[GUI Plugin] Kobo Utilities

[davidfor]

I've never been able to work out the order either. But, I don't think the ordering is done in SQL. If you manually add books to a collection, then Date Modified sort will work until the device is restarted. I have wondered if the date conversion is broken, but everywhere else it seems to be OK. And when you delete a book from a collection, the order changes. This makes it look like a dictionary is being used and someone is iterating over the contents, not the sorted keys.

[Stevex]

Hi Davidfor
You must be right - I verified the behaviour you speak of.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Steve

[davidfor]

I have just updated the plugin to version 2.1.0. The changes are:

• New: Add "Display Extras Tiles".
• Fix: Error in getting reading settings from device configuration.
• Change: Disable tiles related menu items if firmware doesn't support them.
• Change: Update font names used for firmware 3.19.x

The added function is to add tiles for the Extras, or "Beta Features", to the home page. This is mainly useful for the Glo HD where only the Browser is listed on the Extras page. This will give access to the other extras. Also, it can add Chess to the home page for all devices.

The others are small changes including one for the next firmware release.

As usual, the calibre will make the update available in the next hour or so. And if anyone sees any problems, please report them here.

[chrisridd]

Ooh, for a minute it sounded like Kobo was doing a "me too" and adding some better fonts (cf Amazon Bookerly and Google Literata) but sadly it looks like the new font names are only for 2 Japanese fonts :-(

Old fonts:

• Gothic
• Ryumin

Replaced by:

• Kobo Tsukushi Mincho
• Kobo UD Kakugo

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

Ooh, for a minute it sounded like Kobo was doing a "me too" and adding some better fonts (cf Amazon Bookerly and Google Literata) but sadly it looks like the new font names are only for 2 Japanese fonts :-(

Old fonts:

• Gothic
• Ryumin

Replaced by:

• Kobo Tsukushi Mincho
• Kobo UD Kakugo

Gothic and Ryumin are not just for Japanese, they can be used for other languages. The two new fonts are replacements that appear identical to my eyes.

[oren64]

Hi David,

-"Change Reading Status in device library" is not active, do i need something first?

-Do you know how to stretch the cover so i don't get the black margins left and right, or up down?
I try to change the cover and Keep the ratio, but it didn't work.
And if i change the cover to black and white is file that send to device is smaller?

EDIT: I use Upload covers for Kobo ePubs, and do a restart and the covers stretch correctly.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by oren64

Hi David,

-"Change Reading Status in device library" is not active, do i need something first?

That is only active when you are looking at the device list. If you want to do the same for books in the calibre library, use the update metadata function. Changing the reading status is at the bottom of thee dialog.

-Do you know how to stretch the cover so i don't get the black margins left and right, or up down?
I try to change the cover and Keep the ratio, but it didn't work.

For that to work, the covers have to have the correct aspect ratio.

And if i change the cover to black and white is file that send to device is smaller?

They should be.

EDIT: I use Upload covers for Kobo ePubs, and do a restart and the covers stretch correctly.

Once a cover image is generated and saved, the device displays them with no stretching. If the cover covers the full screen during sleep, then it has the same aspect ratio as the screen, and I think the saved image file is the same size as the screen (I can't remember if smaller are sent if they are upscaled).

[melovesflying]

Hi! My Aura has now become a paperweight and I'll be getting the Glo HD soon. Is there any way that I can transfer all my data, like reading status (reading, unread, and read)and positions, bookmarks, etc. from the Aura to the Glo HD? Calibre has all the books that is also on my Aura and I'm just primarily after the data.

[davidfor]

Yes, you can. The store and restore function will do it. Store the status from the old device, and restore the status to the new device (after sending the books to the device and letting them be processed). But, that needs the old device to be working. Or using the store each time you connect to calibre. From your other thread, you should be able to connect the device an fetch the reading status.

[melovesflying]

My old Aura still works and can be connected to my Mac and Calibre (after much random presses since the screen is broken). Should I highlight all the books and then use the store function? And can I do it now even before my replacement Glo HD arrives?

ETA: I managed to store all the data by selecting all the books on my old Aura before using the Store function. Can I use the Restore function to now transfer the data to the new device even if my old Aura isn't connected?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by melovesflying

My old Aura still works and can be connected to my Mac and Calibre (after much random presses since the screen is broken). Should I highlight all the books and then use the store function? And can I do it now even before my replacement Glo HD arrives?

ETA: I managed to store all the data by selecting all the books on my old Aura before using the Store function. Can I use the Restore function to now transfer the data to the new device even if my old Aura isn't connected?

Yes, that's what you need to do. But first, you will need to send the books to the device and let it process them. The next time you plug it in, you can restore the reading status.

[davidfor]

While Kobo has been good to us and display the series info, there is still plenty of metadata they don't display. Ideally, this would be displayed by the device in the Details page of the device. But, they don't do this and it isn't likely to happen any time soon.

A way to do this is to add it to the comments/synopsis the device displays. But, I don't want to edit the comments in my calibre library to include the other tags, and the comments cannot be updated using a metadata plugboard. So, I have added an option to the "Update metadata in device library" function of the plugin. This will set the comments on the device using a template in a similar way to the jackets that can added to a book.

On the options dialog, I have added an option "Use template". This can be used when setting the comments/synopsis on the device. When it is used, instead of simply reading the comments from the calibre library and updating the database, a template will be read from your calibre configuration. This template can include any piece of metadata that is in the calibre library. This includes custom columns. The template use the same formatting rules a the jacket templates.

To use this, you need to create a file called "kobo_template.xhtml" in the "resources" directory of you calibre configuration. An example template is:

{comments}<hr/><p>{tags_label}: {tags}</p><p>{rating_label}: {rating}</p><p>{_kobo_last_read_label}: {_kobo_last_read}</p><p>Word count: {_words}</p>

This adds the tags, rating, when I last read the book and the word count to the synopsis after the usual comments. The attached screenshot shows what this looks on my Glo HD.

This does not update the book on the device or in your library. It changes the metadata in the device database and hence what is displayed in on the details page for the book on the device.

For the formatting, you should be able to use whatever you can use in the comments in calibre. Most HTML tags will be supported. You should be able to set styles on the tags, but there is no stylesheet in use. I would recommend keeping it simple. One thing I found is that any new lines in the template put an extra line in the display on the device. That is why the above example template is all one line.

I think this is going to be useful. But, as usual, I am looking for any suggestions people have. And of course, any bugs seen. I am hoping that there are none of the latter, but I haven't tried everything possible.

[jackie_w]

Thank you, David. Nice work

That was 5 minutes well-spent on my part to add page/word count before the Comments. I didn't experience any problems at all.

[davidfor]

Good to hear it worked and is useful.

I found a problem after I posted the beta. If a custom column doesn't have a value, the label isn't shown. For my template, I just got a line with a colon on it. The quick fix is to force the label to show. But, if can think of a way, I'd prefer to remove the line.

[Terisa de morgan]

I've tested it and it works for me. For avoiding empty columns I've used the same trick that I use at jacket (kovid told me so when I asked about the same problem:

 <div style="display:{_vts}"><b>Series 3:</b> {_tse}</div>

With _vts a custom_column with value 'None' if _tse is empty.

And I know I'm greedy but... in the same way you send the series when you update metadata, could you send the comments if 'use template' is activated?