How does the Marvin XD plugin relate to the iOS reader applications driver? Do I need both plugins?

Yes, you need the iOS reader applications driver (iOSRA) configured with Marvin as your preferred iOS reader application. Marvin XD communicates with the iOSRA driver to accomplish its tasks. Marvin XD offers many more features than a conventional device driver. You should be able to accomplish all Marvin tasks through Marvin XD.

I see lots of books with yellow backgrounds when showing match status. Is that bad?

No, that's good! Yellow means that the book content is the same between calibre and Marvin, but there are some metadata differences. The differences could be as minor as a difference in the title, or perhaps an updated cover.

To compare the metadata, double-click the title to open the Metadata window. To make the books match exactly, choose which metadata you want to use, and apply it. Changes are applied immediately.

I have books in Marvin that I'd like to add to calibre. How do I do that?

Select the books to add, then open the context menu by right-clicking in the Titles or Authors column, then click 'Add to calibre library'.

Why can't I see all of my calibre books in Marvin XD?

Books listed in Marvin XD are only those installed in your Marvin library. Books which also happen to be in your calibre library are shown with green, yellow or orange backgrounds when match quality is enabled.

How do I control which columns are shown or hidden? How do I resize the column widths?

To manage visible columns, open Marvin XD, then right-click on any column header. Enable or disable the columns by toggling the checkbox next to the column name.

When Marvin XD is installed, Date added, Last read and Subjects are hidden by default.

Title is always shown; all other columns may be shown or hidden.

You can resize individual column widths by positioning your cursor at the right edge of a column header, then clicking and dragging.

The layout of visible columns and columns widths is preserved when closing the Marvin XD window.

Does Marvin XD synchronize or merge annotations?

No. Marvin XD enables transferring annotations and highlights from the connected iDevice to a custom column in calibre, with the option of custom formatting. It is not possible to transfer annotations from calibre to Marvin.

Why does it take so long to generate Deep View content?

Marvin scans the entire text of your book to index all names, dates, events and locations. Older iDevices take longer than newer iDevices. But once Deep View has been created for a book, you'll never have to do it again. Go get a cup of coffee.

I have a large calibre library. How can I used calibre's virtual libraries feature to speed things up?

Before launching Marvin XD, create a virtual library in calibre. For example, you can limit a virtual library to books by a certain author. Type author:Lewis Carroll in calibre's search box, then click the Virtual Library button to open the Virtual Library menu, then select *current search. When you launch Marvin XD, only the books in the virtual library will be scanned.

What's going on under the hood?

When Marvin XD is initially launched on your computer, it creates caches to speed up subsequent sessions. First, your calibre library is scanned, generating 'hash' values for every book. Next, Marvin's library is scanned, generating hash values for every book. These hash values allow Marvin XD to identify books as being the same when the content matches, even when the metadata differs. After Marvin XD has identified your books, it compares metadata to see which books match completely or partially. This match quality is shown as background colors when show match quality is enabled.

The guy who writes the Marvin blog entries is always more entertaining when it comes to these technical documents. Do you know when he will post something better than this dry crap?

Keep an eye on the Marvin for iOS blog, I'm sure he'll come up with something brilliant soon.