Book versions in Calibre and on Reader

BobC · 07-27-2016, 04:16 AM

Calibre will show if a book in its library is present on a connected reader, however is there any way to display if the two are the same "version", i.e. same file date/time (perhaps within a tolerance).

I have a number of readers and sometimes will update a book and upload it to my main reader (perhaps when I notice an error while reading), but will forget to update one of the other readers. The ability to check if the Calibre library and a connected reader have the same version would be useful to know just which ones need re-uploading.

BobC

theducks · 07-27-2016, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobC

Calibre will show if a book in its library is present on a connected reader, however is there any way to display if the two are the same "version", i.e. same file date/time (perhaps within a tolerance).

I have a number of readers and sometimes will update a book and upload it to my main reader (perhaps when I notice an error while reading), but will forget to update one of the other readers. The ability to check if the Calibre library and a connected reader have the same version would be useful to know just which ones need re-uploading.

BobC

(not the solution you were asking for... but)

If you switch to device view, you can use the Calibre Viewer to open the file.

Tag with a a revision number, that will appear in the Tags section of the Jacket

jackie_w · 07-27-2016, 04:14 PM

If any of your extra readers are Android devices, you could use the Calibre Companion app to automatically update any book which has changed since your last connection.

davidfor · 07-27-2016, 08:26 PM

I haven't seen a mechanism to do what you want. It could be written as a plugin, but it would need either the drivers for the device to collect the timestamp info, or for the plugin to get the timestamp directly from the device. I don't remember if any of the drivers do the former, and the latter might need something written for each device.

The way I normally handle what you are doing is with Reading Lists. I have one Reading List per device. When I add or change a book, I add it to the RL for each device I want it on. For my main device, the RL syncs automatically when I connect. For the other devices, when I connect, I go through the list and decide if I still want the book on that device. I might not send it if I have already finished the book. I also use the list to update the read status.

The other thing I do is to sort the library by the modified timestamp while the device is connected. This shows what is and isn't on the device. I'll probably have a rough memory of when the device was last synced (my main device daily, the others a lot less often) and looking at what is and isn't on the device will tell me what I need to update.

Neither method is perfect, but it's close enough for my use.

BobC · 07-28-2016, 04:31 AM

Thanks to all for the suggestions, I had assumed that there was some existing functionality that I had missed - clearly not.

Picking up on davidfor's idea I could create a custom column for each device with Y/N/(undefined) options and set them all to Y when I edit a book; then reset the column for the device when I upload it; it does rely though on a manual process and one I will probably overlook at some point.

BobC

chaley · 07-28-2016, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

I haven't seen a mechanism to do what you want. It could be written as a plugin, but it would need either the drivers for the device to collect the timestamp info, or for the plugin to get the timestamp directly from the device. I don't remember if any of the drivers do the former, and the latter might need something written for each device.

The "synchronize_with_db" device interface method can be used to do this. CC (Calibre Companion) uses it for this purpose as well as for syncing some information from the device into calibre's database.

CC does the job by collecting the timestamp information from the device during the scan phase. These timestamps are compared to the files in the calibre library during the book matching phase, which is when synchronize_with_db is called. If the calibre file is newer then CC asks calibre to send the book.

jackie_w · 07-28-2016, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaley

The "synchronize_with_db" device interface method can be used to do this.

@davidfor,
Ooh! This sounds promising. Paraphrasing, I think chaley just said it would be easy for a man of your exceptional talents. Maybe you were looking for a little project to while away those long, dark Aussie winter nights

Seriously, though, having a 'resend-if-newer' option (for books and/or metadata) available on Kobos would be brilliant. I love it on CC.

BetterRed · 07-28-2016, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackie_w

... those long, dark Aussie winter nights

@jackie_w - they're not so long or dark, but they're bloody cold this year. It's nine in the morning and still only 6°C

Global warming... yeah, in my left foot

BR

davidfor · 07-28-2016, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackie_w

@davidfor,
Ooh! This sounds promising. Paraphrasing, I think chaley just said it would be easy for a man of your exceptional talents. Maybe you were looking for a little project to while away those long, dark Aussie winter nights

I'm not sure whether

or

is the proper response

Quote:

Seriously, though, having a 'resend-if-newer' option (for books and/or metadata) available on Kobos would be brilliant. I love it on CC.

