New to plugin: need help on reference guide

[kovidgoyal]

You read metadata from OPF files using the get_metadata() function from calibre.ebooks.metadata.opf

that will give you a Metadata object that you can apply to any book in the calibre library using the set_metadata() function of self.gui.current_db.new_api

[chaley]

Originally Posted by chris33

It sounds good. I guess I can reuse the code found in function update_metadata
in ../calibre-src/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/main.py.
It looks like it will do the job.

If you haven't already, look at API documentation for the e-book editing tools.

But how can I get the book/container object from the current GUI selection ?

First get the book's metadata (mi). For examples of how to do that look at almost any GUI plugin. Examples might be Embed Comic Metadata and Manage Series. Once you have the mi you can get the book path from mi.format_metadata[format_name]['path'].

You can also get the format_metadata using db.format_metadata(). You can get the paths using db.format_files().

There are many examples in calibre of using these methods.

[chris33]

Thank you all for your inputs.
I made it work as needed.
It's nice to have a living community and a living software in constant development.
I will go on this dev a little later on.
Merry Xmas to all !
Long live Calibre !

[chris33]

I have been able to change the book file for an exiting record in the database with :

self.gui.current_db.new_api.add_format(id, book_extension, path, True)

Unfortunately this doesn't seem to update the cover, or I missed something.
I want to regenerate the cover after uploading the new file using default page 1
Also I read "Covers are always changed if a new cover is provided, but are never deleted" in Calibre source code.
So should I remove it first, with remove_cover and then rebuild it with generate_cover ?
And use something like:

        img = generate_cover(self.mi, prefs=prefs, as_qimage=True)
        img.setDevicePixelRatio(dpr)
        self.preview_label.setPixmap(QPixmap.fromImage(img))

But in that case I don't see how to select page 1.
Is it the way to go or is there a simpler way to achieve this ?

[JimmXinu]

Here's the code I use to force a cover update after updating a book in FanFicFare:

First, I use db.add_format_with_hooks(book_id, options['fileform'], book['outfile'], index_is_id=True) instead of just add_format(). I believe the difference is input plugins being run.

Second, I have code that takes a cover from the ebook, using the first page if there isn't an actual image:

from calibre.ebooks.metadata.meta import get_metadata as calibre_get_metadata

            existingepub = db.format(book_id,'EPUB',index_is_id=True, as_file=True)
            epubmi = calibre_get_metadata(existingepub,'EPUB')
            if epubmi.cover_data[1] is not None:
                try:
                    db.set_cover(book_id, epubmi.cover_data[1])
                except:
                    logger.info("Failed to set_cover, skipping")

Third, there is the code to insure that Calibre is notified about all the updates:

        if len(add_list):
            self.gui.library_view.model().books_added(len(add_list))
            self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(add_ids)

        if len(update_list):
            self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(update_ids)

        current = self.gui.library_view.currentIndex()
        self.gui.library_view.model().current_changed(current, self.previous)
        self.gui.tags_view.recount()

        if self.gui.cover_flow:
            self.gui.cover_flow.dataChanged()

Note that a lot of this is from years ago, so it may not be the most up-to-date way.

[chris33]

Thank you JimmXinu.
I'll give it a try.
I was just wondering if there was a simpler / more recent way to do this

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Here's the code I use to force a cover update after updating a book in FanFicFare:

First, I use db.add_format_with_hooks(book_id, options['fileform'], book['outfile'], index_is_id=True) instead of just add_format(). I believe the difference is input plugins being run.

Second, I have code that takes a cover from the ebook, using the first page if there isn't an actual image:

from calibre.ebooks.metadata.meta import get_metadata as calibre_get_metadata

            existingepub = db.format(book_id,'EPUB',index_is_id=True, as_file=True)
            epubmi = calibre_get_metadata(existingepub,'EPUB')
            if epubmi.cover_data[1] is not None:
                try:
                    db.set_cover(book_id, epubmi.cover_data[1])
                except:
                    logger.info("Failed to set_cover, skipping")

Third, there is the code to insure that Calibre is notified about all the updates:

        if len(add_list):
            self.gui.library_view.model().books_added(len(add_list))
            self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(add_ids)

        if len(update_list):
            self.gui.library_view.model().refresh_ids(update_ids)

        current = self.gui.library_view.currentIndex()
        self.gui.library_view.model().current_changed(current, self.previous)
        self.gui.tags_view.recount()

        if self.gui.cover_flow:
            self.gui.cover_flow.dataChanged()

Note that a lot of this is from years ago, so it may not be the most up-to-date way.

[chris33]

Hi,
I tried to adapt but unfortunately get_metadata only returns the following fields correctly:
Title, Title sort, Author(s), Publisher, Tags , Series, Languages, Timestamp, Published
but no cover_data

Here is my code:
This overwrites the ebook file and works fine

self.gui.current_db.new_api.add_format(searchId, fmt, path, replace=True, run_hooks=True)

Then if I go to the ebook metadata GUI and press button "Set the cover for the book from the selected format" I can see the first pages of the new imported book.
But the cover is not updated from this list (default first page)

mi = self.gui.current_db.new_api.format_metadata(searchId, fmt, allow_cache=True, update_db=True)
OR
mi = self.gui.current_db.new_api.get_metadata(searchId, get_cover=True, get_user_categories=False, cover_as_data=True)

Printing the mi contents doesn't show any cover_data: only Title, Title sort, Author(s), Publisher, Tags , Series, Languages, Timestamp, Published

self.gui.current_db.new_api.set_cover({searchId, mi.cover_data[1]})

Fails with:

File "calibre_plugins.reimport.main", line 159, in process
self.gui.current_db.new_api.set_cover({searchId, mi.cover_data[1]})
File "calibre/db/cache.py", line 72, in call_func_with_lock
File "calibre/db/cache.py", line 1301, in set_cover
File "polyglot/builtins.py", line 92, in iteritems
AttributeError: 'set' object has no attribute 'items'

I think that the cover needs to be generated before being saved in a temporary file so I can send the buffer in the metadata cover field.
Unfortunately I've found no way to generate the cover at least page 1.

How can I force cover generation from a given book id and format ?
Thank you

[chaley]

Originally Posted by chris33

self.gui.current_db.new_api.set_cover({searchId, mi.cover_data[1]})

I can't speak to most of your problems, but you are passing the wrong parameter to set_cover. It should be a dict, not a set. Something like

{ book_id: cover_data }

where cover_data is one of a QImage, QPixmap, file object or bytestring.

[chris33]

yes you are right. Thank you.
there is no error anymore now.

self.gui.current_db.new_api.set_cover({searchId: mi.cover_data[1]})

But still cover_data is empty ...