[GUI Plugin] Kobo Utilities

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Right now I am still thinking about it. I haven't looked at the code to see if it is practical there. But, I have experimented with the database and it seems to work as I want. And I have no idea when I would do it. But, I'm putting it out there to see if it would help others.

Thank you, I would like this. Do you know where to set it in the database because I can do it by hand even if the driver is not ready yet.

[milady133]

Originally Posted by Karellen

What I would like, and I'll look how it is done once I finished Series, is to remove the duplication of having books listed in the Series screen, but then they are also listed in "Books". I would rather have series books in Series, and non-series books in Books.

That's not going to be possible, Kobo will list all books independently if they are in a series of not. It's in the Kobo software, and there's not a filter for "In series"/"Not in series" the same you can filter by "Read"/"Unread" the list of books.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Thank you, I would like this. Do you know where to set it in the database because I can do it by hand even if the driver is not ready yet.

In the table "content", the series info is in two pairs of columns. The displayed and searched series info is in the columns "Series" and "SeriesNumber". The series tab and is built from the columns "SeriesID" and "SeriesNumberFloat". If those are NULL, then the book won't be in a series on the Series tab. If you look at the value of "SeriesID", purchased books have a GUID. The driver will use this for sideloaded books if the series names is found in the purchased books. Otherwise, it just uses the series name. If you do it, make sure you tell us how it goes. Just in case

And looking at the code, it's going to be a little harder than I hoped. I was thinking I had a list of the books in the series on the device, but, I don't. I have to add that or at least a counter.

[Terisa de morgan]

Thank you, I think I'm going to give it a try.... doing previously a backup, for sure

Edit: just to understand, I need to count how many books are in a series and set to null SeriesId and SeriesNumberFloat for books in a series with less books that I want.

[Skydog]

Is it possible to combine metadata from two fields in order to create a custom column ("Finished") that will automatically enter the date when the device is connected and %read = 100 with the associated time stamp?

I currently have a "Finished" custom column for that purpose but I must enter the date manually via the custom metadata tab. I assume that a 100% read status (or desired %) plus Kobo Last Read TimeStamp must be referenced but have no idea how to go about it.

Thanks to a helpful MR contributor, this is what I currently have and would like to change/amend:

program:format_date(raw_field('#finished'),'dd MMM yyyy')

I've browsed through the thread back to 2013 but have not seen this specifically addressed, or I have missed it. And without programming knowledge, the tutorial is over my head.

[Phil_C]

I'm confused.

IIRC, going back a few months and as far back as I can remember, when I opened a book on the Clara HD the displayed % in the My Books list became "1%" (with the book remaining on the first/cover page). "1%" was also transferred to calibre upon connecting in Win 10.

More recently, that behavior changed to a display of "Reading" on the Kobo, and "0%" showing in calibre.

Now, the Kobo again displays "1%" in My Books, but wants to transfer "0%" to calibre upon connection.

The reason this concerns me is that I line up my future reading list by opening the books on the Kobo to the cover page, and using the My Books list with a filter of Reading and sorted by Recent. This used to give me the 1% display that I prefer. When transferred to calibre, the 1% books are color coded in my library. So if these opened books are 0%, they show as unread in calibre, fouling up my calibre system.

I don't know if the changing behavior is intentional, but I'd like to know if there is a way to have an opened book on the cover page always display "1%" on the Kobo and give that information to calibre.

Any information/help would be appreciated.

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by milady133

That's not going to be possible, Kobo will list all books independently if they are in a series of not. It's in the Kobo software, and there's not a filter for "In series"/"Not in series" the same you can filter by "Read"/"Unread" the list of books.

Thanks @milady. Yes, I figured that might be the case.
Instead, I have gone down the "Collections" avenue. I have created a new Collection named "Singles" and all non-series books are added there.

So now I have a library view for Series books, and another view for stand-alone books.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Thank you, I think I'm going to give it a try.... doing previously a backup, for sure

Edit: just to understand, I need to count how many books are in a series and set to null SeriesId and SeriesNumberFloat for books in a series with less books that I want.

Yes. That should do it.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Is it possible to combine metadata from two fields in order to create a custom column ("Finished") that will automatically enter the date when the device is connected and %read = 100 with the associated time stamp?

I currently have a "Finished" custom column for that purpose but I must enter the date manually via the custom metadata tab. I assume that a 100% read status (or desired %) plus Kobo Last Read TimeStamp must be referenced but have no idea how to go about it.

Thanks to a helpful MR contributor, this is what I currently have and would like to change/amend:

program:format_date(raw_field('#finished'),'dd MMM yyyy')

I've browsed through the thread back to 2013 but have not seen this specifically addressed, or I have missed it. And without programming knowledge, the tutorial is over my head.

I think what you want is for the "Finished" column to show the date last read from the device when the book is finished. But, not to show anything at other times. If so, you could use a template like:

program:
cmp($$#kobo_percent_read, 100, '', format_date($$#kobo_last_read,'dd MMM yyyy'), format_date($$#kobo_last_read,'dd MMM yyyy'));

That will show the last read date when the percent read reaches 100. The column names need to be changed to fit what yours.

If it is something else, then I can try. But, you might want to look at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=343076 where I discuss doing something similar to I what I think you want but using icons instead of separate columns.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Phil_C

I'm confused.

