Pocketbook Annotations Viewer and Tools (AVATeR), need testing

[wold]

page numbers are set to 1 (see screenshot) Using the Pocketbook reader or also the viewer app they are still at the right page.

Turns out some bookmarks also got page 1 due to a minor oversight. That's fixed and will be included in a future release.

As for those missing page numbers: they ought to be retrievable from the file, at least PB-style page numbers. This requires venturing into the epubs and figuring it out from there. It's doable (figured out metadata access way back, but that's not a project goal), but is low prio...

Showing deleted annotations is now possible, in preparation for (un)deleting, and changing colors.

[wold]

Version 0.10 is available: https://www.syncoda.nl/posts/2022/av...elease-0-10-0/

New are restoring the last search settings on startup, support for Markdown exporting and showing deleted annotations, and other changes/fixes.

[wold]

v0.11 release here: https://www.syncoda.nl/posts/2022/av...elease-0-11-0/

New beta releases attached for v0.11. Some fixes and minor changes.

New are a RPM package, and possibly an .exe installer. These are now automatically generated. The .exe still need to be tweaked somewhat.

Reworked were the location data processing, and the Linux device connection check. These points could use some testing, but otherwise the release will follow soon enough.

0.11 Oct 22th 2022
- New release packaging (Linux .deb and .rpm; Windows .zip and .exe installer)
- Fixed: after viewer update (row addition/removal), re-apply filters
- Fixed: also reload annotations when annotation count remains the same
- Fixed: only rescan unmounted devices upon device monitor changes (Linux mainly)
- Internal: Changed and extended highlight/note location data parsing (WIP)

- Linux (Fedora): output CLI configuration messages using printf instead of as debug messages
- Linux: fixed changelog location
- Linux: added manpage
- Internal: reworked "connected" check logic
- Show update nag screen every 6 months if automatic updates are disabled

I've had some thoughts about grouping notes per chapter or sub-section, but that'll require an epubcfi parser. That needn't be too complex however. It could also be used to generate an approximate ordering/page numbers, as discussed earlier. And perhaps even a document preview, however I'm not too keen on including a full HTML browser, so it probably won't be pretty. On the other hand, there's kobo support, multiple tabs or koreader support, in order of increasing complexity...

---

PS. see Windows related remarks here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=51

v0.11 release here: https://www.syncoda.nl/posts/2022/av...elease-0-11-0/

[Michal Jancik]

For now, everything works fine for me. :

- Windows 10
- Pocketbook Inkpad 3 (470)
- AVATeR v.010



THX.

[wold]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

For now, everything works fine for me. :

- Windows 10
- Pocketbook Inkpad 3 (470)
- AVATeR v.010

THX.

Thanks for testing. It is v0.10, as its the Windows version, so that's OK.

A Vivlio? The brand was mentioned in the firmware thread.
Out of curiosity, does it run the Vivlio or PB firmware?

[wold]

And windows v0.11 beta .zip and the .exe installers were added above.

The .exe installer triggered one warning: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/...44d1c/behavior.
The Miscrosoft sandbox there also reports network access, but this seems Microsoft-related (IPs for Azure and Akamai). I couldn't reproduce the network access locally with wireshark, so it seems OK. BTW, its an NSIS installer build with cmake.

[Michal Jancik]

Originally Posted by wold

Thanks for testing. It is v0.10, as its the Windows version, so that's OK.

A Vivlio? The brand was mentioned in the firmware thread.
Out of curiosity, does it run the Vivlio or PB firmware?

Yes, it is made by Vivlio Inkpad 3, but the base is Pocketbook Inkpad 740.
https://www.vivlio.com/en/e-readers/inkpad-3-e-reader/

- Firmware (Vivlio) : V740.6.5.1808
- Relase Date : 2022/02/21

It is a Vivlio custom firmware for the "Cultura" store.
I think it is based on Pocketbook firmware 6.5.1379.

• Today I installed the latest version V0.11.0, it works perfectly as before. Installation and startup went without a problem.

The .exe installer triggered one warning

Antivirus started the installation file without any problem, it was not detected as a virus. I use Microsoft Defender.

Spoiler:

• Importing the font also works without any problems. Already existing fonts are recognized correctly.
PS: It would be interesting if it were possible to export "Fonts" to Koreader

Spoiler:

The application is useful to me, and I think I will use it in the future, thank you.

