[GUI Plugin] Kobo Utilities

[ownedbycats]

My filename template is {#kobopath}/{author_sort}/{title} - {authors}.

#kobopath is a fixed-value column with a few options (Fiction, Nonfiction, and Fanfiction essentially) just as a kludge to avoid cluttering up the root of the drive with a million author folders. It never changes once it's set.

I forgot to mention that the duplicate book appears in Calibre device view. Usually I notice it when SmartEject tells me there's duplicate books. I've never actually checked to see if it appears on the device itself because I just delete the old version.

I also have KoboTouchExtended set to treat it as a new book. I was thinking that if the book uploaded first, and then Kobo Utilities grabs the bookmark from the old version, Calibre sees it as two separate database entries. (It would also explain why it only happens sometimes - it depends on whether the bookmark or reading list sync happens first.) But that's kind of grasping at things.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

My filename template is {#kobopath}/{author_sort}/{title} - {authors}.

#kobopath is a fixed-value column with a few options (Fiction, Nonfiction, and Fanfiction essentially) just as a kludge to avoid cluttering up the root of the drive with a million author folders. It never changes once it's set.

I forgot to mention that the duplicate book appears in Calibre device view. Usually I notice it when SmartEject tells me there's duplicate books. I've never actually checked to see if it appears on the device itself because I just delete the old version.

I also have KoboTouchExtended set to treat it as a new book. I was thinking that if the book uploaded first, and then Kobo Utilities grabs the bookmark from the old version, Calibre sees it as two separate database entries. (It would also explain why it only happens sometimes - it depends on whether the bookmark or reading list sync happens first.) But that's kind of grasping at things.

That's weird. Does the library show there are two copies on the device? That's how I usually realise I have the extended driver active.

Getting the reading status should be OK. It gets the status for all copies of the book that are in the database. And it should be using the most recent one (latest reading timestamp). If a new copy is sent as a different file name, it will not be in the database, so it won't be found. If it is breaking something, I need a debug log to look at.

[ownedbycats]

Yes, it successfully got the reading status. I'll try to grab a debug log at some point then.

[GravityJones]

I've recently started using KoboUtilities with my Kobo Libra H2O, and it's been a great help so far. I have a cosmetic issue, however, with the letterboxing option for uploading covers.

When I use KoboUtilities to upload covers for selected books and select the "letterbox covers" option, the letterboxes (technically pillarboxes on my device, but whatever :P) are black. My device is white, and the boxes clash with it when I view the covers in fullscreen. Is there an option somewhere I can set to generate white letterboxes instead of black ones?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by GravityJones

I've recently started using KoboUtilities with my Kobo Libra H2O, and it's been a great help so far. I have a cosmetic issue, however, with the letterboxing option for uploading covers.

When I use KoboUtilities to upload covers for selected books and select the "letterbox covers" option, the letterboxes (technically pillarboxes on my device, but whatever :P) are black. My device is white, and the boxes clash with it when I view the covers in fullscreen. Is there an option somewhere I can set to generate white letterboxes instead of black ones?

Unfortunately, not quickly. The plugin uses functions in the driver to generate and upload the covers. They don't have parameters for the letterboxing colours. I'll have a look at it, but, it don't hold your breath.

And, I can show you a few covers where it is definitely letterboxing. I think that's the more familiar term.

[NiLuJe]

I don't think I've ever added a toggle for that, yeah. From what I recall of the code, it'd be mostly trivial, but that'd be yet another toggle in the driver .

EDIT: Well, there'd be a few layers of parameter passing involved, but ultimately, the letterboxing comes from here, and is hard-coded to black.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

I don't think I've ever added a toggle for that, yeah. From what I recall of the code, it'd be mostly trivial, but that'd be yet another toggle in the driver .

EDIT: Well, there'd be a few layers of parameter passing involved, but ultimately, the letterboxing comes from here, and is hard-coded to black.

Any chance the letterboxing color codecould be converted into an option?

