[GUI Plugin] Kindle Collections (old)

[meme]

If f is the Kindle drive, then F:\fonts is the right directory.

Have you checked the font filenames? Did you rename the one font from DroidSerif.ttf to DroidSerif-Regular.ttf?

[sylviebi]

umm no... I didn't notice the one was not renamed to regular.
ooops sorry for being stupid... lol working now!
In my defence it was the end of the day and I was tired.

This is awesome!

[meme]

Glad its working for you. I'll update the code so that it lets you know if you are missing one of the font files for a font as its too easy to overlook or mistype something.

[meme]

Changes include those already released in test versions. See the first post in this thread to download the new version.

- Added new feature to allow modifying Kindle settings such as margins, justification, and fonts
- Modified sorting code to improve performance and remove unnecessary custom and confusing sorting routines
- Modified encoding to convert windows cp1252 encoded titles/authors to utf8 correctly for display/sorting
- Added an About box to show plugin's version
- Fixed issue where Create would run even when icon was set to Show Menu
- Cleanup of routines loading calibre library data

[Jen23]

When I click on to create a collection Calibri unexpectedly quits...

[nightfool]

Thanks for the update! The former version never worked for me, but this one worked perfectly.

[jesscat]

Resurrecting an old issue...

Originally Posted by meme

....The summary is, the plugin will leave collection codes alone, periodicals will be able to be added/managed as before (Edit, well they'll work as they should since I remembered they aren't working yet in 1.4.3..), and Calibre will need to be updated in order to see collections in the Device view. Once I wrap up the new version I'll look to see if there's any support for doing that.

I know this isn't necessarily highest on the priority list, but I wondered if there's any possibility of making it once again possible for us to see collections in Device view? I miss this; it's a very easy way just to double check where things actually are, e.g. before making changes with the plug-in (a bit quicker and more flexible than running a report, as it's so easy to switch back and forth between views).

[meme]

@Jen23 - So is it working or not working for you? I saw you posted but have removed a comment that you hadn't upgraded to the latest Calibre version. Can you confirm the version Calibre shows and the version of the plugin (there should be an About button on the plugin menu in the latest version).

@nightfool - thanks for the feedback. Its good to hear its working for you now

@jesscat - certainly there is the possibility, its a matter of finding time I suppose I should figure out out to patch Calibre in addition to adding a plugin at some point...

[jesscat]

Originally Posted by meme

@jesscat - certainly there is the possibility, its a matter of finding time I suppose I should figure out out to patch Calibre in addition to adding a plugin at some point...

I would certainly be very grateful and appreciative, but I know it's not the most pressing or urgent matter - still, if it remains a possibility, I figure it's worth continuing to mention occasionally!

[gweminence]

Hello! Thanks for the plugin, and your hard work on it!

I wiped my kindle completely clean to redo my collections using this plugin, and I've ran into a couple of problems, one of which doesn't seem to be critical.

First, I installed just a few books, with different tags, on my kindle. Then I ran the create collections plugin. First off is a warning: "Your file system is mcbs" or something like that, but this doesnt seem to be a fatal error. However, the plugin creates the collections, but then doesn't populate them (they all say '0 books'), until I restart calibre. IF I restart calibre and run it again from the fresh start, they'll populate just fine. Am I missing something? I'm sorry for the noob question, but I'm not even sure how one would search for such a problem in this giant thread :P

[meme]

The warning message is left over from debugging - it can be ignored. I'll post an update that removes it - thanks for mentioning it.

I'm puzzled as to why restarting calibre has any effect.

If you have wiped your Kindle just recently and are able to test I'd appreciate you doing this again and saving some information.

Are you starting calibre first then plugging in the Kindle or plugging in the Kindle and then starting calibre (it shouldn't matter, but useful to know).

1. Remove your books/wipe completely like you did before
2. Send a the books you sent before to the device
3. Check your plugin's Customizations are set to create from tags (assuming that's what you are using) - if you didn't do this before mention this
3. Run Create collections
4. Click on Show Details to show the report - can you post it here - see if it looks ok
5. Can you then get and post your Kindle's collections.json file here? (Go to your Kindle's entry on My Computer in your file manager. At the top of the screen where it shows "Kindle" type in the box and add "system" without the quotes (to get something like "E:\system") then you should see the collections.json file
6. Restart your Kindle (eject the device, disconnect, use Home-Menu-Settings-Menu-Restart)
7. Are the collections there with the books you expect/matching what the report showed?

I'm wondering if the plugin is just reporting collections that are Kindle only - and since you wiped your books, those collections might have 0 books in them now, especially if you didn't actually setup Customizations. The report should make this clearer - but restarting calibre shouldn't affect this at all.

[meme]

Just a minor update to remove an annoying warning message that was left over from debugging.

