[Old Thread] Towards calibre 0.8

kovidgoyal · 04-16-2011, 10:27 AM

EDIT: calibre 0.8.0 has been released, so instructions in this post are obsolete, just download and install 0.8.0 as normal

Hi all,

Development towards calibre 0.8 is now fairly advanced. In the past, when working towards a new major release, I would typically stop making updates to the current series and start releasing the betas for the new series. This time, I'm going to try things a little differently.

I will continue to make 0.7.x releases, but they will contain the new 0.8 code. To activate that code, go to Preferences->Tweaks and in the bottom left corner click "Plugin tweaks". Then add the following tweak:

Code:

test_eight_code = True

Now restart calibre, and you will be running 0.8 code. Note that you need at least calibre 0.7.56 for this tweak to work.

I will update this post with new 0.8 features as they are released.

What's new

A new feature Get Books that allows you to search for a book in calibre and get a list of stores that sell/distribute the book. Clicking on a result allows you to buy the book from the store, or download it directly, in the case the book is free. To enable this feature go to Preferences->Toolbars and add the Get Books icon to your toolbar. For details see here
A new, completely rewritten metadata download system. You can now choose from amongst multiple downloaded covers, and bulk metadata downloads now run in the background. Also, the download process is much more customizable.
A new edit metadata single dialog, with multiple layouts, chooseable from Preferences->Behavior.

The changes for 0.8 do not involve the calibre database, so you should be able to freely switch the tweak on and off whenever you like. If you try the new features and have any comments, feel free to post them here.

Screenshots below.

oldbwl · 04-16-2011, 12:29 PM

I like the new Change Cover option. I have wasted countless time going through the various Metadata matches to decide on which one I wanted.

I would like to see the existing image dimensions (and size?) on the main Metadata screen. Then I could slowly go through the database and change those which I think are too large skipping the rest.

kovidgoyal · 04-16-2011, 12:36 PM

The first entry in the choose cover dialog is the current cover and it has its size below it. If you mean you want to look for covers in your library that are above/below a certain size, use the Quality Check plugin, I believe it has that feature.

Manichean · 04-16-2011, 12:38 PM

The new dialogs work great in a quick test. I have a question regarding the metadata download preferences, though: Will the field selection in the right-hand pane override the field selection for individual metadata sources?

kovidgoyal · 04-16-2011, 12:41 PM

The global settings apply to the combined results from all plugins. Individual plugins settings apply to that plugin. So a tags:false in an individual plugin will mean that no tags are downloaded from that plugin, but tags will still be downloaded from other plugins, unless you also set tags:false at the global level. Conversely if tags:true in a plugin but not globally, the global setting will override and you wont get any tags.

oldbwl · 04-16-2011, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

The first entry in the choose cover dialog is the current cover and it has its size below it. If you mean you want to look for covers in your library that are above/below a certain size, use the Quality Check plugin, I believe it has that feature.

Yes, I can see that and it works well too. What I was referring was to put the dimensions of the cover image on the Edit meta data pane - or indeed wherever the image is viewed from, the main screen, the Book Details window etc.

kovidgoyal · 04-16-2011, 02:06 PM

IIRC there's a tooltip in the edit metadata window, hold your mouse over the cover for a couple of seconds and it will show up. I can't recall if there's also a tooltip in the other places, though.

kiwidude · 04-16-2011, 02:45 PM

@Kovid - that is exactly the issue I was going to raise a ticket for (that I haven't as yet). There used to be a tooltip on the popup book details window, now it doesn't work (for me at least on Win7).

The other most useful place to put the tooltip would be on the image on the book pane on the right side. It currently has a big tooltip displaying "Double click to open Book Details window" and the path to the book. Putting the image size info would be the most useful for those of us who drag/drop into the library view a lot.

BTW those screenshots show Calibre looking way more sexy than it does on Windows 7. Unfortunately the edit metadata window in particular doesn't look anywhere near as nice, particularly with the splitters and spacing. Qt's fault most likely...

kovidgoyal · 04-16-2011, 02:59 PM

Right, I forgot. Yeah Qt does tend to look the best on linux.

markdek · 04-16-2011, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Hi all,

Development towards calibre 0.8 is now fairly advanced. In the past, when working towards a new major release, I would typically stop making updates to the current series and start releasing the betas for the new series. This time, I'm going to try things a little differently.

I've been learning Calibre, to use w/ my new Kindle 3.....what a great program....but not necessarily for the faint of hear. That doesn't stop me though.

Question: I'm a bit fearful to add the "Kindle Collections" plug-in (separately) for fear of screwing up the Kindle, Calibre, and/or my book library. Are you working to put this plugin into Calibre by default?.....in Calibre 0.8? Just curious.

Thxs.

kovidgoyal · 04-16-2011, 03:06 PM

No, I have no plans to add that plugin as a builtin, until Amazon stop requiring the Kindle to be rebooted every time collections are changed.

nynaevelan · 04-16-2011, 03:28 PM

This will be the first big update since I began using Calibre, if I decide to beta-test with the .8 code, how will that affect the existing plugins which I have installed? Or my library, is there a chance of corruption or destruction of my library?

Nyn

kovidgoyal · 04-16-2011, 05:18 PM

There's always a chance of things going wrong, but I wouldn't say it is a very high chance. Still if you decide to test the code, I would recommend you backup your library regularly.

Plugins should not be affected by these changes, with the exception of the goodreads metadata/cover download plugins.

nynaevelan · 04-16-2011, 06:32 PM

Thanks, I do backup daily but I will add a second location just in case. I think I will try .8, I am always a sucker for beta-testing.

