Add books programatically from plugin

[DiapDealer]

GUI plugin.

Having trouble getting the parameters right for the add_books() method (database2.py). I'm using advice from an older post to the effect of:

gui = get_gui()
db = gui.library_view.model().db
db.add_books(...)

I have a file object (PersistentTemporaryFile) representing a valid ePub called "result"

I have a metadata object ('mi'); retrieved using

mi = get_metadata(result, 'epub')

I'm able to successfully use 'import_book' to add the book:

db.import_book(mi, [result.name])

with all the correct metadata, so I'm assuming my get_metadata call is working(?), but I can't seem to get the add_books() call to work without the following error:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 1.40.0
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>AttributeError</b>:'str' object has no attribute 'tags'

calibre 1.40  isfrozen: True is64bit: False
Windows-Vista-6.0.6002-SP2 Windows ('32bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', 'Vista', '6.0.6002')
Python 2.7.5
Windows: ('Vista', '6.0.6002', 'SP2', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "calibre_plugins.obok_dedrm.dialogs", line 76, in _ok_clicked
  File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\library\models.py", line 306, in add_books
  File "site-packages\calibre\db\legacy.py", line 218, in add_books
  File "site-packages\calibre\db\cache.py", line 1409, in add_books
  File "site-packages\calibre\db\cache.py", line 57, in call_func_with_lock
  File "site-packages\calibre\db\cache.py", line 1363, in create_book_entry
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'tags'

I can't seem to nail down what is needed in the 'paths' and 'formats' parameters of the add_book() method.

Can someone clue me in to how to pass the correct parameters to the add_books method (based on my file object and my metadata object)?

I'm wanting to use the "add_books" method instead of "import_book" simply because it has the "add_duplicates" flag that I'm assuming that I can set to false in order to prevent adding a duplicate book (or at least honor the library settings for dealing with duplicates). If there's a better way to achieve that, I'm all ears, too.

Thanks in advance

[kovidgoyal]

database2.py is the obsolete API, instead use

db.new_api.add_books

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...cache.py#L1406

[chaley]

Not sure if this will help, but you should probably be using the new db api. For that one add_books is:

    def add_books(self, books, add_duplicates=True, apply_import_tags=True, preserve_uuid=False, run_hooks=True, dbapi=None):
        duplicates, ids = [], []
        for mi, format_map in books:
            book_id = self.create_book_entry(mi, add_duplicates=add_duplicates, apply_import_tags=apply_import_tags, preserve_uuid=preserve_uuid)
            if book_id is None:
                duplicates.append((mi, format_map))
            else:
                ids.append(book_id)
                for fmt, stream_or_path in format_map.iteritems():
                    self.add_format(book_id, fmt, stream_or_path, dbapi=dbapi, run_hooks=run_hooks)
        return ids, duplicates

The books parameter is a dictionary of mi records and a formats dict telling calibre where to get the format.

You get a reference to "cache" via db.new_api.

EDIT: walked away from my screen and Kovid answered.

[kovidgoyal]

Here's some long overdue API documentation for the db interface:

http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/db_api.html

[DiapDealer]

Sweet! Thanks for the pointers guys. I had a sneaking suspicion (especially when seeing the word "legacy" in error messages) that there were newer options to go with here.

[DiapDealer]

Out of curiosity/completeness ... should a minimum_calibre_version should be specified for plugins that utilize the new api? Or is it all backward-compatible with the old api?

[kovidgoyal]

You can use the old api in all versions of calibre, the new api needs calibre 1.0 or newer. So if you use the new api you need a minimum_version

[DiapDealer]

Thanks again.

[jhowell]

I am trying to update my plugin to use the new API, but I ran into a problem when using "db.new_api.add_books" instead of "db.import_book".

After changing my code to use add_books the new books no longer appear in the main table of books in the GUI. All that appears is a blank row at the end created by my call to gui.library_view.model().books_added(number_added_ books).

I looked at the code for add_books in calibre.db.legacy and saw that after calling self.new_api.add_books it later calls self.data.books_added.

    def add_books(self, paths, formats, metadata, add_duplicates=True, return_ids=False):
        books = [(mi, {fmt:path}) for mi, path, fmt in zip(metadata, paths, formats)]
        book_ids, duplicates = self.new_api.add_books(books, add_duplicates=add_duplicates, dbapi=self)
        if duplicates:
            paths, formats, metadata = [], [], []
            for mi, format_map in duplicates:
                metadata.append(mi)
                for fmt, path in format_map.iteritems():
                    formats.append(fmt)
                    paths.append(path)
            duplicates = (paths, formats, metadata)
        ids = book_ids if return_ids else len(book_ids)
        if book_ids:
            self.data.books_added(book_ids)
        return duplicates or None, ids

I added a similar call in my plugin and this solved the problem.

So I am wondering if it is best to leave it this way or is there something else I should be doing to properly update the GUI after adding books in the new API?

[kovidgoyal]

To fully update the GUI after adding new books you would need to do

db.data.books_added(book_ids)
self.gui.library_view.model().books_added(num)
self.gui.db_images.reset()
self.gui.tags_view.recount()

This updates all the various components of the GUI.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

To fully update the GUI after adding new books you would need to do

db.data.books_added(book_ids)
self.gui.library_view.model().books_added(num)
self.gui.db_images.beginResetModel(), self.gui.db_images.endResetModel()
self.gui.tags_view.recount()

This updates all the various components of the GUI.

Thanks.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

To fully update the GUI after adding new books you would need to do

db.data.books_added(book_ids)
self.gui.library_view.model().books_added(num)
self.gui.db_images.beginResetModel(), self.gui.db_images.endResetModel()
self.gui.tags_view.recount()

This updates all the various components of the GUI.

self.gui.db_images.beginResetModel(), self.gui.db_images.endResetModel() seems to be working for me in the PyQt5 beta versions of calibre, but not in the current (PyQt4) versions.

Getting the following error:

AttributeError: 'DatabaseImages' object has no attribute 'beginResetModel'

[kovidgoyal]

Sorry, my mistake, just use reset() it will work in both.

[DiapDealer]

No prob. Thanks for the correction.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

To fully update the GUI after adding new books you would need to do

db.data.books_added(book_ids)
self.gui.library_view.model().books_added(num)
self.gui.db_images.reset()
self.gui.tags_view.recount()

This updates all the various components of the GUI.

This works fine for me when adding new books, but if my plugin adds a format to the book that happens to be the current selection, none of the above makes that new format show up (without selecting something else and coming back). It's very possible it's supposed to work that way, which is why I'm checking.

Would there be any downside to adding the following code to your suggested snippet in a general "GUI refresh" utility-method within a plugin?:

current_idx = self.gui.library_view.currentIndex()
if current_idx.isValid():
    self.gui.library_view.model().current_changed(current_idx, current_idx)

Or is there another/better way to refresh that currently selected book's details in the gui?
(Using the new api's "add_format" method if that's relevant)