Request - remove deletion confirmation

[trumad]

I'm using a kindle Paperwhite.

This may be asking a lot, and it may even already exist in some form (in which case, please provide a link!), but I'd really appreciate saving some time by not having to confirm every time I delete a file. Perhaps a file manager already exists that would enable multiple file deletion and no confirmation windows? Sorry, I have not been able to find one and I'm not sure what's good.

If there's nothing like this, collections manager might be my best bet...a little guidance on the best way of making this easier would be great!

Thanks!

[HarryT]

Delete from Calibre's "Device View".

[trumad]

Thanks, that's a better solution than trying to do it in windows explorer.

It would be nice to have a good method for doing this on the kindle itself though, if possible. If not, don't worry about it...

[knc1]

Originally Posted by trumad

Thanks, that's a better solution than trying to do it in windows explorer.

It would be nice to have a good method for doing this on the kindle itself though, if possible. If not, don't worry about it...

Have you tried KUAL.explorer?
See attachments in 3rd post of the thread, or:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...12&postcount=3

[trumad]

Oh yeah, I saw that list of apps but I hadn't noticed explorer. Thanks for linking it, it looks useful.

It's not quite what I'm looking for though. Sorry to be so persnickety :/

For almost every book/article/whatever in my kindle there is a folder associated with it. I need something to delete those folders at the same time as deleting each book. This way I don't have to delete everything twice. This is quite fiddly in windows explorer, never mind KUAL explorer! (Having said this, even the kindle itself doesn't delete these folders when I delete a book, as far as I can tell)

But the main thing is the way I have things organised into collections (with a ton of help from collections manager) - that doesn't show in the disorganised mess of the kindle documents folder. That makes it even harder to find the things I want to delete.

So what I need is something that displays my collections and files, and enables easy deletion of said files (without confirmation, and preferably via checkboxes so multiple deletions are possible). Even an extra feature in collections manager - a delete button - would solve this problem. Should I post in that thread?

Thanks for your help so far!

[knc1]

Your post is unclear - -
Have you or have you not tried Kindle Explorer?

Did it work on your device?

What features of it does it have that you want?
What features that you want does it lack?

Please give complete and specific answers to all four questions.

From the context of your more recent post - -
It reads as if you want something that deletes the Sets of files that are associated with each "book" placed on the device.

Not even the Kindle firmware does that. It leaves behind the index, annotations, bookmarks, etc when you "delete" the "book".

Collections Manager, an alternate gui on the Kindle's own collections management, is limited to doing what the underlying Kindle firmware can do.
So, no, I don't expect that "just add a delete group" button to CM is easy, or even possible. Although the author, ixtab may know a way to make that happen.

Now other "file manager" types of add-in programs are things that are self-contained, not limited to what the Kindle's Java code can do. Which makes it much more likely that their feature set(s) can be changed by someone here.

After trying Kindle Explorer - - give the Kindle port of MidNight Commander a try.
Provide details of exactly what would have to be changed in MC to meet your needs (similar to what I just asked you to provide about KE).

Your asking for something that will probably require a significant amount of time and effort on someone's part -
So give us a very well defined problem set to be solved in your reports.

[thomass]

Originally Posted by trumad

For almost every book/article/whatever in my kindle there is a folder associated with it. I need something to delete those folders at the same time as deleting each book.

There is an KUAL extension for this purpose: here

[knc1]

Originally Posted by thomass

There is an KUAL extension for this purpose: here

Thanks!
I had forgotten that one.

Although it is only a partial solution, but better than no solution at all.

What that thread goes on to discuss is the Amazon firmware's "split brain" behavior and the problems that can cause.

1) Put book on Kindle (without a connection available to Amazon).
2) Files are generated on the Kindle
3) Delete the book, before the firmware can check if it is also present on your device's Cloud(let).
4) If the book is on your device's Cloud(let), the generated files will be retained on the Kindle so they do not have to be re-generated when (if) you re-load the book from your Cloud(let).
5) If the book is 100% device local (not on Cloud(let)), then the generated files should all be deleted also.
6) But in this scenario, the firmware has not been able to contact the device's Cloud(let) to determine if it is a truly a "device local" book.
7) Now the book is gone, locally, so it will not be checked for on the Cloud(let) even if a connection to Amazon becomes available.

I wrote above "a partial solution" because the Amazon firmware takes one path through the above cases of "split brain" behavior and the KUAL file prune button takes another path.
Neither is exactly correct in all situations.

---
"Split Brain" : Partial dataset storage in two (or more) locations, one or more of which may not always be available.
Not a "good idea" (tm) in dataset storage design.

[HarryT]

That's why I only ever add and remove books using Calibre. That way all the folders and auxiliary files are also removed.

[knc1]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's why I only ever add and remove books using Calibre. That way all the folders and auxiliary files are also removed.

The O.P. also mentioned "would like to do it on the Kindle if possible".