CRussel · 04-16-2011, 08:02 PM

Love the new metadata dialogs and cover browser. Definite improvement. One tweek I was hoping for -- Some books, for reasons that are not clear, add with the author sort correct (last comma first), but the author identical (instead of first last). Currently there is a one-way arrow button to update the author sort based on the author as added. It would be really useful if there were a parallel button that changed the author based on the author sort field.
Thanks!

04-16-2011, 10:27 AM	#1
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	[Old Thread] Towards calibre 0.8 EDIT: calibre 0.8.0 has been released, so instructions in this post are obsolete, just download and install 0.8.0 as normal Hi all, Development towards calibre 0.8 is now fairly advanced. In the past, when working towards a new major release, I would typically stop making updates to the current series and start releasing the betas for the new series. This time, I'm going to try things a little differently. I will continue to make 0.7.x releases, but they will contain the new 0.8 code. To activate that code, go to Preferences->Tweaks and in the bottom left corner click "Plugin tweaks". Then add the following tweak: Code: test_eight_code = True Now restart calibre, and you will be running 0.8 code. Note that you need at least calibre 0.7.56 for this tweak to work. I will update this post with new 0.8 features as they are released. What's new A new feature Get Books that allows you to search for a book in calibre and get a list of stores that sell/distribute the book. Clicking on a result allows you to buy the book from the store, or download it directly, in the case the book is free. To enable this feature go to Preferences->Toolbars and add the Get Books icon to your toolbar. For details see here A new, completely rewritten metadata download system. You can now choose from amongst multiple downloaded covers, and bulk metadata downloads now run in the background. Also, the download process is much more customizable. A new edit metadata single dialog, with multiple layouts, chooseable from Preferences->Behavior. The changes for 0.8 do not involve the calibre database, so you should be able to freely switch the tweak on and off whenever you like. If you try the new features and have any comments, feel free to post them here. Screenshots below. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by kovidgoyal; 05-06-2011 at 01:27 PM.

04-16-2011, 12:29 PM	#2
oldbwl Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 164 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Old Ynysybwl Device: Sony PRS-300	I like the new Change Cover option. I have wasted countless time going through the various Metadata matches to decide on which one I wanted. I would like to see the existing image dimensions (and size?) on the main Metadata screen. Then I could slowly go through the database and change those which I think are too large skipping the rest. Last edited by oldbwl; 04-16-2011 at 12:38 PM.

04-16-2011, 12:41 PM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The global settings apply to the combined results from all plugins. Individual plugins settings apply to that plugin. So a tags:false in an individual plugin will mean that no tags are downloaded from that plugin, but tags will still be downloaded from other plugins, unless you also set tags:false at the global level. Conversely if tags:true in a plugin but not globally, the global setting will override and you wont get any tags. Last edited by kovidgoyal; 04-16-2011 at 12:55 PM.

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04-16-2011, 12:36 PM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The first entry in the choose cover dialog is the current cover and it has its size below it. If you mean you want to look for covers in your library that are above/below a certain size, use the Quality Check plugin, I believe it has that feature.

04-16-2011, 12:38 PM	#4
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	The new dialogs work great in a quick test. I have a question regarding the metadata download preferences, though: Will the field selection in the right-hand pane override the field selection for individual metadata sources?

04-16-2011, 02:06 PM	#7
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	IIRC there's a tooltip in the edit metadata window, hold your mouse over the cover for a couple of seconds and it will show up. I can't recall if there's also a tooltip in the other places, though.

04-16-2011, 02:45 PM	#8
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,637 Karma: 2162064 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	@Kovid - that is exactly the issue I was going to raise a ticket for (that I haven't as yet). There used to be a tooltip on the popup book details window, now it doesn't work (for me at least on Win7). The other most useful place to put the tooltip would be on the image on the book pane on the right side. It currently has a big tooltip displaying "Double click to open Book Details window" and the path to the book. Putting the image size info would be the most useful for those of us who drag/drop into the library view a lot. BTW those screenshots show Calibre looking way more sexy than it does on Windows 7. Unfortunately the edit metadata window in particular doesn't look anywhere near as nice, particularly with the splitters and spacing. Qt's fault most likely...

04-16-2011, 02:59 PM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Right, I forgot. Yeah Qt does tend to look the best on linux.

04-16-2011, 03:06 PM	#11
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	No, I have no plans to add that plugin as a builtin, until Amazon stop requiring the Kindle to be rebooted every time collections are changed.

04-16-2011, 03:28 PM	#12
nynaevelan eBook Junkie Posts: 1,526 Karma: 1464018 Join Date: May 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Fire 2020, Kindle PW2	This will be the first big update since I began using Calibre, if I decide to beta-test with the .8 code, how will that affect the existing plugins which I have installed? Or my library, is there a chance of corruption or destruction of my library? Nyn

04-16-2011, 05:18 PM	#13
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,860 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	There's always a chance of things going wrong, but I wouldn't say it is a very high chance. Still if you decide to test the code, I would recommend you backup your library regularly. Plugins should not be affected by these changes, with the exception of the goodreads metadata/cover download plugins.

04-16-2011, 06:32 PM	#14
nynaevelan eBook Junkie Posts: 1,526 Karma: 1464018 Join Date: May 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Fire 2020, Kindle PW2	Thanks, I do backup daily but I will add a second location just in case. I think I will try .8, I am always a sucker for beta-testing.

04-16-2011, 08:02 PM	#15
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,161 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	Love the new metadata dialogs and cover browser. Definite improvement. One tweek I was hoping for -- Some books, for reasons that are not clear, add with the author sort correct (last comma first), but the author identical (instead of first last). Currently there is a one-way arrow button to update the author sort based on the author as added. It would be really useful if there were a parallel button that changed the author based on the author sort field. Thanks!

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