problem is, that the lxde_open() is quite of buggy. This sub tries to convert an URI that starts with "file://" to an absolute path, but I fails to deal with special chars like %20. So

file:///home/lib/Isaac%20Asimov.pdf

becomes

/home/lib/Isaac%20Asimov.pdf

This is not a valid file name. So the known "file or directory not found"-window appears.

I c&p the above two lines from the "open_generic" subroutine where this is done right.

Thanks to Kovod for the hint with xdg-open.

"Guten Rutsch" from Germany and a happy new year!