[GUI Plugin] Kobo Utilities

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by compurandom

I'm not sure if the ghost books remain in the database as books, but they certainly stay in the categories they were in. The only way I've found to clear them is to delete the category from the device, and then get calibre to re-add the rest of the books back to the category.

I assume by "category" you mean "collection". If so, the only way a book can be in a collection is if it is in the database. And, it will also be displayed in the main library list. If the book is missing elsewhere in the database, it's possible the collections list will show the wrong count of books in a collection, but even that I would be surprised at.

This probably comes down to me not knowing what you mean by "ghost books". I took a guess, but that doesn't match with what you seem to be seeing.

This time, there were only a few deleted books that were in the database backup, so I may have gotten them all already, but I've seen this before with database corruption and they never go away automatically.

When I talk about a corrupt database for the Kobo device database, I nearly always mean invalid tables, pages, indexes etc. Things that are found doing the database check. Not inconsistencies between the tables. I don't check this very often, but I rarely find any problems with it. I would be curious to see the database you had after the restore to see what happened. But, it's probably to late now to see what was happening.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You could add those ghost books back your H2O so they are no longer ghosts and then you could delete them. I would suggest unplugging and replugging in the H2O between adding and deleting.

Ya, that would be a good idea if 1) I still had copies of them in calibre and 2) I knew what their titles were.

The ghost books (usually) have no title, no author, no cover, no details, and the catalog offers me the option to buy them, and they can't be deleted because the long press menu won't show up, and the book is missing when I try manage collection.

I'm starting to think that the collection metadata itself is corrupt.

[PeterT]

This sounds like an issue caused by corrupted collection info on the Kobo servers. While Kobo does not sync sideloaded material to their servers, the contents of collections can be synced, and this can cause ghost books to appear.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I assume by "category" you mean "collection".

Ya, one of those words.

When I talk about a corrupt database for the Kobo device database, I nearly always mean invalid tables, pages, indexes etc. Things that are found doing the database check. Not inconsistencies between the tables.

Sometimes I pretend to be a DBA, so maybe I can dip into the database and run some queries and see if I can figure out if there are such inconsistencies. However, the database should have been OK, having been pulled from a previous good backup, so PeterT's idea of bad data being synced back from the servers might make more sense. Especially since I thought I fixed the problem, and then it reappeared later.

But, it's probably to late now to see what was happening.

At least I know what I did to cause this -- should be easy to reproduce. Also, I should have one or two backups of corrupted databases.

I suppose the next question is if it should be calibre's job to do database repair.

[chiara.sc]

I have a question on the Kobo Utilities Plugin: will it be possible somehow to have a view of the overall authors by name or by number of books?

[davidfor]

Not in the utilities plugin. You can create a collection for each author using the driver. This is done by using the author as a column for creating collections in the driver. This will create a collection for the author and put all books for the author that are on the device and in the library into the collection. Then, on the device, the collection list will show these in the list with a count of the books in the collection.

[iostrym]

hi, is it possible with kobo utilities to create annotation in the epub from the annotation in the kobo ?
there is such a thing in calibre but it store annotation inside the description metadata and the annotation are not related to the "page" inside the epub :
we can't know where exactly the annotation was put.

is there such annotation importation feature in kobo utilities ?

[davidfor]

Sorry, no. The main reason is that the calibre viewer doesn't support annotations and bookmarks in the same way as the Kobo's do. The viewer's bookmark basically the same as the dog-ear bookmark that Kobo does. The viewer does have a name that could be used for the annotation, but as it isn't marking selected text, it isn't the same. More support for bookmarks is in Kovid's plans, so when that happens, I will look at it.

The other reason for it not being in the Kobo Utilities is the Annotations plugin. When the viewer has full support for annotations, I'll be adding the function there.

