Run external program

PhilippeBruno · 05-09-2017, 01:55 AM

Hi All,

I am totally new to Calibre. It seems like a fine piece of software.

However, I've searched the forum and could not find a way to add a button (or other mean) to call an external program from Calibre. I saw the plugin section of the user manual, but it seemed like an overwhelming task to add a simple "run external program" command! Then, I searched for a ready made plugin that would add this feature, but the closest I found was a plugin to open a book as... Not exactly what I am looking for...

The reason I want to be able to run an external program is because to my surprise, Calibre does not support full text search of ebooks. I am on Windows and the recoll solution is therefore not an option. I am hoping to be able to call an external program such as DocFetcher from Calibre to perform that full text search that is a must have for me. I mean, I can always call the program outside of Calibre, but it is not as convenient. Once I know Calibre more, I might write the plugin for the Windows full text search, but until then, I must have an interim solution.

I am currently managing my 3500 ebook collection (mostly PDFs, but also lots of ePubs) manually using a well designed folder structure and file naming. I use Windows indexing to quickly find what I need in seconds using queries like file:keyword or content:keyword. Windows display the cover page of my PDFs, which makes browsing by category easy. Unfortunately, Windows does not show the cover page of ePubs in file explorer, so given the growing number of ePubs in my collection, I am thinking about switching to Calibre. I also wrote a script in AutoHotkey that scans my entire ebook directory structure and produces a nice HTML document with all the ebooks sorted with their cover page.

I am sorry for this long first message, but I figured I was going to introduce myself as well given the nature of my question.

Philippe

BetterRed · 05-09-2017, 03:16 AM

@PhilippeBruno - the Job Spy plugin has a Select and Open Arbitrary Programs and Files Tool.
The Job Spy plugin is a collection of tools, Job spying happened to be first cab off the rank.

IIRC Sagethumbs will display ePub cover images (and lots more too) as thumbnails in Window/File Explorer and and so-called Explorer alternatives such as xplorer² and Directory Opus

I use Windows Desktop Search (WDS) and X1 Search regularly. Two of my calibre libraries (110K+ and 60K+ documents) are included in their scope, but so to are emails, blog posts, mailing list items etc etc, all told over 850.000 items. I integrate WDS and X1 search results into calibre via the disarmingly simple and incredibly useful Drop Search Results plugin. In the main I use it to add books to ad-hoc lists created with the Reading List plugin.

Kovid Goyal has full text search, integrated within calibre, as one of his long term goals. He is currently finalising version 3.0 (enhanced calibre server and web based viewer).

There is also this ==>> Recoll Full Text Search plugin, I notice someone got its working on Windows last year.

BR

PhilippeBruno · 05-09-2017, 04:05 AM

@BetterRed, thanks so much for the detailed reply... I could not have expected a better answer! I think I will like this online community...

PhilippeBruno · 05-09-2017, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

IIRC Sagethumbs will display ePub cover images (and lots more too) as thumbnails in Window/File Explorer and and so-called Explorer alternatives such as xplorer² and Directory Opus

Unfortunately, after testing the latest SageThumbs, I am sad to report that it does not support .epub format...

BetterRed · 05-09-2017, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilippeBruno

@BetterRed, thanks so much for the detailed reply... I could not have expected a better answer! I think I will like this online community...

No problems, and welcome to Mobileread.

I just dumped what I thought might salient to the general drift of your post.

If you have specific questions relating to a plugin's usage or you want to suggest an enhancement could you post them in the plugin thread. Firstly you'll get responses from PI developers and people who use the PI, secondly better for searching - and you wont have to provide context.

Of course, post any general follow up questions here and we'll do our best to answer.

BR

Sam Sahara · 05-09-2017, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Kovid Goyal has full text search, integrated within calibre, as one of his long term goals.

Where can I read the list of those long term goals?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

He is currently finalising version 3.0 (enhanced calibre server and web based viewer).

Where can I read about the finalization stages of version 3.0?

BetterRed · 05-09-2017, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilippeBruno

Unfortunately, after testing the latest SageThumbs, I am sad to report that it does not support .epub format...

sorry about that, it was hearsay evidence, or maybe I misremembered

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Sahara

Where can I read the list of those long term goals?

AFAIK there is no such list, at least not one that's publicly available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Sahara

Where can I read about the finalization stages of version 3.0?

