[GUI Plugin] Kobo Utilities

[NiLuJe]

@davidfor: Because I'm an idiot, I hadn't saved the mangled metadata.calibre file, so I had to resort to some creative manual mangling to replicate my original data set, and, yeah, it seems to behave now, thanks .

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Random jq query I used to double-check the metadata sanity:

jq '[.[] | { Series: .series, Index: .series_index }] | group_by(.Series)[] | sort_by(.Index) | unique' < /run/media/niluje/KOBOeReader/metadata.calibre

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

@davidfor: Because I'm an idiot, I hadn't saved the mangled metadata.calibre file, so I had to resort to some creative manual mangling to replicate my original data set, and, yeah, it seems to behave now, thanks .

----

Random jq query I used to double-check the metadata sanity:

jq '[.[] | { Series: .series, Index: .series_index }] | group_by(.Series)[] | sort_by(.Index) | unique' < /run/media/niluje/KOBOeReader/metadata.calibre

The calibre.metadata file shouldn't be an issue here. It should all be working from the database on the device, and the metadata in the calibre library. And it was really about the the series number being null in the. There were a couple of reasons that could happen, and the code in the driver and plugin were not checking it properly.

[ownedbycats]

So I looked into turning a bool #read column into a numeric #percentread column for use with Kobo Utilities. Ran into a few problems (e.g. how to handle in-progress fanfics, various problems when converting composite columns/saved searches) and decided to just stick with the bool.

I'm going to guess the answer is no, but is there a way at present (or easily added) to have Kobo Utilities set a bool column as "true" if the book is marked as finished on the Kobo?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

So I looked into turning a bool #read column into a numeric #percentread column for use with Kobo Utilities. Ran into a few problems (e.g. how to handle in-progress fanfics, various problems when converting composite columns/saved searches) and decided to just stick with the bool.

What was the problem? In my test library, I selected some books that had the yes value in a yes/no column and did a bulk search and replace. The options were to search that column for "True" and set the percent read column to 100. Though, as I had selected the yeses, I could have just set the value to 100 directly.

By "in-progress fanfics", I assume you means one that are still being written and you have read some of the chapters. I have used a couple of strategies.

Firstly, I have a "Status" column. This has my reading status (ToRead, Reading, ToRate, Finished) and book status (InProgress (appear to be actively worked on), Incomplete (a long time since they have been updated), Updated (will need the ToC updated when sent to the book), NotProcessed (haven't completed my cleanup on it)).

For the InProgress books, if I read them, I will probably stop on the last page. When I sync the progress from the device, these will usually be 99% read. I leave them like that until there is an updated. When more chapters come, I will sometimes open the book on the device and turn to the new chapter. That updates the percent read to account for the extra chapters. I'm most likely to do this if a few chapters were added and I'm curious about how much extra was actually added.

For the Incomplete, I will finish them and they will get 100%.

I also use column icons to overlay the percent read. A tick if it is 100%, a star to indicate I haven't rated it, an open book for reading, different arrows for in progress and incomplete. The number only shows if it is in Reading state. And most of this is controlled with the Reading List plugin. Each of the statuses have a reading list. I move the book to the appropriate lists as something changes and the status updated. Plus the lists for the devices and some other things.

I'm going to guess the answer is no, but is there a way at present (or easily added) to have Kobo Utilities set a bool column as "true" if the book is marked as finished on the Kobo?

Occasionally I think about doing this. But, there is a problem with what "No" means, and if using three-values Yes/No, what blank means. And it feels like it supplies less information with no real benefit.

[ownedbycats]

Some of my comps/searches/column icons check for a "#read:true" or "#read:false" value. I tried changing them to check for values of 100/less than 100. There's a lot of them and some of them didn't quite work as expected when I changed them (e.g. it took me several tries before every book with a #lastread date stopped getting flagged as "currently reading" regardless of whether they were 100 or <100.)

For the fanfiction example - I don't read every fic on my device. I finish an in-progress fic on my computer and set it to #read:true. When it updates FFF sets it to #read:false. But what to do with a percentread? Have FFF set an arbitrary integer? Change my workflow entirely to use a reading-status column?

