CC beta releases 3.4.4j, 3.4.4k, 3.4.4l

[chaley]

CC beta releases 3.4.4j, k, and l have been published and will be available to people in the beta test program.

V3.4.4l is being released to beta because it contains changes that better support selecting book folders on rooted Android 4.4+ devices or devices with multiple SD cards. I would like some assurance that I didn't break anything.

Changes since 3.4.4i (for alpha testers. See this thread for details about 3.4.4i):

V3.4.4l

• Add "Format" as a possibility in book list extra information
• Minor text changes to support translation
• Support more than one removable SD card on Android 4.4+
• Add an "Advanced option" (at the bottom of the settings) to show the general navigate-to-folder dialog on Android 4.4+ when choosing CC's folders
• Updated Spanish
• Add dialog showing translation credits
• [BUG FIX]Don't crash if the device doesn't have a working web browser

V3.4.4k

• Add ability to change CC's interface language
• [BUG FIX]Fix regression removing the page up/down buttons
• [BUG FIX]Fix very rare crash when returning to book details after using another app

V3.4.4j

• Support crowd-source translations
• Make the backup/restore file dialogs visually more like the rest of CC
• Change the password dialog to (I hope) better support e-ink devices

The following is a summary of changes since 3.4.4, similar to what will be published when 3.5.1 is released.

• Single-level hierarchical columns. See the new setting in the grouping section
• Optionally sync book files: calibre sends book formats to CC if the copy in calibre is newer than in CC
• Optionally temp-mark a book in calibre if its is-read information was updated by info in CC
• Enable the "fast scroller" on the booklist, grouping pane, and the book grid. This is a rectangle that appears when you scroll the list, which you can grab and move to scroll much more quickly.
• Add options to control the scroller: where it appears, which side it is on, and whether it shows permanently.
• Add option to fall back to automatic connect if connection to the specified IP address fails
• Per-group first letter control in the grouping drawer
• Use value-sensitive ranges for numbers in the grouping drawer when doing first-letter grouping
• Add an option to remove <<>> lines in the grouping drawer
• Allow reordering groups in the grouping drawer
• Make the top-level group name not scroll when the info under it is scrolled
• Option to specify an auto-sort for the "Groups" line (not grouping)
• Support picking custom fields to group from a list. Requires calibre 2.1 or newer
• Add Languages as a groupable item. See "Make groups for custom columns" to enable this feature.
• Add formats as a groupable item. See "Make groups for custom columns" to enable this feature.
• Allow reordering the sorts shown in the menu
• Support picking the is-read columns (yes/no and date) from a list. Requires calibre 2.1 or newer
• Display file size in book details
• Tapping cover in book details expands the cover to full size. Tapping again reduces it to the size set in settings.
• Make "Disconnect" optionally appear on the action bar when "Connect" is on the menu
• Performance improvement in grouping drawer
• Support the Samsung version of Kindle for Android
• Support both standalone content server instances and a calibre instance running the content server on the same local network.
• Support both standalone content server instances and a calibre instance running the content server on the same computer. Requires calibre V2.0 or newer.
• Use a "star" character for rating types in the book list instead of a number
• In book details, respect the calibre format for custom number columns if there is one, otherwise use commas.
• Ability to change CC's user interface language
• Support for crowd-sourced translations
• Some changes that might help with dialog boxes on e-ink devices
• Support more than one removable SD card on Android 4.4+
• Add an "Advanced option" (at the bottom of the settings) to show the general navigate-to-folder dialog on Android 4.4+ when choosing CC's folders
• Support for FBReader's pdf and djvu plugins
• [BUG FIX]Fix not being able to long-press on the first line of a group
• [BUG FIX]Prevent duplicated Date and Pubdate entries in various selection dialog boxes
• [BUG FIX]Fix Groups and the category line not using the specified font size
• [BUG FIX]Ensure that new books will get covers sent on next connect if the current connection is interrupted
• [BUG FIX]Ensure that restore settings does all necessary setting migration
• [BUG FIX]Make the progress spinner stop if connect to wireless device is cancelled
• [BUG FIX]Don't try to launch a reader app on an empty cell in the book grid

[chaley]

I noticed today that somehow I had removed the paging buttons check box preference. It will be back in the next beta release.

[Purple Lady]

On my T62 I can see the text for both password when connecting wirelessly and when deleting a book that I had problems with. Basically any screen that uses the light blue will be a problem.

I thought I had a work around to see the text on these screens if I couldn't get the same message on my Nexus 7. I am using Screenshot ER and can get a color screenprint from eink. I took on that used light blue and the particular light blue you are using barely shows up there either. Here's one and if you look very carefully you can see the text on the top of the screen, but it's difficult. You can see the CC icon in color so the pic has color. Weird.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

On my T62 I can see the text for both password when connecting wirelessly and when deleting a book that I had problems with. Basically any screen that uses the light blue will be a problem.

I thought I had a work around to see the text on these screens if I couldn't get the same message on my Nexus 7. I am using Screenshot ER and can get a color screenprint from eink. I took on that used light blue and the particular light blue you are using barely shows up there either. Here's one and if you look very carefully you can see the text on the top of the screen, but it's difficult. You can see the CC icon in color so the pic has color. Weird.
Attachment 129224

Unfortunately is isn't me that chooses that color. Preference colors come with the "system" style and and are not made visible by Android. Neither is that system style itself so I can't inherit from it to change parts of it. As far as I can tell, the only way to fix it is to recreate the entire style from scratch, and that is hard.

