[GUI Plugin] Reading List

[kiwidude]

@SoulStyle - change your column so instead it is "Comma separate list, like tags, shown in Tag browser."

[DoctorOhh]

@SoulStyle or just use the standard tag field. Put brackets around the names to prevent them from being used as collections. [Rob], [Jane], etc...

[SoulStyle]

Works like a charm, thanks kiwidude and dwanthny

[tlrowley]

I've been using this plugin for months now, and everything has been smooth as silk. But now I seem to have broken it

I updated to the latest Calibre (.8.27) tonight, when I first noticed that the link for "sync now" was greyed out. I thought it might be a problem with the new Calibre, so I downgraded to .26, but my Kindle still won't sync. Calibre sees that I've plugged it in, but the Reading List doesn't run automatically (and since it's greyed out, I can't run it manually)

I rebooted my laptop (I'm on a Mac, OS 10.7), and still no joy. I had previously reformatted my Kindle 3, but I thought that everything had been running smoothly again. Obviously, I missed something.

Help, please. What do I do next? Am I reduced to using "send to device" like a caveman?

Thanks.

ETA
I ran calibre-debug and my output file is below. I see that the reading list plugin says that no sync is required (that's not true, there are 2 books on my "sync" list). That explains the lack of an automatic sync, but it doesn't explain why forcing a sync isn't possible.

Spoiler:

Starting up...
Started up in 4.75846099854 with 1731 books
Job: 1 Get device information started
DeviceJob: 1 Get device information done, calling callback
DeviceJob: 1 Get device information callback returned
Job: 2 Get list of books on device started
DEBUG: 0.0 USBMS: Fetching list of books from device. Device= KINDLE2 oncard= None
DEBUG: 0.0 USBMS: dirs are: /Volumes/Kindle/ documents
Job: 1 Get device information finished
No details available.
DEBUG: 1.2 USBMS: scan from root False /Volumes/Kindle/documents
DEBUG: 1.3 USBMS: count found in cache: 654, count of files in metadata: 654, need_sync: False
DEBUG: 1.3 USBMS: Finished fetching list of books from device. oncard= None
DEBUG: 1.3 USBMS: Fetching list of books from device. Device= KINDLE2 oncard= carda
DEBUG: 1.3 USBMS: Fetching list of books from device. Device= KINDLE2 oncard= cardb
DeviceJob: 2 Get list of books on device done, calling callback
READING LIST: Metadata available: {'main': {u'device_store_uuid': u'11bbbc14-04d1-44fb-ab64-208ae54e0fdf', u'prefix': '/Volumes/Kindle/', u'device_name': u'Amazon Kindle', u'calibre_version': u'0.8.27', u'location_code': 'main', u'last_library_uuid': u'21a23f77-f48e-463e-bb44-4fd05eb04796', u'date_last_connected': u'2011-11-20T12:14:19.687687+00:00'}}
READING LIST: Sync Now - force_sync= False
READING LIST: Device found to sync to: Amazon Kindle 11bbbc14-04d1-44fb-ab64-208ae54e0fdf
DeviceJob: 2 Get list of books on device callback returned
Job: 3 Send metadata to device started
DEBUG: 4.5 USBMS: starting sync_booklists
Job: 2 Get list of books on device finished
No details available.
DEBUG: 6.8 USBMS: finished sync_booklists
DeviceJob: 3 Send metadata to device done, calling callback
DeviceJob: 3 Send metadata to device callback returned
Job: 3 Send metadata to device finished
No details available.
READING LIST: Device disconnected
Disk /Volumes/Kindle/ ejected

[kiwidude]

@tlrowley - can you PM me the contents of your "Reading List.json" file in your plugins directory? That way I can see all the settings you have specified for the lists etc.

[tlrowley]

Thanks, kiwidude, but I just found the problem (and saw your post as I came to update mine). I have no idea how, but the "device to sync this list to" was unset. I can guarantee that's nothing something I changed deliberately, must have been a slip of the trackpad. Would a "restore to factory defaults" have changed the ID of the Kindle, maybe?

Of course, that's the type of thing that I missed the first 100 times I looked at the customization.

Thanks again

[kiwidude]

Ahhh, I was going to double check what all your settings were, figured it had to be something like that. Glad you got it sorted.

[kiwidude]

In response to a few things floating around the forums I have spent today experimenting with a new option for this plugin.

Apart from cosmetic changes to the configuration dialog and a new Clear list submenu, the big new feature is the addition of a list type that is auto-populated from the device when you sync to it, as you can see in this screenshot attached.

