[GUI Plugin] Kobo Utilities

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by jiembe

When I load a book in my Kobo Glo many time the display of the book don't correspond with the stylesheet. I have to reboot the Kobo to get all the real styles applied. I don't know why.

That shouldn't happen. Except maybe if you are also sideloading a font. In that case, it is recommended that you restart the device for the font to be completely active. Apart from that I cannot think of any reason for this. Unless an error in the book is triggering a failure in the renderer that needs a reboot to fix. But, I would expect that it would happen the next time you open the book. Unless it requires several other books to be opened first.

I don't confuse "Collection" in the Kobo and "series" in Calibre. The Kobo Collection is a collection of books (a shelf) under one collection's name. The books in the Collection can have or not a series' name. The Collection can also regroup books with different series' names.

Yes that is correct. A book on the device can be in multiple collections. It is common to create a collection for a series, but you don't have to.

The correspondence between Calibre and Kobo is not the Collection (which in a way is similar to the Calibre's virtual library) but in the series' name. I want them to be the same.

I don't understand at all what you are saying here. You seem to both saying that you are using series for collections and not using them at the same time.

And if I understand you usage of the word "correspondence", then you are wrong. There is a correspondence between the collection and calibre. The correspondence is done through the columns you set in the driver for for the collection management. For each book on the device that is in the calibre library, the collection columns will be evaluated. This gives a list of collection names. The driver will then create a collection for name in the list and put the book into each of those collections.

There is no real correspondence for the series name. The series name is a piece of metadata for the book. When setting the series name for a book on the device, the "correspondence" is effectively the author and title. Calibre matches books on the device to the books in the library based on the title and author. Then the Kobo Utilities plugin can update the metadata for that book on the device from the metadata for the book in the library. And one of the pieces of metadata that can be set is the series name. And on the device, the series name is displayed in the book lists, in the book details and used in the search. It is used in no other way. The device DOES NOT use the series name for collections.

Also, suggesting that Collections are similar to calibres virtual libraries is completely wrong. Selecting a virtual library limits any further action to the books in the virtual library. Any searches done will only find books in the virtual library. The collection is just a convenient list of books.

The problem occurs when I change the Series' name in Calibre and use KoboUtilities to modify the series' name in the Kobo (nothing to do with the Collection). The series' name is change in my Kobo but for a time only before it revert to the previous name. This is a new problem. I used the metadata update for years without problem.

I think I need to clarify the sequence of events:

1. You have a book on the device and it shows "Some series" in the library list under the title. You decide this needs to be changed.
2. You find the book in your calibre library and change the series to say "The Right Series".
3. You connect the device to calibre and let the connection jobs run.
4. You then find and select the book in the calibre library.
5. You then select the "Update metadata" function of the Kobo Utilities plugin.
6. You make sure that the series info option is selected and press the OK button.
7. The message box is displayed saying that changes happened and there were no errors.
8. You eject the device and wait for it to display the home screen.
9. You go to the book list and see that the book now has "The Right Series" displayed for the series.
10. Some time later, you go to the book list and see that the book now has "Some series" displayed for the series.

Is that the right sequence of events? If not, what are you actually doing?

If it is correct, what is happening between the last two steps? Is it minutes, hours, days or longer? Do you power the device off. Do you connect to calibre and do other things? Have you changed the series name in the calibre library for the book back to "Some series"? Did you read the book or otherwise change the reading status?

I am certain that this isn't happening here. But, I also set the series info when I first add the book to the library and rarely change it later. That means that the book goes to the device, and the next time the device, the series info is set and is unlikely to change again. If I do change the series, I check it on the device afterwards. But, if it was to change back some weeks later, I might not notice unless I went looking for a book in that series.

[compurandom]

In the kobo extended driver, under tab "metadata, on device & advanced"
there is a checkbox "set series information"

Is this relevant?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by compurandom

In the kobo extended driver, under tab "metadata, on device & advanced"
there is a checkbox "set series information"

Is this relevant?

