CC 3.3.4 on Asus tablet 4.3 Android

[JonMoss]

I'm wondering if I just threw away $3 when I purchased Calibre Companion this morning and installed it on my tablet. I'd been using FB Reader with OPDS for several months (quite happily) but for some reason this morning I thought I'd give Calibre Companion a try. So far, I'm not impressed.

1. I connected Wirelessly to my Calibre install that also runs as Content Server. When it finished whatever it needed to do, it only showed items from my scheduled news. None of my 1,200 ebooks were displayed. Kind of useless if I can't browse my catalog.

1.a. I sent some ebooks from my Calibre via the 'Send to Device' feature and that worked fine. Again, not the best use of tablet/wireless access to my Calibre catalog if I have to do it from my computer manually.

2. Attempted to add several custom columns, including #pubdate, but as far as I can tell, you can only add one column. Everytime I went to add the second column, it just replaced the previous column with the one I just added.

Connected to Content Server, Calibre Companion functions similarly as via a web browser or the OPDS catalog browser in FB Reader.

Am I just missing something with my couple of issues?

Thanks,

Jon

[Dhevi]

Originally Posted by JonMoss

1. I connected Wirelessly to my Calibre install that also runs as Content Server. When it finished whatever it needed to do, it only showed items from my scheduled news. None of my 1,200 ebooks were displayed. Kind of useless if I can't browse my catalog.

1.a. I sent some ebooks from my Calibre via the 'Send to Device' feature and that worked fine. Again, not the best use of tablet/wireless access to my Calibre catalog if I have to do it from my computer manually.

After reviewing the FAQ, have you tried this? If resolved, this will take care of concern 1 and 1.a, as when you Connect to Content server you can view your books and download to your device, from your device.

Originally Posted by JonMoss

2. Attempted to add several custom columns, including #pubdate, but as far as I can tell, you can only add one column. Everytime I went to add the second column, it just replaced the previous column with the one I just added.

Are you separating each custom column with a ","?

Example, #tbr, #hqc

[chaley]

Originally Posted by JonMoss

I'm wondering if I just threw away $3 when I purchased Calibre Companion this morning and installed it on my tablet. I'd been using FB Reader with OPDS for several months (quite happily) but for some reason this morning I thought I'd give Calibre Companion a try. So far, I'm not impressed.

If you are unhappy with CC then ask for a refund. Life is too short for stress over $3. See the FAQ answer I must pay for CC to try it. What happens if I don't like it? for instructions.

1. I connected Wirelessly to my Calibre install that also runs as Content Server. When it finished whatever it needed to do, it only showed items from my scheduled news. None of my 1,200 ebooks were displayed. Kind of useless if I can't browse my catalog.

In addition to what Dhevi pointed out, be sure that you aren't specifying a virtual library in the content server's preferences.

1.a. I sent some ebooks from my Calibre via the 'Send to Device' feature and that worked fine. Again, not the best use of tablet/wireless access to my Calibre catalog if I have to do it from my computer manually.

The wireless device connection supports automatic updating of calbre's metadata and covers in CC without resending books, on-device indications in calibre, syncing of read information, bulk sending, and auto-sync via the Reading List plugin, none of which is supported using the content server. If these features aren't useful to you then you might be happier staying with FBReader's OPDS connection.

2. Attempted to add several custom columns, including #pubdate, but as far as I can tell, you can only add one column. Everytime I went to add the second column, it just replaced the previous column with the one I just added.

Almost certainly Dhevi hit this one on the head.

Connected to Content Server, Calibre Companion functions similarly as via a web browser or the OPDS catalog browser in FB Reader.

This is true, with the exception of CC's support of "download all" and all custom columns in book metadata.

[JonMoss]

Originally Posted by Dhevi

After reviewing the FAQ, have you tried this? If resolved, this will take care of concern 1 and 1.a, as when you Connect to Content server you can view your books and download to your device, from your device.



Are you separating each custom column with a ","?

Example, #tbr, #hqc

Custom Columns: No I was not separating with commans. I will try that next.

Cutom URL for Content Server: Content Server worked fine from the get go. I was referring to the Wireless connection. Regardless, I don't have a custom URL. It uses the default port 8080.

Is the Wireless connection supposed to display all my ebooks or not?

Thanks,

Jon

[JonMoss]

Originally Posted by chaley

If you are unhappy with CC then ask for a refund. Life is too short for stress over $3. See the FAQ answer I must pay for CC to try it. What happens if I don't like it? for instructions.
In addition to what Dhevi pointed out, be sure that you aren't specifying a virtual library in the content server's preferences.
The wireless device connection supports automatic updating of calbre's metadata and covers in CC without resending books, on-device indications in calibre, syncing of read information, bulk sending, and auto-sync via the Reading List plugin, none of which is supported using the content server. If these features aren't useful to you then you might be happier staying with FBReader's OPDS connection.
Almost certainly Dhevi hit this one on the head.
This is true, with the exception of CC's support of "download all" and all custom columns in book metadata.

I have virtual libraries defined but the Content Server Calibe install isn't using any of them. Should I delete the virtual libraries?

The sync feature is what appealed to me. I want to see how well that works.

Thanks,

Jon

[chaley]

Originally Posted by JonMoss

Cutom URL for Content Server: Content Server worked fine from the get go. I was referring to the Wireless connection. Regardless, I don't have a custom URL. It uses the default port 8080.

We were confused. Your first post implied that the problem was with the content server.

Is the Wireless connection supposed to display all my ebooks or not?

The wireless device connection is a "push" connection, supporting moving books from calibre to CC. You cannot browse your calibre library from CC while connected as a wireless device.

Originally Posted by JonMoss

I have virtual libraries defined but the Content Server Calibe install isn't using any of them. Should I delete the virtual libraries?

Virtual libraries is a red herring, introduced because I thought you were having problems with the content server. Apparently you are not.

The sync feature is what appealed to me. I want to see how well that works.

If by "sync" you mean metadata then it works very well. If you mean syncing ebooks themselves then it works reasonably well when paired with Reading List.

To reiterate: the wireless device connection emulates calibre's device interface, which supports "pushing" books from calibre to the device. Calibre is in charge. Something connected as a device is unable to browse calibre's library, "pulling" books to the device. To pull, one uses the content server connection.

[JonMoss]

Originally Posted by chaley

We were confused. Your first post implied that the problem was with the content server.The wireless device connection is a "push" connection, supporting moving books from calibre to CC. You cannot browse your calibre library from CC while connected as a wireless device.
Virtual libraries is a red herring, introduced because I thought you were having problems with the content server. Apparently you are not.If by "sync" you mean metadata then it works very well. If you mean syncing ebooks themselves then it works reasonably well when paired with Reading List.

To reiterate: the wireless device connection emulates calibre's device interface, which supports "pushing" books from calibre to the device. Calibre is in charge. Something connected as a device is unable to browse calibre's library, "pulling" books to the device. To pull, one uses the content server connection.

That explains it then. Now that I know the capabilities and limitations, I will test more intelligently.

Thanks very much,

Jon