The purpose of this list type is for people who want a way of keeping track of what is on their device while it is not connected. Note that the list is read-only - you cannot add or remove from it, nor you can you edit it to change order. (If you want a list that you can add/remove, then you can instead use the "Replace device with list, add/overwrite all" I added a few weeks ago)

As with other reading lists you can specify a column to set/remove a value from based on items being on the list. So in the example shown, I add a tag called "Kindle". So regardless of whether my kindle is connected or not, I can see whether I have already sent a book to the device.

If you use calibre's send to device or remove from device directly to add/remove books (rather than syncing via a second list with this plugin), then just doing a "Sync Now" or the device being connected will trigger the list being updated.

Please have a play with it and let me know what you think. I haven't found any bugs with my own testing, but I want to get some feedback on how people think it works as a concept.

[capnm]

Not quite working for me.
I have 3 lists associated with a given device
Add to xxx (add/overwrite all)
Remove from xxx
On xxx

Add/Remove xxx have both boxes checked --sync [immediately] & clear after sync.
On xxx now set to autopopulate.

A quick test with one book on the Add list:
The book was sent, the Add list was cleared, the On list was populated, but only with the book just added, not with the other books on the reader.
Disconnect/reconnect and the On list was cleared.

Possibly irrelevant info:
I didn't create a new "On" list, I just cleared my existing [manually controlled] one, changed the type, and related it to the device.
All three lists reference the same tag-type custom column -- each with their own unique tag.

Additional minor glitch:
When configuring lists the "Sync [immediately] ...." checkbox is disabled when editing an autopopulate list, it is not re-enabled when editing another type list.

If this isn't enough info I'll try again bit by bit when I have time.

Looking forward to this working!
Many thanks!

[tilia]

I use two libraries. In one of them I successfully created an On Device list and populated it from my kindle. I tried adding and removing books from the reader and the plugin populated my custom column correctly when I synced afterwards.

But I can’t get the plugin to work with my other library. Clicking on the icon gives me error:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 0.8.27
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>KeyError</b>:u'listType'

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.reading_list.action", line 234, in about_to_show_menu
File "calibre_plugins.reading_list.action", line 80, in rebuild_menus
File "calibre_plugins.reading_list.config", line 205, in get_list_names
KeyError: u'listType'

Switching from the working library to the non-working I get the error:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 0.8.27
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>KeyError</b>:u'listType'

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\actions\choose_library.py", line 433, in qs_requested
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\actions\choose_library.py", line 413, in switch_requested
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 529, in library_moved
File "calibre_plugins.reading_list.action", line 65, in library_changed
File "calibre_plugins.reading_list.action", line 80, in rebuild_menus
File "calibre_plugins.reading_list.config", line 205, in get_list_names
KeyError: u'listType'

I tried to remove the plugin(Reading List.json as well) and re-add, but get the same error.
EDIT: I apparently only thought I'd tried this. Removing the .json makes it possible to use the beta with both libraries.

[kiwidude]

@tilia - I think the last time you edited the configuration for the lists in that other library must have been a much older version of the plugin. I have added some changes in to make sure others will not get the same error, thanks.

@capnm - I have fixed the disabled checkbox bug. I also found a few bugs to do with remove lists. It is fairly complex in there now, because at the time I produce the auto-sync list I don't "actually" know what is on the device (since the sending of books to the device is a background job), instead it is "estimated" based on all the list actions you have applied. Let me know how you get on with this version.

Thanks for the feedback to both of you, just the sort of stuff I wanted.

[tilia]

It's not long since I edited some of the configurations, but I've used the plugin since it first came out, so the orginal lists are old. The new version installs without problems

[capnm]

Ohhhh ..... this is great!

Working fine now. I tried a few stupid tricks but wasn't able to break it

Now the only thing forcing me to baby sit the reader update process is the "All checked books will be permanently deleted ..." dialog box.
I don't suppose there's any way to skip past that ......?

(I'd love to just plug in my reader at night and wake up to find it updated & charged.)

[kiwidude]

@capnm - I can bypass that dialog box. It was only in there for consistency with other remove functionality in calibre and so users were not "surprised" by what books were disappearing off their device. I completely agree that it would be better for the plugin to be able to work in an "unattended" fashion.

If that is the only outstanding thing then I will sort that out likely tonight and officially release it.

[kovidgoyal]

@kiwidude: I suggest you leave the dialog in there, make it turn-off-able. Otherwise it will be only a matter of time before someone deletes unintended books and comes here to complain. At least with a turnoffable dialog, you can tell them it's their fault for turning it off