Maybe. It is a way for the series info to be changed on the device. If the series name was changed in the library after the metadata update was used, then if the driver option is configured, the next time the device is connected, the series info will be updated.

[jiembe]

Some time later, you go to the book list and see that the book now has "Some series" displayed for the series.

Is that the right sequence of events? If not, what are you actually doing?

If it is correct, what is happening between the last two steps? Is it minutes, hours, days or longer?

It's the right sequence of events. As for the time between updating and going back to the old name, I don't really know. I know this has happened once on the same day. Since my first post, I have removed books from my Kobo that had this problem, reloaded them, and successfully changed with KoboUtilities the serial metadata information without producing the previous problem.

That shouldn't happen. Except maybe if you are also sideloading a font.

So that's why! Indeed, when I redo the layout of my books I use fonts that do not exist in my Kobo and that I integrate in the books.

I don't understand at all what you are saying here. You seem to both saying that you are using series for collections and not using them at the same time.

And if I understand you usage of the word "correspondence", then you are wrong. There is a correspondence between the collection and calibre. The correspondence is done through the columns you set in the driver for for the collection management. For each book on the device that is in the calibre library, the collection columns will be evaluated. This gives a list of collection names. The driver will then create a collection for name in the list and put the book into each of those collections.

I do not use the automatic update of metadata nor (at least I believe) the creation or the disposition of the books in the collections of my device. When I load a book into my device, it does not end up in any of the device's shelf and obviously does not have a serial name. I use KoboUtilities to update the missing metadata including the serial name, and then place the book in one of the Kobo shelves.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by jiembe

It's the right sequence of events. As for the time between updating and going back to the old name, I don't really know. I know this has happened once on the same day. Since my first post, I have removed books from my Kobo that had this problem, reloaded them, and successfully changed with KoboUtilities the serial metadata information without producing the previous problem.

Is it possible that you resent a book to the device without removing it after tweaking the metadata? If you change the metadata that is used by the save template, this will probably produce a different file name for the book on the device. The device will then treat this as a separate book. That will mean you have two copies of the same book listed on the device and it is possible the metadata updates only updates one (it should do both, but there are reasons for only one being updated). Then, the series name might be different depending on which copy you see.

So that's why! Indeed, when I redo the layout of my books I use fonts that do not exist in my Kobo and that I integrate in the books.

Sideloading the fonts is good if you want to use a font for everything in a book. But, if you want more control, different parts of the book using different fonts, I think you need to embed them.

I do not use the automatic update of metadata nor (at least I believe) the creation or the disposition of the books in the collections of my device. When I load a book into my device, it does not end up in any of the device's shelf and obviously does not have a serial name. I use KoboUtilities to update the missing metadata including the serial name, and then place the book in one of the Kobo shelves.

So, the mention of collections was a red-herring. If you do that only on the device, then nothing calibre is doing has any impact on the collections. And the series info has no actual effect on the collections except maybe in how you find a book to add to a collection.

Have you checked the driver to make sure the option to set the series info is not on? If it is, it could be undoing your changes. Of course, if it is on, the series info will be automatically maintained when the device is connected.

Other than this, I have no idea what is going on. If the change happens independent on a connection to calibre, I really, have no idea. If the change happens after connecting to calibre, then it is something in the driver or something you do during the connection. For that, I would need to see a debug log from calibre to see what it actually did. But, as it sounds fairly random, you would need to run calibre in debug mode all the time and keep the logs for when you see it has happened.

[jiembe]

First,let me thanks all of you for your help and specially davidfor.

I'm sorry for the confusion due to some mistranslation in particular with the word collection. That's why I finally used «device's shelf» instead. In French it is named Collection.

If you change the metadata that is used by the save template, this will probably produce a different file name

What constitute the save template? I thought it was the title, the author's name and it's sorting version. So changing the other metadata shouldn't influence the file name, right?