Keeping the bool just seemed like the best solution overall for my situation, even if I have to manually change it.

[compurandom]

So I keep the #read and #percentread columns separate.

#read is a boolean I manually change, and #percentread is updated by the plugin and reflects the position of the book on the device.

That way, if I've finished the book but want to check something in the middle, my #read status doesn't get changed, even if I want to remember that position in calibre.

I have a search that looks for a couple of manually updated items and finds books that need updating. (Including missing covers, covers created but not on device, wrong ondevice status, missing rating, no tags, etc.)

[ownedbycats]

that could work, though I'm not sure if I exactly see the point of having both of them available in Calibre. Maybe if I didn't keep my Kobo on my desk, but I can just check the percent read on that.

The #kobobookmark column handles restoration of the exact position if needed and since the Kobo percentage is more often than not different than the ebook-viewer percentage it's not very helpful for trying to figure out my spot in a book.

[compurandom]

...

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I'm not sure if I exactly see the point of having both of them available in Calibre.
...
The #kobobookmark column handles restoration of the exact position if needed and since the Kobo percentage is more often than not different than the ebook-viewer percentage it's not very helpful for trying to figure out my spot in a book.

I really only glance at the percentage, but I do have a search that checks if it is 100% and reminds me to set the other column.

The real point, though, is that if I reread a book, I can save the position in it, which resets percentage, but the book is still marked as finished in the other column.

And very rarely, something goes wrong and the #kobobookmark column doesn't work and I have to find approximately where I was in the book by the percentage. For instance, when kobo changed the format of their bookmark column, and then something went wrong and I ended up factory resetting the device anyway, I ended up losing all my bookmarks, but I still have the percentage column, and I've used that to find my old position in a couple of books I had abandoned but intended to get back to...

[ownedbycats]

Actually...fair point. I do have an occasional brain-fart where I mess up and re-open the book on the Kobo before restoring the bookmark, so I can see where that might come in handy.

Instead of saved searches, I use column icons to indicate metadata that needs to be changed:



so I could make one for "if #read is false and #percentread is 100"

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Instead of saved searches, I use column icons to indicate metadata that needs to be changed

I have a fair number of column icons as well, and then one huge saved search that looks for books with every combination of metadata that needs adjusting, with the column icons to clue me into what is wrong with each book.

[ownedbycats]

Oooh, the combined saved search is a good idea. I'm stealing that.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Oooh, the combined saved search is a good idea. I'm stealing that.

I also copied over the saved search to my Intake VL. So either I can run the saved search to see the books in the current VL that need fixing, or head over to my Intake VL to see them all.

[pricciar]

I have a small problem with Kobo Utilities that has just popped up after using it successfully for a few months.

One book is continually popping up with a changed Reading Position when I plug my Kobo in. The Current% matches the New% and the Current Date matches the New Date. I haven't opened the book since I finished reading it on October 21st. I have read 2 books and started another since then. Their reading position, once saved, does not pop up again. I am not really sure where this data is coming from.

In my mind, an easy solution is to simply remove the book. But, I'm wondering if I have inadvertently done something that will cause this to happen with other books.

Has anyone else come across something like this?

Thank you.

[compurandom]

Maybe a rounding error between how the kobo stores the time and calibre stores the time?
Maybe try restoring the bookmark and see if it stops.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by pricciar

I have a small problem with Kobo Utilities that has just popped up after using it successfully for a few months.

One book is continually popping up with a changed Reading Position when I plug my Kobo in. The Current% matches the New% and the Current Date matches the New Date. I haven't opened the book since I finished reading it on October 21st. I have read 2 books and started another since then. Their reading position, once saved, does not pop up again. I am not really sure where this data is coming from.

In my mind, an easy solution is to simply remove the book. But, I'm wondering if I have inadvertently done something that will cause this to happen with other books.

Has anyone else come across something like this?

Can you run calibre in debug mode and post the log from this? I can't think of what it would be, so need to see what the plugin is actually seeing.

I can't really think of anything if the dates are showing as the same. And that you are letting it update the library each time. At this time of year, daylight savings changes can cause havoc with time comparisons, but, I wouldn't have thought it would be the cause here.