series data via CC now available as Moon Reader shelving

[stumped]

latest android moon reader (v6) now picks up series data and allow series shelf views

a little testing , using CC to fetch the books, and Moon reader to display them on shelves, suggests it works but only if book is obtained by CC from content server, not if book is fetched from cloud

i suspect it has to be that way by design but hopefully others will have views and suggestions as to whether cloud support may be possible one day.

also, the exact mechanism being used by moon to extract series data is not obvious ? is CC placing it the opf of the device's book file ?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by stumped

a little testing , using CC to fetch the books, and Moon reader to display them on shelves, suggests it works but only if book is obtained by CC from content server, not if book is fetched from cloud

When you fetch a book from calibre via the content server, calibre automatically embeds the current metadata in the transferred book. This clearly is not the case when books are fetched from the cloud, as calibre has no role in that.

You might try embedding the current metadata in a book using calibre's Embed Metadata or Polish, syncing the library with the cloud, then try Moon to see if the series info is now present in that book.

[stumped]

thanks for the clarification. I don't use polish normally. I use the older Modify Epub plug in which probably does not add the series data to opf

but i will experiment more, It would be good to have an alternative " lossless" route for getting that info to moon.

When I ask moon reader for the by series view it puts a calibre icon alongside the name of each series. Dunno where it gets that from or what would be involved in having something different there. As there's no such thing as a "series cover" really, there's no obvious candidate for prettifying the interface

its a bit tricky so see what has been added to the book after calibre has transferred it to the device, as I have no android epub editor to peek inside with. I could push copies back via my dropbox and then use sigil to insect as a fast resort.

i noticed also, that moon finds tags in the opf of some books that are not in my calibre library tags list. I guess I am in the market for a plug in that corrects that i.e. it fixes the book opf so that only calibre tags remain. I found an example book , that had reached my Moon reader shelf, which had tags like "romance" which I would never use & would always remove from what Calibre has found. Will need to ponder how those are slipping through my workflow

[chaley]

Originally Posted by stumped

When I ask moon reader for the by series view it puts a calibre icon alongside the name of each series. Dunno where it gets that from or what would be involved in having something different there. As there's no such thing as a "series cover" really, there's no obvious candidate for prettifying the interface

The standard epub 2 metadata specification does not have a field for series. Calibre adds a "calibre-type" series item into the epub. Moon+ seems to be telling you that it sees that special item. I think that epub 3 supports series, in which case Moon+ might not show the icon.

its a bit tricky so see what has been added to the book after calibre has transferred it to the device, as I have no android epub editor to peek inside with. I could push copies back via my dropbox and then use sigil to insect as a fast resort.

Do a calibre "Save to disk" on your PC. That embeds metadata in the same way as sending to a device. You can then inspect the metadata on the PC.

i noticed also, that moon finds tags in the opf of some books that are not in my calibre tags list. I guess I am in the market for a plug in that corrects that i.e. it fixes the book opf so that only calibre tags remain. I found an example book , that had reached my Moon reader shelf, which had tags like "romance" which I would never use & always remove from what Clibre has found

This is probably the same problem. I think that send to device/content server removes existing book tags then adds yours. If you look at an unmodified book then you get the "stuff" that the publisher stuck in there.

[chaley]

BTW: an epub is really a zip file. You can use an unzipper to extract the files, one of which will be the OPF. You can then use a text editor to look at its contents.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by chaley

The standard epub 2 metadata specification does not have a field for series. Calibre adds a "calibre-type" series item into the epub. Moon+ seems to be telling you that it sees that special item. I think that epub 3 supports series, in which case Moon+ might not show the icon.
Do a calibre "Save to disk" on your PC. That embeds metadata in the same way as sending to a device. You can then inspect the metadata on the PC.
This is probably the same problem. I think that send to device/content server removes existing book tags then adds yours. If you look at an unmodified book then you get the "stuff" that the publisher stuck in there.

maybe - trying to model it in my head, to save the hassle of creating an actual test, but failing

I have my own plugboard defined for save to disc. will that mess up a comparison with send to device ?

i think moon is finding stuff in subject tags, like <dc:subject>Romance</dc:subject>

suppose I buy a book that has that subject romance construct in its opf
and that I use a standard add books route to put it in calibre
does "romance" then appear in my calibre tag editor? i think not.

if i serve that book via the content server, does" romance" make the trip OK - assuming it was not also in calibre tags list - or does it get knocked out

[stumped]

Originally Posted by chaley

BTW: an epub is really a zip file. You can use an unzipper to extract the files, one of which will be the OPF. You can then use a text editor to look at its contents.

i know, i am being incredibly lazy, and hoping someone else is curious enough to also research it and post the answers

[chaley]

Originally Posted by stumped

I have my own plugboard defined for save to disc. will that mess up a comparison with send to device ?