[wold]

Originally Posted by Michal Jancik

Yes, it is made by Vivlio Inkpad 3, but the base is Pocketbook Inkpad 740.
https://www.vivlio.com/en/e-readers/inkpad-3-e-reader/

- Firmware (Vivlio) : V740.6.5.1808
- Relase Date : 2022/02/21

It is a Vivlio custom firmware for the "Cultura" store.
I think it is based on Pocketbook firmware 6.5.1379.

• Today I installed the latest version V0.11.0, it works perfectly as before. Installation and startup went without a problem.

Thanks again for testing. Vivlio will be added to the supported device listing.

Antivirus started the installation file without any problem, it was not detected as a virus. I use Microsoft Defender.

Great. As it's a (currently) closed source executable, I feel the need to pay more heed to this. If someone is very concerned, the Windows libraries can be self-supplied, leaving just the (small) executable. Doing so however requires some know-how in getting said libraries (and then libzip mainly).

PS: It would be interesting if it were possible to export "Fonts" to Koreader

Well, the destination would then be koreader/fonts. You jest, but its also an interesting UI question: how to visually offer such a toggle to the user. In an advanced stage, the file destinations should be user-selectable. But implementing that likely won't happen anytime soon, as its a low priority part.

Adding KOReader detection is something I will look into. For reading KOR annotations various alternatives exist, including a similar app. The challenge with KOR annotations is they involve separate files, and given the way AVA currently works, that might get I/O limited fast*. But nevertheless I'm curious

* As right now there's no 'central' DB, with the 'library' part aimed at detecting devices, and accessing their annotations.

[wold]

Attached is an early windows-only beta for v0.12.

1) Detect/support PocketBook HD/HD2 readers
A work in progress for supporting late 5.x readers.

2) Improved restoring the window size and position on startup (especially for multiple monitor setups)
Useful for laptop users. It prevents the app being shown off-screen, after disconnecting extra screens.

PS. On virustotal.com the SecureAge antivirus may flag the .exe as malicious.

[TibReg]

I am using the 0.12 on ubuntu. With the inclusion of the screenshots created by the device this has become for me a very advanced solution. Great work

[wold]

Originally Posted by TibReg

I am using the 0.12 on ubuntu. With the inclusion of the screenshots created by the device this has become for me a very advanced solution. Great work

Thanks!

[wold]

And v0.13 is out. Mostly internal changes (many), with support being added for unmounted devices.

Info and downloads: https://www.syncoda.nl/posts/2023/avater-release-0-13/

[wold]

Pushed out AVATeR v0.13.1: https://www.syncoda.nl/software/avater/releases/0.13.1/

There's new Fedora 37 and Debian 12 releases, that use Qt6.

And a new sort by database ID mode, in case your e-readers clock does funky things, like mine

Windows Qt was also updated. If AVATeR doesn't start on Windows 11, without warning, this ought to fix it (It traced back to the Qt library with a pretty generic 0x000005 error). Windows 7/8 support is dropped though.

[wold]

And AVATeR 0.13.2 is out, wrapping up the 0.13.x changes:
Info: https://www.syncoda.nl/software/avater/releases/0.13.2/
Directly to the downloads: https://www.syncoda.nl/software/avat...3.2/#downloads

AVATeR can detect Kobo and Sony readers now - the plan is to add annotation support in the next version(s), starting with Kobo.

BTW, the update file wasn't pushed to the server last July, that's fixed now.

0.13.2 October 6th 2023
- fixed: enabling LM on a fresh install no longer requires rescanning devices
- fixed: VirtualCD compatibility issue
- fixed: removed unnecessary wait times on startup/manual scans
- added: device information panel tool
- changed: start device monitor before startup device scan

Kobo/Sony readers
- added: detect Kobo/Sony readers (no annotation support)
- added: enable manual backup tool for Kobo readers (WIP)
- added: enable uploading tool for Kobo readers (fonts/dicts) (WIP)
- fixed: toggling manual backup items for non-PB readers

Minor changes
- fixed: missing device storage icon (main card only)
- added: get device storage details (size, VSN/UUID, etc.)
- added: checkDB now shows a results window
- added: store more LocalMirror device details (model IDs) (to activate,
disable and re-enable a LM)
- added: store device ID hex values in manual backup
- added: show debuglog in textviewer window
- added: show wait cursor during checkDB run
- Windows: updated Qt6 to 6.5.3

USBscanner(s)
- changed: reworked/cleanup WIN32 USB related functions
- changed: reworked internal event messaging structures
- changed: monitor rejects incompatible devices earlier
- fixed: linux instance_id handling
- various improvements

[Loopscoop]

Neat tool. Thank you.

Any way to contribute to this or are you not providing source for now?