I have "fixed" dialog boxes by writing code to go through the layout instructions to find titles and messages and force their color. This isn't an option with preferences because I don't handle their generation.

If companies are going to make e-ink android devices then they should also deal with this problem. One way would be to permit a user to change the color to grey mapping, changing the saturation curve so lighter colors show as darker grey. In any event, this is not a problem that individual applications that run fine on color devices should need to solve.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by chaley

Unfortunately is isn't me that chooses that color. Preference colors come with the "system" style and and are not made visible by Android. Neither is that system style itself so I can't inherit from it to change parts of it. As far as I can tell, the only way to fix it is to recreate the entire style from scratch, and that is hard.

I have "fixed" dialog boxes by writing code to go through the layout instructions to find titles and messages and force their color. This isn't an option with preferences because I don't handle their generation.

If companies are going to make e-ink android devices then they should also deal with this problem. One way would be to permit a user to change the color to grey mapping, changing the saturation curve so lighter colors show as darker grey. In any event, this is not a problem that individual applications that run fine on color devices should need to solve.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to ask you to solve this, I was just letting you know that the ones you fixed looked good. The T62 does a much better job of showing colors than the T68 did so some of the issues are being taken care of. I also just thought it was interesting that on a color screen print that the light blue didn't show up.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Sorry, I wasn't trying to ask you to solve this, I was just letting you know that the ones you fixed looked good. The T62 does a much better job of showing colors than the T68 did so some of the issues are being taken care of. I also just thought it was interesting that on a color screen print that the light blue didn't show up.

Apologies for my testiness. It frustrates me that so much of what Android does is buried deep.

Attached is a screen shot of what I think is the same dialog. It is really very different. For me the background including the icon is dimmed, there is no border around the button, the radio buttons are blue, and the blue title is clearly visible. It seems like the T62 has changed things a lot, but perhaps forgot a few things.

[chaley]

I just published V3.4.4k to beta. See the first post for details.

[chaley]

I just published V3.4.4l to beta. See the first post for details.

[kaufman]

I downloaded the new version and turned on the new option. Please note my phone is not rooted.

I navigated to the SD card at storage/extSdCard and it doesn't show any directories there.

What is interesting, is that if I turn the option off, and so to the SD card folder, it will let me navigate up to the root folder. At that point, it does show me the folders.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by kaufman

I navigated to the SD card at storage/extSdCard and it doesn't show any directories there.

What is interesting, is that if I turn the option off, and so to the SD card folder, it will let me navigate up to the root folder. At that point, it does show me the folders.

Thanks for the feedback.

What you saw is consistent with what I read, specifically that Android 4.4+ lays its own file system over the SD card using FUSE (Filesystem in USEr space). Paraphrasing what I read, the SD card doesn't really exist unless it has been "mounted" (added to the OS) by Android. Traversing the path does not mount the SD card, but asking for the app-specific folders does mount it. The consequence is that you can't see the SD card unless something has asked for a user-specific folder. I would expect a rooted device to not have this problem, but I am not at all sure of that. Perhaps typing "/storage/extSdCard" into the box would do the trick because that would force Android to actually look at the card. Or perhaps not.

On the other hand, what you see doesn't jive with the rule that apps are supposed to be able to read files on SD cards. What I read implies that the read-only mounting happens when an app attempts to open a file. Perhaps I should change my code to attempt to open a folder for read before I attempt to walk it. It is times like this that I wish I had a kitkat device with an SD card so I could experiment. The Android emulator doesn't support second SD cards and neither does my N7.

I wish I could ignore this sort of BS and simply concentrate on app functionality.

[kaufman]

Originally Posted by chaley

I wish I could ignore this sort of BS and simply concentrate on app functionality.

Well, an argument for ignoring it is that people who root their devices are generally more technical so they will be able to work around the issues related to the SD card. They can just use the "Use SD Card" and then walk their way up to whatever directory they want. That probably still works fine for rooted users and relieves you of the need to do something different.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Sorry, I wasn't trying to ask you to solve this, I was just letting you know that the ones you fixed looked good. The T62 does a much better job of showing colors than the T68 did so some of the issues are being taken care of. I also just thought it was interesting that on a color screen print that the light blue didn't show up.

I think I have found a way to change the preferences screens so that all titles are black. If I make an APK with the changes, would you have time to try it? If so I will PM you a link.

Thanks in advance.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by chaley

I think I have found a way to change the preferences screens so that all titles are black. If I make an APK with the changes, would you have time to try it? If so I will PM you a link.

Thanks in advance.

I'll have time tonight so please PM me a link.

[Purple Lady]

I don't know if this is new, but I just tried to connect to the content server and it failed - no books showed up and I hit disconnect. The content server problem was me and is now ok. The problem is that when I tapped disconnect and the screen went back to the book list, all covers are gone and title and author are all caps. I went to book details and back hoping that would refresh the display, but it didn't. I exited and when I went back in immediately the covers and regular text were still missing. I exited again and when I went back in after a minute everything finally looked ok again. Here's a screenprint:

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I don't know if this is new, but I just tried to connect to the content server and it failed - no books showed up and I hit disconnect. The content server problem was me and is now ok. The problem is that when I tapped disconnect and the screen went back to the book list, all covers are gone and title and author are all caps. I went to book details and back hoping that would refresh the display, but it didn't. I exited and when I went back in immediately the covers and regular text were still missing. I exited again and when I went back in after a minute everything finally looked ok again. Here's a screenprint:
Attachment 129486

could you send me a CC debug log? It looks like something went wrong inside the book list painter, but I have no idea what. I am hoping that the debug log might provide a pointer.