The biggest issue I have with this is if the changes affect the structure of the file. As the firmware processes the book the first time to extract the ToC and metadata, and I have the driver updating the device database to prevent this, automatically sending changed books might be a bad idea. At the moment, I have to remember to delete books I change to much before resending.

If I do this, there are two timestamps on the device. One is the file timestamp, which will be when the book was put on the device. The other is the "Last Synced" timestamp in the database. This is when the book was seen and added to the database. Which should be used? I tend towards the last synced, but if it is used, I need to update it. This is used by the "Recent" sort in the library. Updating it means the book will be pushed to the top of the list (if it is unread).

For the resend, I am planning to add an option to let the device process the books as new. This is what would happen if you manually sideload the books in the recent firmware. Now that I can change the configuration easily, adding an option to do this will be a lot simpler.

jackie_w · 07-29-2016, 06:36 AM

@davidfor,

Hmm. I'd forgotten about Kobo's heavy reliance on the TOC contents.

FWIW and just a personal opinion, it wouldn't bother me at all if re-sent books ended up at the top of the sort-by-Recent list. If it did upset me I'd just choose to change my sort order to something else ... or choose not to enable resend-if-newer in the first place. Most new features have pros and cons. As long as they're optional why would I complain?

07-27-2016, 04:16 AM	#1
BobC Guru Posts: 691 Karma: 3026110 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Lancashire, U.K. Device: BeBook 1, BeBook Pure, Kobo Glo, (and HD),Energy Sistem EReader Pro +	Book versions in Calibre and on Reader Calibre will show if a book in its library is present on a connected reader, however is there any way to display if the two are the same "version", i.e. same file date/time (perhaps within a tolerance). I have a number of readers and sometimes will update a book and upload it to my main reader (perhaps when I notice an error while reading), but will forget to update one of the other readers. The ability to check if the Calibre library and a connected reader have the same version would be useful to know just which ones need re-uploading. BobC

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07-27-2016, 04:14 PM	#3
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,212 Karma: 16534894 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo: KA1, ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E. PocketBook: TouchHD3	If any of your extra readers are Android devices, you could use the Calibre Companion app to automatically update any book which has changed since your last connection.

07-27-2016, 08:26 PM	#4
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	I haven't seen a mechanism to do what you want. It could be written as a plugin, but it would need either the drivers for the device to collect the timestamp info, or for the plugin to get the timestamp directly from the device. I don't remember if any of the drivers do the former, and the latter might need something written for each device. The way I normally handle what you are doing is with Reading Lists. I have one Reading List per device. When I add or change a book, I add it to the RL for each device I want it on. For my main device, the RL syncs automatically when I connect. For the other devices, when I connect, I go through the list and decide if I still want the book on that device. I might not send it if I have already finished the book. I also use the list to update the read status. The other thing I do is to sort the library by the modified timestamp while the device is connected. This shows what is and isn't on the device. I'll probably have a rough memory of when the device was last synced (my main device daily, the others a lot less often) and looking at what is and isn't on the device will tell me what I need to update. Neither method is perfect, but it's close enough for my use.

07-28-2016, 04:31 AM	#5
BobC Guru Posts: 691 Karma: 3026110 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Lancashire, U.K. Device: BeBook 1, BeBook Pure, Kobo Glo, (and HD),Energy Sistem EReader Pro +	Thanks to all for the suggestions, I had assumed that there was some existing functionality that I had missed - clearly not. Picking up on davidfor's idea I could create a custom column for each device with Y/N/(undefined) options and set them all to Y when I edit a book; then reset the column for the device when I upload it; it does rely though on a manual process and one I will probably overlook at some point. BobC

07-29-2016, 06:36 AM	#10
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,212 Karma: 16534894 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo: KA1, ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E. PocketBook: TouchHD3	@davidfor, Hmm. I'd forgotten about Kobo's heavy reliance on the TOC contents. FWIW and just a personal opinion, it wouldn't bother me at all if re-sent books ended up at the top of the sort-by-Recent list. If it did upset me I'd just choose to change my sort order to something else ... or choose not to enable resend-if-newer in the first place. Most new features have pros and cons. As long as they're optional why would I complain?

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