IIRC, going back a few months and as far back as I can remember, when I opened a book on the Clara HD the displayed % in the My Books list became "1%" (with the book remaining on the first/cover page). "1%" was also transferred to calibre upon connecting in Win 10.

More recently, that behavior changed to a display of "Reading" on the Kobo, and "0%" showing in calibre.

Now, the Kobo again displays "1%" in My Books, but wants to transfer "0%" to calibre upon connection.

The reason this concerns me is that I line up my future reading list by opening the books on the Kobo to the cover page, and using the My Books list with a filter of Reading and sorted by Recent. This used to give me the 1% display that I prefer. When transferred to calibre, the 1% books are color coded in my library. So if these opened books are 0%, they show as unread in calibre, fouling up my calibre system.

I don't know if the changing behavior is intentional, but I'd like to know if there is a way to have an opened book on the cover page always display "1%" on the Kobo and give that information to calibre.

Any information/help would be appreciated.

Some of that sounds like bugs in specific firmware versions or with particular formats. The 1% on the device sounds like a problem with books in MOBI format. I remember that there was an issue with the reading status updating on the device. I don't know what the status of this is.

I occasionally see the status on the device as just "Reading". I've never dug into why, but, it is likely to be when the percent read is zero and the book is marked as opened. That calibre is getting zero percent from the device, suggests this is correct.

Nothing has changed in the plugin on relation to this. And I haven't noticed any change on the device. But, I also don't open books and leave them on the cover page. If you could run calibre in debug mode and post the log from after connecting the device and the status fetch has run, I can check if there is anything thing obvious in that. I'll also need the title of some books in this state to make sure I have the right ones.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by davidfor

In the table "content", the series info is in two pairs of columns. The displayed and searched series info is in the columns "Series" and "SeriesNumber". The series tab and is built from the columns "SeriesID" and "SeriesNumberFloat". If those are NULL, then the book won't be in a series on the Series tab. If you look at the value of "SeriesID", purchased books have a GUID. The driver will use this for sideloaded books if the series names is found in the purchased books. Otherwise, it just uses the series name. If you do it, make sure you tell us how it goes. Just in case

And looking at the code, it's going to be a little harder than I hoped. I was thinking I had a list of the books in the series on the device, but, I don't. I have to add that or at least a counter.

I've already did it with a small python script and it has worked like a charm, thank you very much!

[Phil_C]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Some of that sounds like bugs in specific firmware versions or with particular formats. The 1% on the device sounds like a problem with books in MOBI format. I remember that there was an issue with the reading status updating on the device. I don't know what the status of this is.

I occasionally see the status on the device as just "Reading". I've never dug into why, but, it is likely to be when the percent read is zero and the book is marked as opened. That calibre is getting zero percent from the device, suggests this is correct.

Nothing has changed in the plugin on relation to this. And I haven't noticed any change on the device. But, I also don't open books and leave them on the cover page. If you could run calibre in debug mode and post the log from after connecting the device and the status fetch has run, I can check if there is anything thing obvious in that. I'll also need the title of some books in this state to make sure I have the right ones.

Thanks, David.

I've been trying to post a reply with the debug log, but the log may be too large (8MB). I used spoiler tags, but it fails to post every time. Tried two different browsers with no luck.

How can I get the log to you?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Phil_C

Thanks, David.

I've been trying to post a reply with the debug log, but the log may be too large (8MB). I used spoiler tags, but it fails to post every time. Tried two different browsers with no luck.

How can I get the log to you?

You can try attaching it to the message instead of posting inline. Add the log file to a zip archive to reduce the size (log files generally compress extremely well). See the paper clip tool in the tool bar or the manage attachments button below the text entry box.

[Phil_C]

Originally Posted by DNSB

You can try attaching it to the message instead of posting inline. Add the log file to a zip archive to reduce the size (log files generally compress extremely well). See the paper clip tool in the tool bar or the manage attachments button below the text entry box.

Ha! Didn't think of that. Looks like zipping gets the log from 8MB to under the 1MB limit.

[Phil_C]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Some of that sounds like bugs in specific firmware versions or with particular formats. The 1% on the device sounds like a problem with books in MOBI format. I remember that there was an issue with the reading status updating on the device. I don't know what the status of this is.

I occasionally see the status on the device as just "Reading". I've never dug into why, but, it is likely to be when the percent read is zero and the book is marked as opened. That calibre is getting zero percent from the device, suggests this is correct.

Nothing has changed in the plugin on relation to this. And I haven't noticed any change on the device. But, I also don't open books and leave them on the cover page. If you could run calibre in debug mode and post the log from after connecting the device and the status fetch has run, I can check if there is anything thing obvious in that. I'll also need the title of some books in this state to make sure I have the right ones.

First, we can eliminate any mobi issue since there are none in calibre or on the device. The books I am referring to are all epub in calibre, which are converted to kepub upon transfer to the Clara HD.

Next, the current behavior is what I prefer -- books opened and left on the cover page display 1% in My Books.

BUT, there is a new oddity: I had a book in the list at 1% (title is Past Tense). I just opened it again to the cover page. It still displays 1% on the Kobo, but connecting to calibre comes up with the Show Reading Position Changes dialogue with Current % = 1, New % = 0.

There are 59 books in My Books>Reading>Recent. Titles include Find You First and Constance, which still are at 1% in both calibre and the Kobo. None of the books are marked "Reading", which again is what I prefer.

Debug log attached.