Beta testers for calibre 2.0 needed

kovidgoyal · 08-03-2014, 01:18 AM

Hi all,

calibre 2.0 is ready for testing. It is based on the next generation of Qt (the graphics toolkit calibre uses). This will bring many benefits to calibre going forward, but before I release calibre 2.0, I would appreciate it if some of you could help beta test it. Some of the major new features in calibre 2.0 are:

1) Support for Android phones and tablets on OS X, calibre should now detect and connect to them, just as it already does on windows and linux

2) The calibre command line tools no longer need a running X server on linux, so no more need to use xvfb-run

3) Thanks to bug fixes in Qt, the calibre viewer and editor no longer have problems with embedded fonts where the font family name inside the font does not match the name used in the @font-face rule.

4) Qt has changed the look & feel of its widgets (buttons/scrollbars/boxes/etc.) to a new "Fusion" theme that is supposed to be more "modern". As with most things UI related, I suspect some of you will like the changes and some of you will not.

The betas are available from: http://download.calibre-ebook.com/betas/

Most calibre third-party plugins have already been ported to work with calibre 2.0 and indeed this beta has been used and tested by many people already, so you should have no problems. But just in case you do, it is perfectly safe to uninstall the beta and go back to the main calibre release, if needed.

The betas are just like normal calibre releases and can be installed in the same way, except for linux, for which instructions are below.

Do let me know if you have any problems, or even if everything works as normal.

You can see the history of testing of this beta as well as porting of third-party plugins here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=242223

Status of porting of third party plugins:
http://plugins.calibre-ebook.com/porting.html

Linux installation instructions:

Spoiler:

Thank you all for your help.

Sunlite · 08-03-2014, 05:42 AM

I just installed the beta (1.204.1 portable) and I have already the first question:

Is there a way to reduce the size of the icons in custom columns again?

I reduced the size of the actual image, but it just get streched back to a size too big for my taste.

nqk · 08-03-2014, 06:22 AM

I have been using 2.0 portable for a couple of days. No problem so far.

kovidgoyal · 08-03-2014, 06:22 AM

The icon sizes are base don the row height. You can reduce the row height via Preferences->Look & Feel->Extra spacing between rows (set it negative)

aleyx · 08-03-2014, 06:51 AM

I've been on the beta for a few days as well, with light workload using basic features of Calibre (some conversions, some Polish, pushing/deleting to/from my device, adding tags in bulk, etc) along with basic use of FFDL, Reading List, Count Pages and the like. Not a whisper of a problem so far.

Seems like there's no 'beta channel' per se, since there's no notice of new versions available (I'm on 1.203.1), and no notice for plugin updates either (or maybe the Quality Check update went up after I launched Calibre, which is more probable), but aside from that it's business as usual.

EDIT: Do you have a 'shopping list' of specific actions you'd like us to run on new builds, or just using it as usual and reporting problems will be enough? I've got a week off a a 1700+ library; I can do some in-depth testing if you give me a roadmap of what you'd want me to do.

N.

kovidgoyal · 08-03-2014, 06:58 AM

Yeah, you dont get update notices in the beta, I dont expect the beta to last long enough to bother setting up a channel for it. Basically, unless someone finds major problems here, 2.0 will be released, most probably in a couple of weeks.

kacir · 08-03-2014, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Most calibre third-party plugins have already been ported to work with calibre 2.0 and indeed this beta has been used and tested by many people already, so you should have no problems.

Thank you Kovid for great work.
The beta installed without a problem - not that I expected any when unpacking tarbal on Linux ;-)

The only tiny problem I have found so far is the "Quick preferences" plugin not working. I use menubar instead of the default toolbar.
The beta also removed some other items - mostly plugins from my menubar

kovidgoyal · 08-03-2014, 10:33 AM

@kacir: Any plugins that have not yet been ported will have problems in the beta, see here for the list: http://plugins.calibre-ebook.com/porting.html

You should post in the plugin's thread, and hopefully the plugin's author will be motivated to update their plugin.

theducks · 08-03-2014, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kacir

Thank you Kovid for great work.
The beta installed without a problem - not that I expected any when unpacking tarbal on Linux ;-)

The only tiny problem I have found so far is the "Quick preferences" plugin not working. I use menubar instead of the default toolbar.
The beta also removed some other items - mostly plugins from my menubar

FWIW they are not totally removed, just not displayed because that is one of the incompatibilities. Once an QT5 compatible version is loaded, you old setting is agian displayed, just like it was before (position and bar)

BTW Kovid
I use all 2 toolbars and the Menubar. So far, so good with the updated PI showing and functioning

LucyOne · 08-03-2014, 12:00 PM

Is there a way to adjust the row height in the book list? The rows seem much bigger now which for me is a waste of space and means much more scrolling to get through 1200+ books. I try to reduce key strokes and mouse moves due to RSI syndrom, so it's a big issue for me.

I don't know if the tip above about adjusting row height has anything to do with my question. I didn't find that option, anyway.

kovidgoyal · 08-03-2014, 12:25 PM

@LucyOne: Preferences->Look & Feel->Extra spacing to add between rows->make it negative

theducks · 08-03-2014, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

@LucyOne: Preferences->Look & Feel->Extra spacing to add between rows->make it negative

I noticed that with the 1.20x versions, I have to run that at -5 to get the 'standard' text rows to look the same height as 1.4x
This is all QT5 related?

kovidgoyal · 08-03-2014, 12:34 PM

yes .

theducks · 08-03-2014, 12:45 PM

thanks

(1 word answers rule

)

LucyOne · 08-03-2014, 03:08 PM

Thanks, I will try that.

