Guide to Collections Management with calibre (Touch / Glo / Mini /Aura) - Page 4

Websterny · 10-28-2012, 04:01 PM

My problem is this: With the Kobo mini, I would like Fetched News to be placed on a separate shelf. Following the instructions at the top of this thread under "Driver / calibre Configuration" works beautifully gets me almost there. Basically, those instructions create a user-defined "MyShelf" column which Kobo uses to create shelves (the new user column is used by Kobo to designate a "shelf" on the device). When adding my custom column I chose "column from columns" and included the script {series:ifempty(news)} , along the lines suggested on the thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/arc.../t-193063.html

This setup functions to do the following: "IF Series=empty THEN MyShelf = news". Calibre detects all empty Series fields and fills the corresponding items in the column MyShelf with "news". Kobo then creates a shelf MYNAME on the device, populated by all items designated as news (which were all the Series items that were blank. It also creates Shelfs for each distinct Series. For keeping my regularly fetched news sorted on a separate shelf this totally works (ONLY IF all items other than regularly fetched news have the Series info filled in; all items with a blank series, which includes fetched items, are put on the News shelf).

Ideally, I would like the logic to work like this: "If Author=calibre then MyShelf=News" (since really the only items in my library with the author CALIBRE are fetched news sources). As another example, I would like a function like this as well: "If FORMAT = PDF [and no other formats] THEN MyShelf = PDF". Is anyone familiar enough with the logic of Calibre template language to perform something of this complexity? I have looked at the manual entry http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/template_lang.html and it seems very powerful but bewilderingly technical (I wish more actual working examples of templates were given in the manual; I can understand and modify examples ... The blank templates shown in the manual are less useful as I'm not sure what the generic names of the fields, like "val", really refer to).

Anyone have a handle on this? Thanks!

PeterT · 10-28-2012, 06:06 PM

Can't promise this as the optimum solution but try this...

Create a custom column
- Name: news
- Column Heading: News Article
- Column Type: Built from other columns
- Template:
  Code:
```
{author:str_in_list('', calibre, NEWS,)}
```
Restart calibre
Add #news to the shelf list in the Kobo Touch driver

I've tried making the column and verifying it gets the right value but have not added it to the driver.

[EDIT]
I've now added the additional column to the driver's config and all seems to work as it should. My driver now has the values

Code:

#myshelves, series, #news

in it and works as expected; books with custom shelves get added to the valuie of the myshelves column, in addition to the corresponding series column, and calibre created news go to the NEWS column as coded in the custom column (news) above.

Mhtsos · 10-29-2012, 02:08 PM

Thank you SO much my friend!!
I was trying for 2 1/2 hours to find a way to create selves from calibre.
You saved me!!
Thank you again.
Keep up the good work.

Mrs_Often · 10-31-2012, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

Can't promise this as the optimum solution but try this...

Absolutely great! I wish I read the news, then I would have an excuse to use this!

Mrs_Often · 10-31-2012, 11:56 AM

One small thing about the Kobo driver for Calibre... When I set it to send black and white covers, the covers show up darker on the device than they do when a colour version is sent. It's not a huge problem, it's just less easy to discern the difference between book covers that are similar (eg. in a series). Is there an easy way to change the brightness when conversion to black & white happens?

davidfor · 11-01-2012, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

One small thing about the Kobo driver for Calibre... When I set it to send black and white covers, the covers show up darker on the device than they do when a colour version is sent. It's not a huge problem, it's just less easy to discern the difference between book covers that are similar (eg. in a series). Is there an easy way to change the brightness when conversion to black & white happens?

Sorry, not that I can see. I've just looked at the code that does this, and there aren't any options that could be passed to change something like this.

Mrs_Often · 11-02-2012, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Sorry, not that I can see. I've just looked at the code that does this, and there aren't any options that could be passed to change something like this.

Ah that's a shame. Not a huge deal though. Thanks for checking!

Nothingness · 11-09-2012, 04:07 PM

Well in my case it's not working. I added the new column without problem, it's the rest that is not working.

I configured the the Kobo Touch driver by adding #myshelves, series in the Shelves entry like it says.

Then I added a few books in Calibre of different genre, poetry and dark fantasy. So in the metadata of each book, the Personalized tab, My Shelves shows there and I added there the genre of each book, poetry and dark fantasy.

Then I plugged my Kobo, transferred the books to Kobo. Then I go in Kobo and there is no Shelf at all.

I tried after that adding #myshelves, poetry, #myshelves, dark fantasy, in the Kobo Touch Driver just to see and still no result.

