calibre shutting down message: odd location

[DrChiper]

I noticed after the last 2 updates that whenever I closed down calibre, the window did seem to expand somehow. Via a capture I could see there was a new message "Shutting down", which is in itself correct but hardly visible.

Why is it located in that new odd location for such a brief time and for instance not in the lower left info bar? Does it also indicate something else which is shutting down?

[PeterT]

I think this is referring to the Content Server shutting down

[eschwartz]

That is meant to happen. The "shutting down" message is meant to assure you that calibre is indeed trying to shut down, even though e.g. the content server can take a while to shutdown, holding calibre open in the process.

I guess it makes sense to display that message front and center.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

That is meant to happen. The "shutting down" message is meant to assure you that calibre is indeed trying to shut down, even though e.g. the content server can take a while to shutdown, holding calibre open in the process.

I guess it makes sense to display that message front and center.

If you're not like me, that I've seen a bigger zone when calibre is closing but I haven't tried to check what there's in that zone.

[BetterRed]

If calibre is minimised when you close it, you'll miss out on seeing the 'closing down' message (unless you Restore or Maximise it) which IMO is a good thing.

BR

[Terisa de morgan]

It's not minimised but full screen. I don't pay attention, however.

[dwig]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

...
I guess it makes sense to display that message front and center.

True, but its new and is an odd and novel way to do it. Most apps that feel the need to display such a message (e.g. when shutdown may take a while and they feel the need to acknowledge that action is being taken, ...) they do it in a new popup window.

The new, novel behavior is a bit unsettling at first. The main UI jumps down and a wide band appears between the button bar and the main UI. In this wide bar there is simply a very small message. Even on my somewhat slow Window8.1 tablet the message doesn't appear long enough to read, at least the first few times you see the startling new UI behavior. It was only after I'd seen it several times and became confident that it wasn't some odd failure that I noticed the message. Until then, my concentration always followed the book list down to its new position. The message location doesn't attract attention and thus fails to be a good design.

[theducks]

Slightly

What about shutting down the CLI version of server. I just close (the minimized) window. I tried ctrl-C, Ctrl-D, ctrl-Z in the server command window

[kovidgoyal]

If you dont run the content server or any db shutdown plugins then the message will be visible only very briefly, otherwise it can be useful as shutdown can take arbitrary amounts of time. I have made it an overlay which should make it much less disruptive.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

Slightly

What about shutting down the CLI version of server. I just close (the minimized) window. I tried ctrl-C, Ctrl-D, ctrl-Z in the server command window

I would guess the calibre-server task doesn't listen to the keyboard. I've not figured out how to resolve this 'which one is which' dilemma - not that I've tried very hard



Fortunately I run ConEmu as my 'real console.

Maybe the new server will run as a service with a controller in the tray

Originally Posted by dwig

True, but its new and is an odd and novel way to do it. Most apps that feel the need to display such a message (e.g. when shutdown may take a while and they feel the need to acknowledge that action is being taken, ...) they do it in a new popup window.

The ones I can think of use a balloon message rather than a traditional popup window - but do all the supported platforms have such things and does Qt support them?

BR

[kovidgoyal]

Ctrl-C works on all OSes other than windows and Ctrl-C will work on windows as well in the new server.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by theducks

Slightly

What about shutting down the CLI version of server. I just close (the minimized) window. I tried ctrl-C, Ctrl-D, ctrl-Z in the server command window

I run it (on linux) as a systemd service, so it isn't in any window (or dropdown, actually).

systemctl start|stop|status calibre-server

[dwig]

I just installed the new v2.55 on both my Win10 desktop box and my Win8.1 tablet. The new shutdown message looks good. Its a nice fix, thanks Kovid.

[MerlinMama]

Yes, I really like the overlay better.

[kovidgoyal]

Glad to hear it