Other definitions: Sideloading and embedding. I think I mixed them. I'm adding the fonts in the books when I edit in Calibre. Viewing both words in your reply made me understand I am embedding the fonts and not sideloading them.

so did your explanation:

That shouldn't happen. Except maybe if you are also sideloading a font. In that case, it is recommended that you restart the device for the font to be completely active.

can be apply to embedding fonts and still explain why I have to restart/reboot the device to get the good display of the stylesheet. Without that restart, I don't get the good fonts and the display is wrong (like left align instead of center align).

Have you checked the driver to make sure the option to set the series info is not on?

I don't see that option in my Kobo Glo.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by jiembe

First,let me thanks all of you for your help and specially davidfor.

I'm sorry for the confusion due to some mistranslation in particular with the word collection. That's why I finally used «device's shelf» instead. In French it is named Collection.

There was no misunderstanding about the word collection. The problem is that it had nothing to do with the problem you were trying to report. It was a red herring. It was something unrelated to the problem and was distracting from it.

What constitute the save template? I thought it was the title, the author's name and it's sorting version. So changing the other metadata shouldn't influence the file name, right?

The save template can be made up of whatever metadata you want. The default uses the author and title. And hence changes to other metadata won't affect the file name. There have been a couple of changes in the driver that did change the file name. These were mainly to solve issues with certain characters and the over all length. But, it did mean that a book sent before the change had a different file name to that after the change. But, it has been a while since the last change like this.

Other definitions: Sideloading and embedding. I think I mixed them. I'm adding the fonts in the books when I edit in Calibre. Viewing both words in your reply made me understand I am embedding the fonts and not sideloading them.

Yes, sideloading is copying the font files to the device. Embedding will be putting them in the book for use. The advantage of sideloading is that you can use the font for all books. But, it is an all-or-nothing thing. Embedding means you can fine-tune the look of a book, but the file size will be much bigger.

so did your explanation:



can be apply to embedding fonts and still explain why I have to restart/reboot the device to get the good display of the stylesheet. Without that restart, I don't get the good fonts and the display is wrong (like left align instead of center align).

When you embed the font, the device shouldn't need to be restarted. And I've never needed to when sideloading. I don't have that many books to sideload with embedded fonts, so I don't have that much practice with them, but I'm sure you shouldn't need to restart the device.

I don't see that option in my Kobo Glo.

It is an option in the KoboTouch driver that has been there for at least four years. In the recent versions of calibre, it is on the "Metadata, on device & advanced" tab of the driver configuration dialog.

[DrW]

I'm trying to upgrade from a Kobo Aura to an Aura One, migrating all the books and reading positions over, and I can't seem to get it to work.

I set up Kobo Utilities when I first got the Aura, and it appears that everything was correct - the reading position was saved every time I connected etc. So I'd hoped it would all work properly with the Aura One too. But I copied over a couple of half-read books to test and they appeared as unread on the Aura One.

Searching around and trying various things, I've now got this far:

I copy some books to the Aura One from Calibre.
Disconnect the Aura One and let it update the database.
Reconnect, select the books in Calibre and use Store\Restore Current Bookmark.
Disconnect again.

That sets the books as Unread\percentage read\Completed on the Aura One's library list but, if I try to read any book, it starts from the beginning.

I've checked and, as far as I can see, the Current Reading Location column is correctly set up - it's listed as type "Text, column shown in the Tag browser" and, if I display it, it's full of data.

Is there anything else that I could have missed when I set this up, which would stop this working? Both of the Kobos are set to the latest firmware, and Calibre is up to date.

Apologies if this has been covered before, I did have a good look through the thread but couldn't find anything that solved it.

[davidfor]

I just did a couple of quick tests here, and it seems to be working. But, I haven't run the restore just now. I reset up my Aura H2O just before Christmas, and that included copy about 50 in progress books onto the device and then restoring the reading positions. I haven't reopened some of them since then. Opening a few of these now, worked OK except for one book (and I know why it didn't).

