[GUI Plugin] Zotero Metadata Importer

[DaltonST]

Version 1.0.72 - 2022-03-25 Qt6 Compatibility for Calibre Version 5.99.8+. Technical changes.

Tested on Calibre 5.99.8 with Zotero 6.03. Old versions of Zotero may or may not work.

The Qt6 version of Calibre available in Beta, 5.99.8, available for download here:

https://download.calibre-ebook.com/betas/


If you use ZMI, you should upgrade to Calibre 5.99+ and version 1.0.72+ of ZMI.

The use of .ris file exports via ZMI for linking "absolute paths" in Calibre within Zotero becomes highly problematic if your computing ecosystem changes in the future.

The use of Calibre "Portable" with ZMI is not recommended, since it creates its default Calibre Library underneath the path of the Calibre Portable application itself. See above.



DaltonST

[DaltonST]

Calibre Portable does not work the same as the Desktop version, and hence should not be used with ZMI.

If you recall, many posts back I recommended using Calibre Portable 5.39 for any of plugins that do NOT work with Calibre 5.99, such as your use of Power Search, and using Calibre 5.99 for your "real" Calibre Library with ZMI. However, you put ZMI on Portable instead. Hence, your problem.

[DaltonST]

Originally Posted by partnoonein

I also noticed that the comparison works for several books if they are in a particular collection (with CalibrePortable5.99.8\Calibre Portable\calibre-portable.exe).
In other words, if a book called "ABCDE" is in two or more than two Zotero collections, the comparison might detect the book in one collection or the other but might report "Total Collection items in Calibre: 0" in another collection for the same book.

Only one (1) Collection for updating as the "zcollection" Identifier in Calibre is supported. First one found in Zotero's SQLite database in table "collections" wins. That is likely the Collection that was created in Zotero first.

ZMI certainly does not support Collection hierarchies etc. in Zotero. ZMI "interfaces" Calibre with Zotero. It does not "integrate" Calibre with Zotero. It never will.


DaltonST

[partnoonein]

I understand that it is not an integration.
In my case ZMI found the books in two most recent ones (i had some books in 3 collections) and did not find them in older one.

I am confused about hierarchy support of collection because ZMI GUI explicitly lets u pick a Zotero collection for comparison and lets u pick any from a drop down populated with all collection names. Also, there is no option to compare it with the whole Zotero library.

Furthermore, if i know i have book in 3 collections and zMI comparison shows it has found in 2 and not in one that is very confusing.

Should your architecture not be agnostic of collection name. Shouldn't it just compare Zkey value.?

Thank you

Originally Posted by DaltonST

Only one (1) Collection for updating as the "zcollection" Identifier in Calibre is supported. First one found in Zotero's SQLite database in table "collections" wins. That is likely the Collection that was created in Zotero first.

ZMI certainly does not support Collection hierarchies etc. in Zotero. ZMI "interfaces" Calibre with Zotero. It does not "integrate" Calibre with Zotero. It never will.


DaltonST

[dunhill]

I'm on Calibre 5.39.1 Plugin update alert came out but it can't be updated from Calibre and when loading plugin from file a warning pops up
Desktop/zotero_metadata_importer.zip needs a version of calibre >= 5.99.8

[partnoonein]

You should use thr Beta versions of Calibre and Zmi (from file). See links in earlier latest messages.
Hope this helps

[OnlyWhenILarf]

Originally Posted by dunhill

I'm on Calibre 5.39.1 Plugin update alert came out but it can't be updated from Calibre and when loading plugin from file a warning pops up
Desktop/zotero_metadata_importer.zip needs a version of calibre >= 5.99.8

Same thing with Calibre 5.40. Any idea when ZMI will be available for use with non-beta Calibre?

[DaltonST]

Version 1.0.73 - 2022-04-03 Collection assignment now uses a 3d potential #zotero_key Custom Column value in addition to the Calibre Identifiers zkey and zkey_file. This 3d source is rarely useful, but compensates for "drift" between Zotero and Calibre for items originally imported from a Zotero exported .csv file.

Note that the most recent version of ZMI uses the Qt6-compliant Calibre 6.0.0 that will be released officially in the near future. The current release candidate and stable beta is available at: https://download.calibre-ebook.com/betas/

For Old & Deprecated versions of ZMI, see: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=327472 Do not post any issues or questions about old and deprecated versions of ZMI, especially related to the ZMI Comparison Tab that uses Zotero Collections. They are totally unsupported.