KG posted about V3 in a recent thread in the Devices subforum.

Anything I've learnt is only from what I've gleaned from KG's posts at MR.

BR

jpijper · 11-23-2021, 08:19 AM

Look at the Power Search plugin.

ownedbycats · 11-23-2021, 09:10 PM

You do realize you are replying to a thread made before Power Search existed?

jpijper · 11-26-2021, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

You do realize you are replying to a thread made before Power Search existed?

Oops - no, i did not

05-09-2017, 01:55 AM	#1
PhilippeBruno Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2017 Device: Android tablet	Run external program Hi All, I am totally new to Calibre. It seems like a fine piece of software. However, I've searched the forum and could not find a way to add a button (or other mean) to call an external program from Calibre. I saw the plugin section of the user manual, but it seemed like an overwhelming task to add a simple "run external program" command! Then, I searched for a ready made plugin that would add this feature, but the closest I found was a plugin to open a book as... Not exactly what I am looking for... The reason I want to be able to run an external program is because to my surprise, Calibre does not support full text search of ebooks. I am on Windows and the recoll solution is therefore not an option. I am hoping to be able to call an external program such as DocFetcher from Calibre to perform that full text search that is a must have for me. I mean, I can always call the program outside of Calibre, but it is not as convenient. Once I know Calibre more, I might write the plugin for the Windows full text search, but until then, I must have an interim solution. I am currently managing my 3500 ebook collection (mostly PDFs, but also lots of ePubs) manually using a well designed folder structure and file naming. I use Windows indexing to quickly find what I need in seconds using queries like file:keyword or content:keyword. Windows display the cover page of my PDFs, which makes browsing by category easy. Unfortunately, Windows does not show the cover page of ePubs in file explorer, so given the growing number of ePubs in my collection, I am thinking about switching to Calibre. I also wrote a script in AutoHotkey that scans my entire ebook directory structure and produces a nice HTML document with all the ebooks sorted with their cover page. I am sorry for this long first message, but I figured I was going to introduce myself as well given the nature of my question. Philippe

05-09-2017, 03:16 AM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,552 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@PhilippeBruno - the Job Spy plugin has a Select and Open Arbitrary Programs and Files Tool. The Job Spy plugin is a collection of tools, Job spying happened to be first cab off the rank. IIRC Sagethumbs will display ePub cover images (and lots more too) as thumbnails in Window/File Explorer and and so-called Explorer alternatives such as xplorer² and Directory Opus I use Windows Desktop Search (WDS) and X1 Search regularly. Two of my calibre libraries (110K+ and 60K+ documents) are included in their scope, but so to are emails, blog posts, mailing list items etc etc, all told over 850.000 items. I integrate WDS and X1 search results into calibre via the disarmingly simple and incredibly useful Drop Search Results plugin. In the main I use it to add books to ad-hoc lists created with the Reading List plugin. Kovid Goyal has full text search, integrated within calibre, as one of his long term goals. He is currently finalising version 3.0 (enhanced calibre server and web based viewer). There is also this ==>> Recoll Full Text Search plugin, I notice someone got its working on Windows last year. BR Last edited by BetterRed; 05-09-2017 at 03:43 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Hackable eInk Reader with external Keyboard (to run GnuEmacs)	hans123	Which one should I buy?	2	10-07-2016 02:37 PM
Run Calibre with Library on an external,How?	beckyt	Library Management	5	06-15-2015 03:14 PM
run linux program on Pocketbook 90x?	Dulin's Books	PocketBook Developer's Corner	9	07-04-2012 04:56 PM
Can I have the program on an external hard drive?	ziegl027	Calibre	3	02-01-2010 12:18 PM
Classic Program that sorts external drives?	Critteranne	Barnes & Noble NOOK	3	01-17-2010 09:24 AM

05-09-2017, 04:05 AM	#3
PhilippeBruno Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2017 Device: Android tablet	@BetterRed, thanks so much for the detailed reply... I could not have expected a better answer! I think I will like this online community...

11-23-2021, 08:19 AM	#8
jpijper Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 20 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Belgium Device: Pocketbook HD3 (PB632)	Look at the Power Search plugin.

11-23-2021, 09:10 PM	#9
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,553 Karma: 61170925 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	You do realize you are replying to a thread made before Power Search existed?