[GUI Plugin] FanFicFare

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by marshie250

Has something recently changed in the way anthology/series downloads are processed? I used to be able to delete a chapter (for example, if an author edited it and I wanted the newer version) or an image from the book using the Edit Book window, and then Update Anthology would redownload it. Now, I get the message "There is no item named 'OEBPS/images/ffdl-8.jpg' in the archive" (for example).

Series/anthology, no. But how images are handled has changed significantly.

Can you provide a copy of the epub (pre-update) and/or debug log?

[marshie250]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Series/anthology, no. But how images are handled has changed significantly.

Can you provide a copy of the epub (pre-update) and/or debug log?

Sure thing. I uploaded a file, but I'm not sure now to get a debug log. unless this is it:

Spoiler:

Status
Title
Author
Comment
URL
Error
The Last Enemy: The Howling Nights
CH_Darling
"There is no item named 'OEBPS/images/ffdl-1.jpg' in the archive"
https://archiveofourown.org/works/24620707
Add
The Last Enemy: Dark Marks
CH_Darling
Already contains 71 chapters. Reuse as is.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/31661573

I was also able to recreate with a brand-new downloaded series and then going in and deleting a random chapter.

I do also see these errors in theEdit Book window when I use the Check Book option:

for content.opf and toc.ncx files:


"The file 2/content.opf has its MIME type specified as origrootfile/xml in the OPF file. The recommended MIME type for files with the extension "opf" is application/oebps-package+xml. You should change either the file extension or the MIME type in the OPF.
Change the MIME type for this file in the OPF to application/oebps-package+xml"

[JimmXinu]

I see two similar, but not directly related, problems with this epub:

KeyError: "There is no item named 'OEBPS/file0071.xhtml' in the archive"
From 'Dark Marks'.

First, because you deleted the chapter from the merged anthology, the sub-book content.opf after it's unmerged for update still expects that chapter to be there and reading the epub back for update fails.

That's what those 'origrootfile/xml' etc files are--EpubMerge saving the metadata files to allow unmerge which FFF uses for updates.

I don't remember bumping into this with anthologies before, but that's the way it works. I've checked back 5 versions of FFF and they all behave the same, so this isn't new. But it is admittedly different from non-anthologies.

KeyError: "There is no item named 'OEBPS/images/ffdl-1.jpg' in the archive"
From 'The Howling Nights'.

The second issue is that the other sub-book, after unmerging, is missing images that are listed in content.opf. It's pretty clear that they were once there, since the images that remain are not numbered in order. IE, ffdl-0, ffdl-2, ffdl-4 etc are there, but not ffdl-1, ffdl-3, ffdl-5, etc.

Because the 'missing' images are not referenced in the chapters, I assume they were removed with some other tool, probably for being duplicates of the same image.

Conclusion

This anthology epub has been changed in ways incompatible with FFF update.

I will think about whether FFF should ignore such missing files on update, but it's not something I'll be putting in immediately.

Right now your best option is to just Overwrite instead of Update.

[marshie250]

Thank you for looking into this! I edit meticulously for grammar as I go so I prefer not to overwrite, but I will go back in and add in dummy images renamed to match the missing files (this seems to fix the issue, though it is tedious work!). For times when the author has altered a chapter, I'm planning to just download a separate copy of the story and then transfer the content of that particular chapter.

[JimmXinu]

If you're editing anyway--and understand the epub standard--you might consider unmerging manually, removing the missing files from content.opf, then updating.

EDIT--In fact, for you, I'd recommend not using anthology and keep them as individual epubs.

[JimmXinu]

New Test Version Posted

2026-02-10
- Epub Update: Skip missing chapter, image and css files instead of failing.
- Plugin only: In Skip mode, don't do initial metadata fetch if already matched in library. #1309

After thinking about it, I couldn't come up with any reason that just skipping missing chapters/images/css sheets would be worse than failing.

So marshie250's anthology update should work with this version.

[marshie250]

Thank you for this test version! I will test it out tonight. I love using the anthology feature for series urls off of AO3 in order to keep everything together and get new installments in the series automatically when updating, so I am so grateful for this!

[taosaur]

Can some combination of FanFicFare and Reading List fully automate the process of deleting old versions of an ongoing series from my Paperwhite and adding the updated version with the reading position set to the new chapters?

My current method is using the "Permanently Delete" option on the Paperwhite, then sending the new one via Kindle email, which has the approval step, doesn't save my place, and obviously is not going to scale well.

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by taosaur

Can some combination of FanFicFare and Reading List fully automate the process of deleting old versions of an ongoing series from my Paperwhite and adding the updated version with the reading position set to the new chapters?

My current method is using the "Permanently Delete" option on the Paperwhite, then sending the new one via Kindle email, which has the approval step, doesn't save my place, and obviously is not going to scale well.

I believe this PluginWithReadingList wiki page is still generally accurate.

Basically, FFF has integration with Reading List to support my personal reading flow.

But it uses USB transfer. I don't know of any kindle email solution.

[taosaur]

I can handle the USB transfer, I'm just not seeing a clear way to replace the old file on the Kindle with a new, updated one without the manual step of deleting, and it's not clear to me whether it would "keep my place" at the start of the new chapter once the file is transferred over, or what settings would be needed to make that happen.

Thank you for the reply and the plugin, by the way! I wouldn't find RR viable without it.

[JimmXinu]

I've moved off Kindle now, but for many years I found it perfectly workable to simply overwrite the existing azw3 file with a new one using Calibre's Send to Device.

As I recall, your current 'place' will be were you last were (ie, the end of the last chapter) and you'll have to tap once to get the beginning of the next, but that was about it.

It did take somewhere between several seconds and a few minutes for Kindle to recognize the update after disconnecting. And I believe the 'progress' line or percent in list view won't show correctly until you've viewed the book.

[texasnightowl]

Originally Posted by steltek

If you are using a Firefox-based browser, there is an easier way to download long fics on Fanfiction.net and get them into Calibre.

Download and install the FicLab extension (it still works on Firefox, but not on Chrome-based browsers due to Google's Manifest v3 stupidity).

oh! sounds great! thanks so much! I will have a look at it! really appreciate the info!

[marshie250]

The test version worked beautifully on the anthology with removed images. Thank you!!