It might. It will certainly change the content of the OPF

i think moon is finding stuff in subject tags, like <dc:subject>Romance</dc:subject>

suppose I buy a book that has that subject romance construct in its opf
and that I use a standard add books route to put it in calibre
does "romance" then appear in my calibre tag editor? i think not.

No, unless (I think) you ask calibre to read metadata from the book when it is added.

if i serve that book via the content server, does" romance" make the trip OK - assuming it was not also in calibre tags list - or does it get knocked out

I just ran a test. Calibre replaces the tags (subject) when it embeds metadata. In your case "romance" would be removed.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by chaley

BTW: an epub is really a zip file. You can use an unzipper to extract the files, one of which will be the OPF. You can then use a text editor to look at its contents.

Calibre includes Unpack ('U') which does all the required lifting.
Simply Unpack: make the edit (don't change any filenames), click repack
Done while the book is within the Library

[stumped]

i am thinking through ways to get consistent delivery of all data from calibre to Moon reader, including the series stuff
option 1, is always use content server + CC , do not use cloud ( but then I lose 24/7 access)
option 2: always use cloud library copies+ CC and accept that I miss out on series showing in moon
option 3: maybe instead of , or as well as, mirroring the whole library to cloud, I could use save to disc or connect to folder to place my currently reading books into a dropbox folder, then access that directly from moon.24/7 . Moon can directly see into any dropbox folder. One problem with that is that it will use my save to device template? which manipulates series into title for use on my e-ink readers. I don't really want to see the titles change like that in tablet apps, though I could learn to live with it , I suppose.

one weakness perhaps of the Moon reader shelf for series idea is that is places all the books on a shelf ( presumably in series order though I have not checked) but it does not show the actual series number. i really should test it with series that have numbers like 2.5 etc included for novellas, or a pseudo series number " 103" that I may be using for an omnibus

really, its all just nice to haves to keep the OCD at bay. I don't actually sit and gaze at the shelves much !
i don't rely on tags in moon either, I happened to notice them as a menu option and got to wondering why tags like "romance" were appearing, when I dont use such a tag.

what is a little frustrating is that I already have 2 always-on 24/7 servers ( for plex) on very low-cost-to-run plex servers on Nvidia Shield + USB3 drive setups, but I can't think of any way to add/run a content server on those, as they are android TV devices ;calibre does not "do" android and plex does not " do" books

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by stumped

i am thinking through ways to get consistent delivery of all data from calibre to Moon reader, including the series stuff
option 1, is always use content server + CC , do not use cloud ( but then I lose 24/7 access)
option 2: always use cloud library copies+ CC and accept that I miss out on series showing in moon
option 3: maybe instead of , or as well as, mirroring the whole library to cloud, I could use save to disc or connect to folder to place my currently reading books into a dropbox folder, then access that directly from moon.24/7 . Moon can directly see into any dropbox folder. One problem with that is that it will use my save to device template? which manipulates series into title for use on my e-ink readers. I don't really want to see the titles change like that in tablet apps, though I could learn to live with it , I suppose.

one weakness perhaps of the Moon reader shelf for series idea is that is places all the books on a shelf ( presumably in series order though I have not checked) but it does not show the actual series number. i really should test it with series that have numbers like 2.5 etc included for novellas, or a pseudo series number " 103" that I may be using for an omnibus

really, its all just nice to haves to keep the OCD at bay. I don't actually sit and gaze at the shelves much !
i don't rely on tags in moon either, I happened to notice them as a menu option and got to wondering why tags like "romance" were appearing, when I dont use such a tag.

what is a little frustrating is that I already have 2 always-on 24/7 servers ( for plex) on very low-cost-to-run plex servers on Nvidia Shield + USB3 drive setups, but I can't think of any way to add/run a content server on those, as they are android TV devices ;calibre does not "do" android and plex does not " do" books

Jellyfin does books I have never used the option though