DaltonST

[partnoonein]

With the latest update, if after having retrieved zkeys one wants to merge two books (e.g. different formats) in Calibre, one is not able to do that. Calibre throws a dialog box "Error unhandled exception." and a message saying "Value Error: Column 'zotero_key' is not editable"


calibre, version 5.99.8
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>ValueError</b>:Column 'zotero_key' is not editable

calibre 5.99.8 Portable
Interface language: None
Successfully initialized third party plugins: View Manager (1, 8, 0) && Zotero Metadata Importer (1, 0, 73)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre\gui2\actions\edit_metadata.py", line 647, in merge_books
File "calibre\gui2\actions\edit_metadata.py", line 772, in merge_metadata
File "calibre\db\legacy.py", line 756, in set_custom
ValueError: Column 'zotero_key' is not editable

[DaltonST]

Originally Posted by partnoonein

With the latest update, if after having retrieved zkeys one wants to merge two books (e.g. different formats) in Calibre, one is not able to do that. Calibre throws a dialog box "Error unhandled exception." and a message saying "Value Error: Column 'zotero_key' is not editable"


calibre, version 5.99.8
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>ValueError</b>:Column 'zotero_key' is not editable

calibre 5.99.8 Portable
Interface language: None
Successfully initialized third party plugins: View Manager (1, 8, 0) && Zotero Metadata Importer (1, 0, 73)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre\gui2\actions\edit_metadata.py", line 647, in merge_books
File "calibre\gui2\actions\edit_metadata.py", line 772, in merge_metadata
File "calibre\db\legacy.py", line 756, in set_custom
ValueError: Column 'zotero_key' is not editable

Correct. Cannot Merge Zotero-derived data in Calibre the way you can in Zotero. The Z* custom columns are not editable by design to preserve data integrity.




DaltonST

[partnoonein]

Thanks, I thought so. It does however limit Calibre's functionality of merging two documents.
How does one go about merging in Calibre then? Or more precisely, how does one delete the value of the column in one document in calibre so it can be merged. I understand that there will be a drift from Calibre to Zotero, but the question is about when one wants to do it regardless.
(e.g. one has merged two records in Zotero, and now one wants to do the same for two documents in Calibre)
Thanks again

[DaltonST]

Version 1.0.74 - 2022-04-05 Collection Comparison ToolTips enhanced. New Comparison Tab Feature: Show Full Listing [All Books].

The new "Show Full Listing [All Books]" pushbutton will show all Collections in Zotero, and All Items in Zotero with their matching Calibre books (if they exist). Multiple Collections for a single Calibre book will be displayed just as they exist in Zotero.

The updating of the Calibre Identifier 'zcollection' metadata can still be only a single Collection. Calibre metadata Identifiers, such as ISBN and ISSN and zcollection, can have only a single value. See the ToolTips for the "Compare" pushbutton for details.

ToolTips for the ZMI Comparison Tab pushbuttons have been updated. Please read them to fully understand what ZMI does and the consequences of your pushing them.


DaltonST

[DaltonST]

Originally Posted by partnoonein

Thanks, I thought so. It does however limit Calibre's functionality of merging two documents.
How does one go about merging in Calibre then? Or more precisely, how does one delete the value of the column in one document in calibre so it can be merged. I understand that there will be a drift from Calibre to Zotero, but the question is about when one wants to do it regardless.
(e.g. one has merged two records in Zotero, and now one wants to do the same for two documents in Calibre)
Thanks again

Doing so would corrupt the #zotero_xxxxx custom columns. Never have, cannot, and never will be able to edit those special custom columns. What a nightmare that would cause. Not going to happen.




Safe Alternative: Simply delete the 2 Calibre ebooks originally from Zotero, and then re-export the 2 Zotero items to a new Zotero Export .csv file. Import that new file using ZMI. Now, you have the item in Calibre that corresponds exactly to the merged Zotero item.





DaltonST

[partnoonein]

Thanks, do i install the 1.0.74 over the previous one through the latest 1.0.74 zotero_metadata_importer.zip (on first page of this post)? The "Update Plugin" in Calibre does not show any updates for ZMI.
Thanks,

Originally Posted by DaltonST

Version 1.0.74 - 2022-04-05 Collection Comparison ToolTips enhanced. New Comparison Tab Feature: Show Full Listing [All Books].

The new "Show Full Listing [All Books]" pushbutton will show all Collections in Zotero, and All Items in Zotero with their matching Calibre books (if they exist). Multiple Collections for a single Calibre book will be displayed just as they exist in Zotero.

The updating of the Calibre Identifier 'zcollection' metadata can still be only a single Collection. Calibre metadata Identifiers, such as ISBN and ISSN and zcollection, can have only a single value. See the ToolTips for the "Compare" pushbutton for details.

ToolTips for the ZMI Comparison Tab pushbuttons have been updated. Please read them to fully understand what ZMI does and the consequences of your pushing them.


DaltonST

[partnoonein]

"Show Full Listing" in the latest 1.0.74 is a great feature. One question, I know I have more than two times the documents shown in the "Grand Total Collection items in Calibre" line. I was wondering how you were counting those.