[iostrym]

thanks a lot for your answer.

just a few question to have a better understanding :

calibre epub viewer can do bookmarking but it also don't "store" the bookmark inside the epub (as kobo does) right ?

epub 3.0 support bookmarking inside the epub file, right?

when calibre will support epub 3.0 bookmarking in its viewer, then you will find it usefull to do this king of importation, right ?

you don't find it very useful to convert kobo bookmark to "calibre bookmark" as they are both not linked inside the epub ?

is my understanding correct ?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by iostrym

thanks a lot for your answer.

just a few question to have a better understanding :

calibre epub viewer can do bookmarking but it also don't "store" the bookmark inside the epub (as kobo does) right ?

This is an option in the viewer. They can be stored in the file, or somewhere else on the machine.

epub 3.0 support bookmarking inside the epub file, right?

Absolutely no idea. From memory, the epub3 specs do include a way to do the referencing for bookmarks, but I don't think they are intended to be added to the actual file. I think the standard is for references that can be passed between apps and the app is expected to store the bookmarks wherever the app wants to.

when calibre will support epub 3.0 bookmarking in its viewer, then you will find it usefull to do this king of importation, right ?

I have no expectation that the calibre viewer will ever support "epub 3.0 bookmarking". All I understand is that Kovid has plans to support some form of annotations in the viewer. I have no idea how he plans to do this, or when. If the epub 3 spec makes sense, then he might adapt that.

you don't find it very useful to convert kobo bookmark to "calibre bookmark" as they are both not linked inside the epub ?

No, as it stands, the bookmarks in the calibre viewer does not support the same features as the Kobo bookmarks. Because of this, I don't think it is very useful to convert them. Or maybe I should say, I have no interest in doing the conversion. When the viewers bookmark support changes, I'll definitely look at it. In the meantime, if someone wants to look at doing it, that's great and I'll help if I can.

[iostrym]

Thanks a lot, I think I get it. as you said earlier, calibre bookmark is only way to mark a "page" but without the ability to select a word or a sentence inside the page.

so nothing equivalent to the kobo bookmark.

finaly my solution is to use the import annotation done in calibre and be careful to highligh in kobo a full sentence and not only a word to be able to find it again later in calibre.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by iostrym

Thanks a lot, I think I get it. as you said earlier, calibre bookmark is only way to mark a "page" but without the ability to select a word or a sentence inside the page.

so nothing equivalent to the kobo bookmark.

That is correct.

finaly my solution is to use the import annotation done in calibre and be careful to highligh in kobo a full sentence and not only a word to be able to find it again later in calibre.

My main use for annotations is to mark errors in the book that I want to fix. I usually mark enough text to give me something unique I can search for when doing the fixes.

[iostrym]

thanks a lot. the same for me.

except that first I highligted only the word....... hard to find later

[Jade Aislin]

I've been trying to use this plugin and have a few questions. First, I like that can create a related books list based on author or series. However, I can only see four books. Many of the authors have more than that. When I hit the view all button, my kobo tries to connect to wifi. Is there a way to see all the related books that are on my kobo? Also can I have related books by more than one thing (ie author, series, other columns I have)?

Next, I tried to use the feature that adds column information to the synopsis. I created the specified file, "kobo_template.xhtml", and placed it in the right folder (I think). I first put it into the roaming file, but then found where my calibre's excutable was and placed it there. I also used the template provided to create my own.

Spoiler:

template:{comments}

{#done:|<p>Done: |</p>}
{#words:|<p>Word count: |</p>}

{#fandom:|<p>fandom: |</p>}
{#characters:|<p>characters: |</p>}
{#pairings:|<p>pairings: |</p>}
{#genre:|<p>Genre: |</p>}

{#frating:|<p>rating: |</p>}
{#warnings:|<p>warnings: |</p>}

{series:|<p>series: |</p>}
{#series_summary:|<p>series_summary: |</p>}

I tried to use the feature. But, I get this error message.