And it might indeed be possible, since we could **presume** that the user knows if the book is "local only".

Note: Purchases from Amazon are never "local only" even if side-loaded via a PC since Amazon delivers the purchases to the device's cloud(let).
In which case, the local generated files should not be deleted.

Hmm...
But the Kindles have that "purchased" logic (somewhere) to control the display of the "personal" banner on the cover thumb-nails.

all-in-all, a tough to "get it right" sort of management operation.
but with more feedback from the O.P. - call it a "maybe we can".

[trumad]

Quite a lot to get through here, let's see if I can answer all your questions properly

First of all, thanks for considering my problem in such depth. I wasn't aware that it may take a lot of work to make it easier to delete books & their associated folders on the kindle itself. I don't mean to sound demanding at all. I kinda just wanted to see if anybody else would also like this feature, and maybe they'd fix it and then I'd be eternally grateful

Yes, I tried kindle explorer. There was no "checkbox" system, or similar, in which I could select a whole bunch of files/directories and delete them all in one go. To delete files in kindle explorer you have to select each one individually and click the delete button, after which is a prompt asking to confirm deletion. That's clunky and time consuming. Not to mention the fact that you have to delete the book, and also the folder containing that weird extra information related to the book. So kindle explorer isn't an apt solution to this problem - deleting files is just as time consuming as on the normal firmware.

Yes, I absolutely would love something that would easily allow deletion of sets of files - books, related indexes and folders. I can live with deleting each book individually, with the following conditions:

1.) You don't have to confirm deletion
2.) entire sets of files are deleted relating to the deleted book

Midnight Commander for kindle looks like it would be difficult to install (requiring more than simply copying a folder into my extensions folder) - so please don't think me rude if I don't install it and check it out. From what I can see, it's simply another file explorer. It won't provide the ability to delete sets of files when a book is deleted. Deleting a book and its related folders is even clunky in windows explorer. I can't imagine any kindle file manager/explorer being better than windows explorer - which is already bad enough!

I hadn't realised before that the kindle does not delete those folders when you delete a book.



Now, I just tried folder pruner, and as you say it deletes some things but not others. I was still left with some folders belonging to books that don't exist any more.

I have no idea whether books are saved on the cloud properly or not, or which ones are saved to the cloud. Sorry :/ It sounds like all those extra files do is store bookmarks and last reading position (and maybe notes, which I never use). If I'm deleting a book, there's no way I want to keep all that stuff as well. So I'd be happy with a solution which nukes everything related to a deleted book.

Doing all this on Calibre would be a pain, to be honest. I like to leave my computer out of it when doing things on the kindle. Most of what I read on the kindle is articles I've pushed from the web (not using the official kindle extension for chrome - I use a different one) and those articles never see calibre in .mobi form. After I read them, I delete them on the device. But those extra files and folders remain, making a real mess of the documents folder if I need to delete several books within windows explorer. That only happens when I have a backlog of articles stored on the kindle. Rather than spend time holding down my finger on each one, selecting delete, and confirming the delete, you'd think deleting batches of files in windows explorer would be easier - but the mess of files & folders makes that almost as difficult :/

I hope all this helps you make better sense of what I would like. If I'm alone in finding this to be a problem, don't worry about it. I really would hate to waste anybody's time.

Do ask me to clarify things further, if needed!

[NiLuJe]

For anyone looking to implement this, cf. Calibre's Kindle driver & the base UMS driver for an implementation example, and a list of all known sidecar files (DELETE_EXTS).

[knc1]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

For anyone looking to implement this, cf. Calibre's Kindle driver & the base UMS driver for an implementation example, and a list of all known sidecar files (DELETE_EXTS).

@trumad: Thanks a lot - we got the problem set now -

Delete book, and nuke the set of related files with a single command.

(Optionally, if possible): Provide a check list of things to be 'nuked on the next nuke'm command.
Probably similar to how Komic handles deleting a list of files.

Leave it up to the user to decide if they want to use Amazon's "delete" function on a book (to save all the generated files and the later re-indexing of it) or to "nuke" a book and everything related to it.

@NiLuJe: Thanks for the suggestion.

PS: Both K5 models have Lua 5.1.4 Amazon installed.
The translation of those to Lua should not be a major chore.
The KUAL launcher can run anything that 'root' can run on the machine (anything).

Although if we have a willing Kindlet author, it could be done as an active document (plus our Kindlet jailbreak of course).

I think we have a clear understanding of the situation.
All that is needed now is someone bored and with time on their hands.

[trumad]

Yes, I'd say that sums it up perfectly The ability to "nuke" everything related to a book with one or two touches, and to be able to nuke several books in one go would be fantastic.

I really appreciate you taking the time to clarify this. Does it sound like something other people would find useful as well? With any luck somebody will jump on board I'm excited!

Thanks again.

[trumad]

Hi Just wondering if any devs think this is a useful thing to create? Sorry about the bump...is that frowned upon here?