Opening an already open book in Calibre reader

Merliinus · 06-23-2012, 03:39 AM

I use Calibre on a Mac and it works very well, thank you to the developer!

A part of a usual Mac interface is a "Window" menu bar (top line of the screen) item. If an app has multiple windows open then they are listed here, by selecting the appropriate item you can switch to that window.

As far as I can see this is not available in Calibre (perhaps because the Calibre reader appears to be implemented as a separate program?) and this has caused some problems.

My wife also uses Calibre and found that new bookmarks didn't "stick" and reopening an ebook opened it at a page completely different to the one she was reading. It turns out that she had another Calibre reader window open for the same book, but it was hidden behind the main Calibre screen. So when Calibre quit it saved the status of the hidden ebook last.

Might it be possible to implement one or more of the following in Calibre:

add a "window" menu pull-down bar item to Calibre and the reader
cause Calibre to bring the existing reader window to the front if it receives a request to (re)open an already open book

Thanks

Merl

kovidgoyal · 06-23-2012, 04:41 AM

Being able to open multiple views of the same book is a feature. For instance, suppose you make some changes to the conversion settings and reconvert, you can open the old and new files side by side to see the effect. Or you can view different parts of the same book side by side, which is very useful for reference works.

As for listing windows, that I have no idea how to do, since each viewer window is a completely separate process. Every viewer window should show up as an icon in the dock.

Merliinus · 06-24-2012, 04:04 PM

Thank you for your swift reply.

I understand that multiple copies of the same document can be useful to some users, however it can cause problems for others (but maybe it's just me? <smile>). Might it be possible, when someone asks calibre to open an existing document to provide a dialogue: do you want to open a copy or to switch to the already open one?

You're quite right (of course!) that each reader appeaars as a separate icon in the dock, I should have spotted that, and quitting calibre leaves the readers open. Perhaps that's where the confusion sets in: if you close the foremost reader and calibre, you may not see an open reader behind something else - with the reported results.

Thanks again

Merl

06-23-2012, 03:39 AM	#1
Merliinus Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: Nook	Opening an already open book in Calibre reader I use Calibre on a Mac and it works very well, thank you to the developer! A part of a usual Mac interface is a "Window" menu bar (top line of the screen) item. If an app has multiple windows open then they are listed here, by selecting the appropriate item you can switch to that window. As far as I can see this is not available in Calibre (perhaps because the Calibre reader appears to be implemented as a separate program?) and this has caused some problems. My wife also uses Calibre and found that new bookmarks didn't "stick" and reopening an ebook opened it at a page completely different to the one she was reading. It turns out that she had another Calibre reader window open for the same book, but it was hidden behind the main Calibre screen. So when Calibre quit it saved the status of the hidden ebook last. Might it be possible to implement one or more of the following in Calibre: add a "window" menu pull-down bar item to Calibre and the reader cause Calibre to bring the existing reader window to the front if it receives a request to (re)open an already open book Thanks Merl

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06-23-2012, 04:41 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,308 Karma: 27111242 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Being able to open multiple views of the same book is a feature. For instance, suppose you make some changes to the conversion settings and reconvert, you can open the old and new files side by side to see the effect. Or you can view different parts of the same book side by side, which is very useful for reference works. As for listing windows, that I have no idea how to do, since each viewer window is a completely separate process. Every viewer window should show up as an icon in the dock.

06-24-2012, 04:04 PM	#3
Merliinus Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: Nook	Thank you for your swift reply. I understand that multiple copies of the same document can be useful to some users, however it can cause problems for others (but maybe it's just me? <smile>). Might it be possible, when someone asks calibre to open an existing document to provide a dialogue: do you want to open a copy or to switch to the already open one? You're quite right (of course!) that each reader appeaars as a separate icon in the dock, I should have spotted that, and quitting calibre leaves the readers open. Perhaps that's where the confusion sets in: if you close the foremost reader and calibre, you may not see an open reader behind something else - with the reported results. Thanks again Merl

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