[gweminence]

Okay, here's the first run, which worked fine -- as I expected it to, since I'd just opened calibre after installing your newest update. I'll post this json file. Then I'll add some books and run another batch, to show the problem:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 0.8.0
Kindle Collections: <P>Collections saved to the Kindle.<P>
13 collections, 17 books found on the Kindle.<P><P>Eject and Restart the Kindle to load your changes.<P>


=== Kindle Collections Report


Collections saved to the Kindle:

Collection Managed By Books Change
---------- ---------- ----- ------
Action Calibre 2 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Fantasy Calibre 5 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Gor Calibre 1 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Historical Calibre 2 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Horror Calibre 1 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Mystery Calibre 1 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Paranormal Calibre 2 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Retail Calibre 2 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Romance Calibre 1 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Science Fiction Calibre 5 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Series Not Complete Calibre 1 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Suspense Calibre 2 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Thriller Calibre 4 Replaced (from column "Tags")

No collections selected to delete from the Kindle.



=== Settings:

Tags
Action: Create
Prefix: ""
Suffix: ""
Minimum: ""
Ignore: ""
Include: ""
Rename from: ""
Rename to: ""
Split on: ""

Never delete/modify these Kindle collections:
Action when toolbar icon is clicked: Show menu (default)
Preserve existing Kindle-only collections: True
Ignore prefix/suffix when comparing Calibre names: True
Ignore case when pattern matching: True
Calibre Personal doc tag: ""
Kindle collections file: I:\system\collections.json
Plugin customization file: C:\Users\Greg\AppData\Roaming\calibre\plugins\Kind le Collections.json
System Encoding: mbcs

Run View Report to see collection and book details.

Edit:

Ah, I leave calibre running 24/7, usually, for webservice. So it's usually running when plugging the Kindle in.

[gweminence]

Here's the second run, which shows the books not being added:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 0.8.0
Kindle Collections: <P>Collections saved to the Kindle.<P>
15 collections found on the Kindle.<P><P>Eject and Restart the Kindle to load your changes.<P>


=== Kindle Collections Report


Collections saved to the Kindle:

Collection Managed By Books Change
---------- ---------- ----- ------
Action Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Crime Calibre 0 Created (from column "Tags")
Fantasy Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Gor Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Historical Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Horror Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Mystery Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Paranormal Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Retail Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Romance Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Science Fiction Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Series Not Complete Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Suspense Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Thriller Calibre 0 Replaced (from column "Tags")
Urban Fantasy Calibre 0 Created (from column "Tags")

No collections selected to delete from the Kindle.



=== Settings:

Tags
Action: Create
Prefix: ""
Suffix: ""
Minimum: ""
Ignore: ""
Include: ""
Rename from: ""
Rename to: ""
Split on: ""

Never delete/modify these Kindle collections:
Action when toolbar icon is clicked: Show menu (default)
Preserve existing Kindle-only collections: True
Ignore prefix/suffix when comparing Calibre names: True
Ignore case when pattern matching: True
Calibre Personal doc tag: ""
Kindle collections file: I:\system\collections.json
Plugin customization file: C:\Users\Greg\AppData\Roaming\calibre\plugins\Kind le Collections.json
System Encoding: mbcs

Run View Report to see collection and book details.

After restarting the kindle the second time, ALL collections have been zeroed out (even the books from the first run that were sitting happily in their collections are no longer doing so)

And here's the new .json:

[jesscat]

Originally Posted by meme

I'm puzzled as to why restarting calibre has any effect.

I've had the same experience a few times - I've run Create and all my existing collections have been zeroed out (i.e., collections, all of which have had and should continue to have multiple books in them based on the contents of a custom column called "collections," are created but with no books in them), and the only solution is to restart Calibre - re-running the plug-in doesn't work, nor does disconnecting and reconnecting the Kindle. In the past I've just disregarded it since it's happened only very rarely.

I'm trying to remember the context... Okay, I just reproduced it. I ran the plugin - twice, just to check; both times it ran fine - then disconnected the Kindle (without quitting Calibre), then immediately reconnected the Kindle and ran the plugin again without any changes whatsoever - no changes to my collection custom column, no additions or removals of books to or from Calibre, no transfer or removal of books to or from the Kindle. This time the plugin gave me results almost immediately (usually it takes 30 seconds or so), and the results showed all my collections, but with 0 books in each.

Actually, though I said above that when this happened in the past a restart of Calibre fixed the problem, maybe I'm misremembering some crucial factor, because this time it did not. I restarted Calibre repeatedly, sometimes disconnecting and re-connecting the Kindle, sometimes just leaving it connected, but each time when I ran the plugin after restarting I got immediate results and empty collections. I tried changing some of the values in the custom collection column; this made no difference, nor did running the plugin again.

What finally worked was (after a restart) adding a completely new book to Calibre and then to the Kindle. After I did this, the plugin ran correctly, creating collections from my custom column.