I put "Metadata management" to automatic in case anyone asks.

davidfor · 11-09-2012, 06:48 PM

@nothingness: Picking the obvious cause as you haven't mentioned it, is "Create Bookshelves" checked on the driver configuration?

If you have that option checked, I need a debug log to see what it happening. To do this, start calibre and right-click on the preferences button. Then select "Restart in debug mode". When calibre restarts, connect your Glo and wait for the syncing jobs to finish. Close calibre and the debug log will be opened. Post the contents of that or send them to me in a PM. I will look at it to see if I can work out what is wrong.

Nothingness · 11-09-2012, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

@nothingness: Picking the obvious cause as you haven't mentioned it, is "Create Bookshelves" checked on the driver configuration?

Duh! I completely forgot that! OK, did that and it works. I did not put entries for the series but after seeing them on the shelves on the Kobo how it looks, I ended deleting the ebooks and added number + title for series, like you said in the "Changing Book Titles to include Series Info", and it looks much clearer.

I added the descriptions for the books as well while I was there, and it looks nice when I see the infos of the ebooks. But I think the font is too small though on the Kobo, it's barely readable.

Thanks!!!

davidfor · 11-09-2012, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nothingness

Duh! I completely forgot that! OK, did that and it works. I did not put entries for the series but after seeing them on the shelves on the Kobo how it looks, I ended deleting the ebooks and added number + title for series, like you said in the "Changing Book Titles to include Series Info", and it looks much clearer.

I'm glad that was the problem.

It is a good idea to play with how you have books setup now. Once you get a lot of books on the device, it gets a lot harder to change.

Quote:

I added the descriptions for the books as well while I was there, and it looks nice when I see the infos of the ebooks. But I think the font is too small though on the Kobo, it's barely readable.

Which font? If it is while reading, then you can change the size. While reading, bring up the bottom menu, press the "Aa" button. There you can change the font, size, line spacing and margins. On some books you can't change everything. This is because the setting is hard-coded in the book and the Kobo reader does not over-ride this. There is a lot of discussion about how to handle this.

Nothingness · 11-10-2012, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

It is a good idea to play with how you have books setup now. Once you get a lot of books on the device, it gets a lot harder to change.

Yeah, this is exactly what I've been thinking, to handle this now since I just got the Kobo Glo, and I have tons of books to put on it later, and I love it when things are well organized.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Which font? If it is while reading, then you can change the size. While reading, bring up the bottom menu, press the "Aa" button. There you can change the font, size, line spacing and margins. On some books you can't change everything. This is because the setting is hard-coded in the book and the Kobo reader does not over-ride this. There is a lot of discussion about how to handle this.

I'm not talking about the font of the ebooks, I'm talking about the font of Kobo Glo. When you go check your ebooks and you tap on the square on the right next to an ebook, and you choose "Show more infos", it's there that I'm talking about. It shows the cover, title, etc., and if you added an entry for Commentary in Calibre, you see there the summary of the book, and the font is way too small. I hope they will make the font bigger at some point.

davidfor · 11-10-2012, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nothingness

I'm not talking about the font of the ebooks, I'm talking about the font of Kobo Glo. When you go check your ebooks and you tap on the square on the right next to an ebook, and you choose "Show more infos", it's there that I'm talking about. It shows the cover, title, etc., and if you added an entry for Commentary in Calibre, you see there the summary of the book, and the font is way too small. I hope they will make the font bigger at some point.

Check the formatting of the comment in calibre. This is also how the Glo will display the comment. Unfortunately, if you change the comment for a book already on the Glo, you will need to delete it from there before sending it over again.

Nothingness · 11-10-2012, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Check the formatting of the comment in calibre. This is also how the Glo will display the comment. Unfortunately, if you change the comment for a book already on the Glo, you will need to delete it from there before sending it over again.

There is no option there to make the font bigger. The only place that could change the font is in the HTML tab.

davidfor · 11-10-2012, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nothingness

There is no option there to make the font bigger. The only place that could change the font is in the HTML tab.

I was thinking there was a font size option there, but I there isn't. Most times I simply remove the formatting to use the standard size which works well for me.