08-03-2014, 01:18 AM	#1
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Beta testers for calibre 2.0 needed Hi all, calibre 2.0 is ready for testing. It is based on the next generation of Qt (the graphics toolkit calibre uses). This will bring many benefits to calibre going forward, but before I release calibre 2.0, I would appreciate it if some of you could help beta test it. Some of the major new features in calibre 2.0 are: 1) Support for Android phones and tablets on OS X, calibre should now detect and connect to them, just as it already does on windows and linux 2) The calibre command line tools no longer need a running X server on linux, so no more need to use xvfb-run 3) Thanks to bug fixes in Qt, the calibre viewer and editor no longer have problems with embedded fonts where the font family name inside the font does not match the name used in the @font-face rule. 4) Qt has changed the look & feel of its widgets (buttons/scrollbars/boxes/etc.) to a new "Fusion" theme that is supposed to be more "modern". As with most things UI related, I suspect some of you will like the changes and some of you will not. The betas are available from: http://download.calibre-ebook.com/betas/ Most calibre third-party plugins have already been ported to work with calibre 2.0 and indeed this beta has been used and tested by many people already, so you should have no problems. But just in case you do, it is perfectly safe to uninstall the beta and go back to the main calibre release, if needed. The betas are just like normal calibre releases and can be installed in the same way, except for linux, for which instructions are below. Do let me know if you have any problems, or even if everything works as normal. You can see the history of testing of this beta as well as porting of third-party plugins here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=242223 Status of porting of third party plugins: http://plugins.calibre-ebook.com/porting.html Linux installation instructions: Spoiler: Download the .txz tarball (either 32-bit or 64-bit depending on your computer) and run the following command Code: sudo rm -rf /opt/calibre/* && sudo tar xvf /path/to/downloaded/calibre-tarball.txz -C /opt/calibre This assumes you have previously installed calibre to /opt/calibre (as is the default). Thank you all for your help.

08-03-2014, 06:22 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The icon sizes are base don the row height. You can reduce the row height via Preferences->Look & Feel->Extra spacing between rows (set it negative) Last edited by kovidgoyal; 08-04-2014 at 06:00 AM.

08-03-2014, 06:51 AM	#5
aleyx Addict Posts: 250 Karma: 20386 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: France Device: Bookeen Diva, Kobo Clara BW	I've been on the beta for a few days as well, with light workload using basic features of Calibre (some conversions, some Polish, pushing/deleting to/from my device, adding tags in bulk, etc) along with basic use of FFDL, Reading List, Count Pages and the like. Not a whisper of a problem so far. Seems like there's no 'beta channel' per se, since there's no notice of new versions available (I'm on 1.203.1), and no notice for plugin updates either (or maybe the Quality Check update went up after I launched Calibre, which is more probable), but aside from that it's business as usual. EDIT: Do you have a 'shopping list' of specific actions you'd like us to run on new builds, or just using it as usual and reporting problems will be enough? I've got a week off a a 1700+ library; I can do some in-depth testing if you give me a roadmap of what you'd want me to do. N. Last edited by aleyx; 08-03-2014 at 06:59 AM.

08-03-2014, 12:00 PM	#10
LucyOne Librocubicularist Posts: 617 Karma: 11908623 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Germany Device: PocketBook InkPad 3 & Touch HD 3, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle Paperwhite 5	Is there a way to adjust the row height in the book list? The rows seem much bigger now which for me is a waste of space and means much more scrolling to get through 1200+ books. I try to reduce key strokes and mouse moves due to RSI syndrom, so it's a big issue for me. I don't know if the tip above about adjusting row height has anything to do with my question. I didn't find that option, anyway. Last edited by LucyOne; 08-03-2014 at 12:02 PM.

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08-03-2014, 05:42 AM	#2
Sunlite Addict Posts: 206 Karma: 547516 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Berlin, Germany Device: KObo Clara, Kobo Aura, PRS-T1, PB602, CyBook Gen3	I just installed the beta (1.204.1 portable) and I have already the first question: Is there a way to reduce the size of the icons in custom columns again? I reduced the size of the actual image, but it just get streched back to a size too big for my taste.

08-03-2014, 06:22 AM	#3
nqk Fanatic Posts: 569 Karma: 32228 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Onyx Boox Leaf	I have been using 2.0 portable for a couple of days. No problem so far.

08-03-2014, 06:58 AM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Yeah, you dont get update notices in the beta, I dont expect the beta to last long enough to bother setting up a channel for it. Basically, unless someone finds major problems here, 2.0 will be released, most probably in a couple of weeks.

08-03-2014, 10:33 AM	#8
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	@kacir: Any plugins that have not yet been ported will have problems in the beta, see here for the list: http://plugins.calibre-ebook.com/porting.html You should post in the plugin's thread, and hopefully the plugin's author will be motivated to update their plugin.

08-03-2014, 12:25 PM	#11
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	@LucyOne: Preferences->Look & Feel->Extra spacing to add between rows->make it negative

08-03-2014, 12:34 PM	#13
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	yes .

08-03-2014, 12:45 PM	#14
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,267 Karma: 61916422 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	thanks (1 word answers rule )

08-03-2014, 03:08 PM	#15
LucyOne Librocubicularist Posts: 617 Karma: 11908623 Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Germany Device: PocketBook InkPad 3 & Touch HD 3, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle Paperwhite 5	Thanks, I will try that.