[Archived] Marvin ePub reader for iPad

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by Faterson

If you read some of my earlier posts in this mega-thread, you know I consider the desire to "integrate Calibre with Marvin" to be old-fashioned and inefficient.

Why? Because it's so much easier just to instruct cloud software like Dropbox or SugarSync or Box.net, to mirror your entire Calibre "Books" folder online -- so that you always have access to any of your Calibre books on any of your traditional computers or handheld devices. There is no need to set up any direct connection between Calibre and Marvin any longer! And no need to be running your iPad and a different computer (with Calibre) at the same time. The other computer can be switched off, but you still have access to all of your Calibre books -- isn't that cool?

I know this has been discussed before Alex,but I have to disagree on this, for many reasons.

1.- Dropbox (and their ilk) have a substantial cost if you, like me exceed the measly 5GB they provide for free.

2.- Dropbox (and their ilk) have now taken to summarily delete people's accounts without recourse if they receive any complaints of books being served there. I don't want to discuss right/wrong on those actions, it just is.

3.- if you (like me) have more that 1000 books, the aforementioned API limits makes Marvin's DB browser useless. Now you have to use other apps to access you books and have Marvin handle them, an extra step at best, clunky at worst.

4.- Using Dropbox (and their ilk) does not allow you to obtain the rich metadata and excellent organization and browsing options available with Calibre.

So, in my case anyway, since my collection is some 9GB and I don't want to spend $100 or so per year for the extra storage, Dropbox ( and their ilk) are useless to me.

Instead I spent $36 for a yearly hosting plan and back up my collection there, as well as to a Flash drive.

So you see, it's not "old fashioned", just practical, to run your own calibre server if you can.

Some man's crap is another man's gold.

Cheers

Art

[chilady1]

Art - thanks so much for step-by-step instructions but of course, I have questions.

1. Dumb question: how do I find out the IP address of my Calibre server?

2. Does this require me to leave a computer running Calibre on all the time so I might access the server?

Thanks again!

[Meemo]

I prefer the "old-fashioned" way when I'm home, connecting directly to Calibre, because I prefer the additional options for sorting by series, genres, etc. I can even have Calibre pick a random book right there in Marvin. (And I know I can do the same thing with "Shuffle".) But I also love having my Calibre library on Dropbox for those times that I'm not near my computer, so I can access them from anywhere. Best of both worlds, IMHO.

I tested but didn't keep the OPDS catalog on Marvin, though, in part because I'd read about Dropbox canceling accounts. The directions I'd seen for generating one (not with Marvin, but in general) involved putting the Calibre library in the "public" folder in Dropbox - mine isn't in the public folder. The references to canceled accounts were also about "calibre2opds" - I'm not informed enough to know if that's the same as the OPDS catalog that's generated by adding opds to the end of my Calibre library address in Marvin as mentioned above. I did just try it, and it worked, and I'd love to use it. I think it's just connecting to Calibre on my computer - when I closed my laptop I could no longer access the OPDS catalog from Marvin. Just want to be sure before I re-do it and leave it there. Don't want Dropbox canceling me!

Any advice?

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by chilady1

Art - thanks so much for step-by-step instructions but of course, I have questions.

1. Dumb question: how do I find out the IP address of my Calibre server?

2. Does this require me to leave a computer running Calibre on all the time so I might access the server?

Thanks again!

1.- I am assuming you have Windows. If so:

Click Start, and then select All Programs.

Click Accessories, and then Command Prompt.

At the command prompt, enter:

ipconfig<ENTER>

The IP address (or IPv4 address, if you are using Windows 7 or Vista) will be a series of numbers following the pattern xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (e.g., 156.56.27.32).

2.- Yes, anytime you want to access the server it must be running.

3.- Also you must enable the server in Calibre.

Cheers

Art

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by Meemo

I prefer the "old-fashioned" way when I'm home, connecting directly to Calibre, because I prefer the additional options for sorting by series, genres, etc. I can even have Calibre pick a random book right there in Marvin. (And I know I can do the same thing with "Shuffle".) But I also love having my Calibre library on Dropbox for those times that I'm not near my computer, so I can access them from anywhere. Best of both worlds, IMHO.

I tested but didn't keep the OPDS catalog on Marvin, though, in part because I'd read about Dropbox canceling accounts. The directions I'd seen for generating one (not with Marvin, but in general) involved putting the Calibre library in the "public" folder in Dropbox - mine isn't in the public folder. The references to canceled accounts were also about "calibre2opds" - I'm not informed enough to know if that's the same as the OPDS catalog that's generated by adding opds to the end of my Calibre library address in Marvin as mentioned above. I did just try it, and it worked, and I'd love to use it. I think it's just connecting to Calibre on my computer - when I closed my laptop I could no longer access the OPDS catalog from Marvin. Just want to be sure before I re-do it and leave it there. Don't want Dropbox canceling me!

Any advice?

I quit using Dropbox because the cost was too high for the privilege of downloading a couple of MB per months.

Calibre2opds allows you to create a catalog that does not need calibre running all the time, that you can just drop into the www area of any web server and access from anywhere. I have done that in the past and it is trivial to add password protection so that only authorized persons can access. I am not sure if that's even possible with Dropbox.

And yes, just because you have dropbox installed, does not mean your calibre database is being transferred there. As you say, you need to put in the dropbox folder public area.

From what you described, your dropbox account is not in danger. Calibre runs it's own stand alone web server, and it needs to be running to provide access.