One thing I do suggest, is restarting the device before opening the books. The reason for this is that the plugin updates the database on the device directly, but the device can work on cached data. I occasionally find that the update to the database isn't seen because it doesn't get reread before it is displayed or used. Restarting the device will mean the database will be reloaded and the latest values used. In my case, the device has definitely been restarted since the restore was done.

Another reason for this to fail is if the book on one device doesn't match the book on the other device. A simple reason would be if you were reading an epub on one, but used kepub on the other. The two formats use different methods for storing the reading locations and they are not compatible. The restore function doesn't attempt to validate the restored reading position makes sense for the version of the book currently on the device.

Other than that, I would need to see some more details. Run calibre in debug mode, restore the reading position for a few books and post the debug log. Then check if any of the books open to the correct place. I should be able to see from the logs if the reading position is being restored in the way I expect it to be.

[DrW]

Originally Posted by davidfor

One thing I do suggest, is restarting the device before opening the books. The reason for this is that the plugin updates the database on the device directly, but the device can work on cached data. I occasionally find that the update to the database isn't seen because it doesn't get reread before it is displayed or used. Restarting the device will mean the database will be reloaded and the latest values used. In my case, the device has definitely been restarted since the restore was done.

And, of course, restarting it fixed it.

Honestly, the amount of times I've told people to turn their PCs off and on again, you'd think I'd have learned. I did think that it would need the database updating, but assumed that the refresh it did when I disconnected it from the PC would have been enough. Lesson learned, hopefully.

Thanks very much for your help, and in all the work you've done on the plugin.

[troypolidori]

I've been reading books I sideloaded into the Kobo ios app on my ipad, and I would like to export them with annotations if possible. I've tried adding the kobo utilities plugin into calibre, but I can't really see how this will work. Does the plugin only work for kobo ereaders? Or only for books purchased from kobo and not sideloaded books? Thank you for your help.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by troypolidori

I've been reading books I sideloaded into the Kobo ios app on my ipad, and I would like to export them with annotations if possible. I've tried adding the kobo utilities plugin into calibre, but I can't really see how this will work. Does the plugin only work for kobo ereaders? Or only for books purchased from kobo and not sideloaded books? Thank you for your help.

Sorry, the Kobo Utilities plugin only works with the Kobo e-ink ereaders. And based on the last time I looked at accessing anything on an iWhatever, I don't know that there would be any way to do what you want.

[nicolas161]

davidfor, is there any way to fix a tile in the old homescreen? By that I mean if there is any way to make a "sticky" tile that keeps being there in the first place even if I open other things?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by nicolas161

davidfor, is there any way to fix a tile in the old homescreen? By that I mean if there is any way to make a "sticky" tile that keeps being there in the first place even if I open other things?

Yes and no.

The no is because the tiles are displayed based on timestamps of when things are done. So, the first tile is always the book with the latest read date. And as soon as you open another book that changes.

The yes is because you can change the dates involved for a tile to something in the future and it will stay there. But, using the tile will change the date. If you really want something to stick, you can add a database trigger so that whenever the timestamp for the tile is modified, it is changed to something in the future.

This is not a solution I like. It would work, but I don't know if it is really useful. And I have to admit to little interest in implementing it.

[nicolas161]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Yes and no.

The no is because the tiles are displayed based on timestamps of when things are done. So, the first tile is always the book with the latest read date. And as soon as you open another book that changes.

The yes is because you can change the dates involved for a tile to something in the future and it will stay there. But, using the tile will change the date. If you really want something to stick, you can add a database trigger so that whenever the timestamp for the tile is modified, it is changed to something in the future.

This is not a solution I like. It would work, but I don't know if it is really useful. And I have to admit to little interest in implementing it.

, that helps a lot. If I understand correctly, you have already worked with database triggers, haven't you? If so, any advice on how one would implement something like this?