10-28-2012, 04:01 PM	#46
Websterny Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kobo Mini	My problem is this: With the Kobo mini, I would like Fetched News to be placed on a separate shelf. Following the instructions at the top of this thread under "Driver / calibre Configuration" works beautifully gets me almost there. Basically, those instructions create a user-defined "MyShelf" column which Kobo uses to create shelves (the new user column is used by Kobo to designate a "shelf" on the device). When adding my custom column I chose "column from columns" and included the script {series:ifempty(news)} , along the lines suggested on the thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/arc.../t-193063.html This setup functions to do the following: "IF Series=empty THEN MyShelf = news". Calibre detects all empty Series fields and fills the corresponding items in the column MyShelf with "news". Kobo then creates a shelf MYNAME on the device, populated by all items designated as news (which were all the Series items that were blank. It also creates Shelfs for each distinct Series. For keeping my regularly fetched news sorted on a separate shelf this totally works (ONLY IF all items other than regularly fetched news have the Series info filled in; all items with a blank series, which includes fetched items, are put on the News shelf). Ideally, I would like the logic to work like this: "If Author=calibre then MyShelf=News" (since really the only items in my library with the author CALIBRE are fetched news sources). As another example, I would like a function like this as well: "If FORMAT = PDF [and no other formats] THEN MyShelf = PDF". Is anyone familiar enough with the logic of Calibre template language to perform something of this complexity? I have looked at the manual entry http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/template_lang.html and it seems very powerful but bewilderingly technical (I wish more actual working examples of templates were given in the manual; I can understand and modify examples ... The blank templates shown in the manual are less useful as I'm not sure what the generic names of the fields, like "val", really refer to). Anyone have a handle on this? Thanks! Last edited by Websterny; 10-31-2012 at 08:42 PM.

10-28-2012, 06:06 PM	#47
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,774 Karma: 75003038 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Can't promise this as the optimum solution but try this... Create a custom column Name: news Column Heading: News Article Column Type: Built from other columns Template: Code: {author:str_in_list('', calibre, NEWS,)} Restart calibre Add #news to the shelf list in the Kobo Touch driver I've tried making the column and verifying it gets the right value but have not added it to the driver. [EDIT] I've now added the additional column to the driver's config and all seems to work as it should. My driver now has the values Code: #myshelves, series, #news in it and works as expected; books with custom shelves get added to the valuie of the myshelves column, in addition to the corresponding series column, and calibre created news go to the NEWS column as coded in the custom column (news) above. Last edited by PeterT; 10-28-2012 at 06:25 PM.

11-09-2012, 04:07 PM	#53
Nothingness Zealot Posts: 111 Karma: 7574010 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Glo, Kobo Aura H2O Limited Edition	Well in my case it's not working. I added the new column without problem, it's the rest that is not working. I configured the the Kobo Touch driver by adding #myshelves, series in the Shelves entry like it says. Then I added a few books in Calibre of different genre, poetry and dark fantasy. So in the metadata of each book, the Personalized tab, My Shelves shows there and I added there the genre of each book, poetry and dark fantasy. Then I plugged my Kobo, transferred the books to Kobo. Then I go in Kobo and there is no Shelf at all. I tried after that adding #myshelves, poetry, #myshelves, dark fantasy, in the Kobo Touch Driver just to see and still no result. I put "Metadata management" to automatic in case anyone asks. Last edited by Nothingness; 11-09-2012 at 04:16 PM.

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10-29-2012, 02:08 PM	#48
Mhtsos Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 514984 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Greece/Germany Device: Acer Iconia A210,Sony PRS-T1(sold),Cybook Orizon,Kobo Glo,Kindle PW2	Thank you SO much my friend!! I was trying for 2 1/2 hours to find a way to create selves from calibre. You saved me!! Thank you again. Keep up the good work.

10-31-2012, 11:56 AM	#50
Mrs_Often Wizard Posts: 1,775 Karma: 2694823 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: The Netherlands Device: Kobo Touch, Glo, Clara HD	One small thing about the Kobo driver for Calibre... When I set it to send black and white covers, the covers show up darker on the device than they do when a colour version is sent. It's not a huge problem, it's just less easy to discern the difference between book covers that are similar (eg. in a series). Is there an easy way to change the brightness when conversion to black & white happens?

11-09-2012, 06:48 PM	#54
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303822 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	@nothingness: Picking the obvious cause as you haven't mentioned it, is "Create Bookshelves" checked on the driver configuration? If you have that option checked, I need a debug log to see what it happening. To do this, start calibre and right-click on the preferences button. Then select "Restart in debug mode". When calibre restarts, connect your Glo and wait for the syncing jobs to finish. Close calibre and the debug log will be opened. Post the contents of that or send them to me in a PM. I will look at it to see if I can work out what is wrong.

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