Spoiler:

calibre, version 2.54.0
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>UnboundLocalError</b>:local variable 'jacket_style' referenced before assignment

calibre 2.54 [64bit]  embedded-python: True is64bit: True
Windows-8-6.2.9200 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '8', '6.2.9200')
Python 2.7.9
Windows: ('8', '6.2.9200', '', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Successfully initialized third party plugins: Find Duplicates && Kobo Utilities && EpubMerge && Count Pages && Reading List && View Manager && FanFicFare && SmartEject && Modify ePub && Generate Cover
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "calibre_plugins.koboutilities.action", line 863, in update_metadata
  File "calibre_plugins.koboutilities.action", line 3550, in _update_metadata
  File "calibre_plugins.koboutilities.action", line 3734, in _render_synopsis
UnboundLocalError: local variable 'jacket_style' referenced before assignment

I saw some mention of 'jacket' in the forum, but I do not know what that is.
Last note, is it possible to make sure the new column information is in the details section and not the synopsis?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Jade Aislin

I've been trying to use this plugin and have a few questions. First, I like that can create a related books list based on author or series. However, I can only see four books. Many of the authors have more than that. When I hit the view all button, my kobo tries to connect to wifi. Is there a way to see all the related books that are on my kobo?

No it is not possible. The related books displayed in the detail view come from the database. When you press "View all", the device tries to get the list from the Kobo store. And this will only work for books bought from Kobo.

Also can I have related books by more than one thing (ie author, series, other columns I have)?

Yes and no. At the moment, the related books is set purely based on info on the device. Only the author and series makes sense for doing this. It would be possible to do this based on the calibre library. Or multiple columns. But, I can't say I'm interested in extending this. Part of it is that I'm not sure what extra combinations of metadata makes sense. The other problem is that when I added this function, the firmware listed about 10 books at a time for the related books. And it might have scrolled the list. But now there are only four books shown and no way to see more for sideloaded books. I think you are a lot better to create collections that hold the related books.

Next, I tried to use the feature that adds column information to the synopsis. I created the specified file, "kobo_template.xhtml", and placed it in the right folder (I think). I first put it into the roaming file, but then found where my calibre's excutable was and placed it there. I also used the template provided to create my own.

Spoiler:

template:{comments}

{#done:|<p>Done: |</p>}
{#words:|<p>Word count: |</p>}

{#fandom:|<p>fandom: |</p>}
{#characters:|<p>characters: |</p>}
{#pairings:|<p>pairings: |</p>}
{#genre:|<p>Genre: |</p>}

{#frating:|<p>rating: |</p>}
{#warnings:|<p>warnings: |</p>}

{series:|<p>series: |</p>}
{#series_summary:|<p>series_summary: |</p>}

I tried to use the feature. But, I get this error message.

Spoiler:

calibre, version 2.54.0
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>UnboundLocalError</b>:local variable 'jacket_style' referenced before assignment

calibre 2.54 [64bit]  embedded-python: True is64bit: True
Windows-8-6.2.9200 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '8', '6.2.9200')
Python 2.7.9
Windows: ('8', '6.2.9200', '', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Successfully initialized third party plugins: Find Duplicates && Kobo Utilities && EpubMerge && Count Pages && Reading List && View Manager && FanFicFare && SmartEject && Modify ePub && Generate Cover
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "calibre_plugins.koboutilities.action", line 863, in update_metadata
  File "calibre_plugins.koboutilities.action", line 3550, in _update_metadata
  File "calibre_plugins.koboutilities.action", line 3734, in _render_synopsis
UnboundLocalError: local variable 'jacket_style' referenced before assignment

I saw some mention of 'jacket' in the forum, but I do not know what that is.

That's an error in the code that I will fix. The workaround is to start the tempate with one of "jacket:", "template:" or "plugboard:" (not quotes but the colon is important). The difference is in what can be use in the template.

The "jacket" is based on the jacket that calibre can insert into the book. If you insert a jacket, the metadata is put on a page in the book. This is usually the first page after the cover. If you use "jacket" style template, then you need to use the same type of template code that is in the jackets.

The alternative is to use a "plugboard" or "template". These use the same template code as for metadata plugboards and custom columns. And this is the style you are using above.

Last note, is it possible to make sure the new column information is in the details section and not the synopsis?

No, it isn't possible. Bot tabs are built by the firmware reading from columns in the internal database. The firmware decides which goes were. All I can do is add extra information that can be displayed in one of these places. And the only practical place to put this is in the comments/synopsis.