[GravityJones]

Thanks for the quick replies!

davidfor, I totally believe that some covers have top-and-bottom letterboxes, all my covers just happen to have a narrower aspect ratio than my device's screen. "Pillarbox" is a term only pedants like myself even know, "letterbox" is absolutely the right term to use

NiLuJe, thanks for the dive into the code. Does a "hard-coded" black absolutely preclude the possibility of a different color, or does it just mean that the modification would be less trivial than it first seemed?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Any chance the letterboxing color codecould be converted into an option?

You want to read my post?

As I stated yes, it could be. It just needs work in various places and can only be used going forward in calibre versions.

And I'd have to decide if it was worth it to do in the driver as well.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by GravityJones

Thanks for the quick replies!

davidfor, I totally believe that some covers have top-and-bottom letterboxes, all my covers just happen to have a narrower aspect ratio than my device's screen. "Pillarbox" is a term only pedants like myself even know, "letterbox" is absolutely the right term to use

Strictly speaking, letterboxing is when you have bars at the top and botton of the image. Given that Kobo ereaders are normally in portrait mode, pillarboxing is the correct term for the bars on the right and left of the image. And for the true pedant, an image with bars on all 4 sides is windowboxed.

Originally Posted by GravityJones

NiLuJe, thanks for the dive into the code. Does a "hard-coded" black absolutely preclude the possibility of a different color, or does it just mean that the modification would be less trivial than it first seemed?

Pretty much that the modification would be less trivial that it at first seemed.

[ownedbycats]

Still trying to get that debug log. Unfortunately the jobs keep running in the order that doesn't result in the glitch.

I think this may have been asked before, but I can't find it even with search: when using the bookmark prompt, is there a way to only update one column without deselecting it in options? e.g. the percent read but not the date. It's not a huge deal if not.

[ownedbycats]

I haven't had the glitch re-occur in some time, even under all the conditions that were causing it before. Perhaps 5.10.1 changed something? Not sure.

[davidfor]

It is possible. I don't remember see anything in the changes that would have changed it. It could be something cumulative that means the order of the jobs is not changing as much.

Do you have multiple libraries? It could be related to changing between them. Or whether calibre was running when the device was connected. Or multiple connections in the same calibre session.

[carit]

First, thank you, @davidfor, for the all the work you've done and for answering questions on the forum - I've relied on a lot of those answers over the years!

I just want to confirm that I'm not missing something that would trivially fix my current irritant.

I finally updated my plugins today (last was maybe August) and after replacing everything on my reader for unrelated reasons, I noticed the super irritating tiles were back, only now I'm not seeing the option to Dismiss Tiles. I have applied at least one firmware update since then (most recently to 4.25.15875).

Am I interpreting your comment below correctly that the option is no longer visible for the current version of the firmware, but if I rolled that back (assuming I can figure that out), then I would be able to dismiss the tiles?

Originally Posted by davidfor

<snip>
It probably stopped around firmware version 4.3. Which is also when "Dismiss tiles from home screen" stopped doing anything useful. But, removing them is a problem as there are, probably, people still using them. But, I can hide them for those who can't use them.
<snip>

• Change: Only display tile related and the set related menu items for firmware before 4.4.0

Thanks!

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by carit

First, thank you, @davidfor, for the all the work you've done and for answering questions on the forum - I've relied on a lot of those answers over the years!

I just want to confirm that I'm not missing something that would trivially fix my current irritant.

I finally updated my plugins today (last was maybe August) and after replacing everything on my reader for unrelated reasons, I noticed the super irritating tiles were back, only now I'm not seeing the option to Dismiss Tiles. I have applied at least one firmware update since then (most recently to 4.25.15875).

Am I interpreting your comment below correctly that the option is no longer visible for the current version of the firmware, but if I rolled that back (assuming I can figure that out), then I would be able to dismiss the tiles?

As you list your device as a Libra H2O, you cannot ever have seen the tiles that these function are for. This was for firmware before version 4.4.0 which had a completely different home screen. On that, the tiles changed and were not in the fixed positions that the current home screen has. These tiles could be dismissed. The function in the plugin could set tiles not to be shown. But, it does not work with the current home screen.

The only way to remove the tiles on the current home screen is with patches. If you patch the firmware, it has to be done each time the firmware is updated.