Calibre viewer setting file time

[banjomike]

Is there a way to stop the Calibre epub viewer from changing the file date & time when it opens an epub?

Annoyingly, the only file it seems to edit is "calibre_bookmarks.txt" and on that file it DOESN'T change the date & time.

[kovidgoyal]

Since calibre is writing to the epub file, the date and time will change.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Since calibre is writing to the epub file, the date and time will change.

Yes, but does the viewer HAVE to write to the epub?

I like to keep viewers and editors separate in my mind. I would not mind losing the bookmark function if it would keep my original files unaltered. At the moment I've recently started copying the epub before opening the copy just to "protect" the original.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by banjomike

I would not mind losing the bookmark function if it would keep my original files unaltered.

I'm not trying to change your mind, but why do you care?

You could also try to use another EPUB viewer - perhaps the FireFox EPUBReader addon. I don't know if it writes to the EPUB, but you could try it and find out.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Starson17

I'm not trying to change your mind, but why do you care?

Why do I care? I don't want the content of my documents edited unless I choose to edit them or unless it is necessary to edit them. I hadn't even noticed that the viewer WAS editing them until recently and I would prefer it not to.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Why do I care? I don't want the content of my documents edited unless I choose to edit them or unless it is necessary to edit them. I hadn't even noticed that the viewer WAS editing them until recently and I would prefer it not to.

OK. If that's your preference, that's what it is. I just wondered why. Every time you open a file to read a book, Windows changes the file access time. Every time you read a .doc file, Word updates the file. There are a lot of programs that keep track of things like that.

As I said, if you don't like the way Kovid's viewer works, there are other EPUB viewer options. I'd try one of those to see if it meets your needs.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Starson17

OK. If that's your preference, that's what it is. I just wondered why. Every time you open a file to read a book, Windows changes the file access time. Every time you read a .doc file, Word updates the file. There are a lot of programs that keep track of things like that.

As I said, if you don't like the way Kovid's viewer works, there are other EPUB viewer options. I'd try one of those to see if it meets your needs.

True, but changing the file access time is a lot less invasive than actually editing a file inside the epub/zip as Calibre viewer does.

I might look at alternative epub viewers if my current drag-to-copy-then-view solution gets annoying.

Edit:
It looks like the viewer ADDS the calibre_bookmarks.txt file. Would it make more sense to add that file when the epub is created?