Cheers

Art

[chilady1]

Originally Posted by artbatista

1.- I am assuming you have Windows. If so:
Click Start, and then select All Programs.

Click Accessories, and then Command Prompt.

At the command prompt, enter:

ipconfig<ENTER>

The IP address (or IPv4 address, if you are using Windows 7 or Vista) will be a series of numbers following the pattern xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (e.g., 156.56.27.32).


2.- Yes, anytime you want to access the server it must be running.

3.- Also you must enable the server in Calibre.

Cheers

Art

Got it and it works like a charm! First, I am running iOS (Mac) and two, I missed Faterson's direction to use the Connect/Share instruction originally which gives you the IP address.

Once I did that (and typed in the correct IP address) - there it was! Not happy about always having to leave Calibre up and running (that stinks, especially if someone turns off computer) however, this works for now.

Like Meemo, I would rather go directly to Dropbox but a little nervous giving her original statement that Dropbox started canceling accounts if books were in the Public folder which I used in order to get books via Stanza.

Thank you all!

P.S. Last stupid question - I get the computer has to be up and running (with Calibre running) but what happens if the computer goes into Sleep mode? Does this disconnect the Calibre server from running?

[chilady1]

Originally Posted by Meemo

I tested but didn't keep the OPDS catalog on Marvin, though, in part because I'd read about Dropbox canceling accounts. The directions I'd seen for generating one (not with Marvin, but in general) involved putting the Calibre library in the "public" folder in Dropbox - mine isn't in the public folder. The references to canceled accounts were also about "calibre2opds" - I'm not informed enough to know if that's the same as the OPDS catalog that's generated by adding opds to the end of my Calibre library address in Marvin as mentioned above. I did just try it, and it worked, and I'd love to use it. I think it's just connecting to Calibre on my computer - when I closed my laptop I could no longer access the OPDS catalog from Marvin. Just want to be sure before I re-do it and leave it there. Don't want Dropbox canceling me!

Any advice?

Meemo - out of curiosity, where do you have your folder. I have mine in Public because I was using Stanza to view my catalog and it needed it there to do this. However, since I am no longer using Stanza - I feel I should move it, but to where?

Lastly, how do you move the folder out of Public and to somewhere else?

[ProfCrash]

Is there a way to do subcollections? Just curious and a bit hopeful.

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Is there a way to do subcollections? Just curious and a bit hopeful.

Yes, you can assign books to many virtual collections, concurrently. So you can do:

ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL
ELECTRICAL
..
..
and assign one or many books to one or many collections. It's all done virtually.

Book 1 could be ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL
Book 2 could be ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL

And so on, the possibilities are endless.

Art

[artbatista]

Originally Posted by chilady1

P.S. Last stupid question - I get the computer has to be up and running (with Calibre running) but what happens if the computer goes into Sleep mode? Does this disconnect the Calibre server from running?

My server (Windows 7) goes to sleep all the time and wakes up on LAN activity. Just takes a few seconds for the web page to show.

I don't see why a Mac shouldn't do that too, but I am uneducated when it ones to OSX

Art

[teamfraught]

Thanks for collections Kris - I now how have a postgrad "collection" to make it easier to get to those books when studying!!! A setting that points the home screen to a specific collection would be great

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by artbatista

Yes, you can assign books to many virtual collections, concurrently. So you can do:

ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL
ELECTRICAL
..
..
and assign one or many books to one or many collections. It's all done virtually.

Book 1 could be ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL
Book 2 could be ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL

And so on, the possibilities are endless.

Art

Amazing idea. Thanks!

And yeah, the new collections feature is awesome!

[kguil]

Hello chilady1. Has your Calibre issue been resolved? - Faterson's and Artbatista explanations are exactly what you need to do. If you like send me an email at support@marvinapp.com if you need more guidance.

eVeNtInE: I'm hopeful to have this feature before the iPhone version actually.

[institute]

Originally Posted by artbatista

My server (Windows 7) goes to sleep all the time and wakes up on LAN activity. Just takes a few seconds for the web page to show.

I don't see why a Mac shouldn't do that too, but I am uneducated when it ones to OSX

Art

A Mac can do this. Set your Mac to "wake for network access" in the Energy Saver preference pane in System Preferences. Here is a link to an Apple Support article on the subject:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3774

[chilady1]

Originally Posted by kguil

Hello chilady1. Has your Calibre issue been resolved? - Faterson's and Artbatista explanations are exactly what you need to do. If you like send me an email at support@marvinapp.com if you need more guidance.

eVeNtInE: I'm hopeful to have this feature before the iPhone version actually.

YES, Faterson and Artbatista got me all straightened out and much THANKS to them both.

I still need to figure out how to do this via Dropbox once I move my library to another non-public folder. Connecting directly to Calibre when I am home is fine, however, having Dropbox allows me to connect to my library no matter where I am. I travel a lot so Dropbox is really the better way for me to connect to my Calibre library.

Can I just say I am in LOVE with Marvin - this app is so clean and straight forward and has taking reading to a whole different level for me. I typically don't do long stretches of reading on my iPad and instead grab my Kindle for that. However, Marvin and the ability to customize the brightness, etc has really made a difference. Up until this point, I was thinking of getting the Kindle PW, but since using Marvin, I have decided that using my iPad for late night reading is the way to go.

This is a beautiful and elegant application and all I can say is THANK YOU! Finally, someone who gets it. I know there are a lot more features and enhancements on the way but this app completely outshines other book reading applications. Keep up the good work!

P.S. Thanks again to Faterson and Artbatista for all your help