Personal books screwed me over ... to the point I can't define the bug.

MJ. Smith

Yes, I am frustrated because none of my questions/concerns about personal books received answers from Logos staff - and other users answers were incomplete and/or incorrect.

1. Using Verbum
2. Build > 1700 personal books, some truly personal, in order to update the listing of available books for all users
3. Go through 357 of them editing to insure the metadata and the source file links are correct
4. With each update, try to also re-upload the book as I have not gotten accurate information on when uploads are required … but around 5 uploads a day fail on network issues which I may catch and rerun and some uploads I simply fail to do as they are a completely separate step from the compile.
5. I studiously avoid updating any information through the information panel as I don't know how it interacts with the personal book tool.
6. I try to update to beta 2 which fails … and the most common corrective actions fail
7. I switch to Logos which has not been used in a couple of months …
8. It does its automated thing re: the uploaded personal books and I make a few edits although it is not my primary work
9. I find the right Verbum beta download address and switch back to Verbum
10. It does its automated thing re: the uploaded personal books … and I end up with a curious mess - the Library panel and the Personal book tool data for some books no longer match .. and in some cases information updated days prior to the beta update has disappeared (I assume related to it not being in the Logos version?) … and the search in the Personal book tool will not find items clearly in the library panel
11. Therefore, I am retracing my steps for the 357 books I thought I had completely edited and was ready to start adding to the wiki… most of the records are fine but a few are missing minor corrections and a few have reverted their titles and erased most of the metadata. I have not yet found a pattern so that I can report a bug. However, it appears that once one has uploaded a file ANY change to the metadata requires a new upload. The fact that I have found no way to see if the book has been uploaded (one of my unanswered questions) makes this a bit problematic.

Please - what is the intended interaction between the Personal book tool data, the uploaded file, and Library panel data in a single installation and across multiple installations on the desktop? And how can one get in a situation where the search fails to find what you think you see?

Dave Hooton

@MJ. Smith Please - what is the intended interaction between the Personal book tool data, the uploaded file, and Library panel data in a single installation and across multiple installations on the desktop? And how can one get in a situation where the search fails to find what you think you see?

The one area I did not address in my previous response was multiple installations. So let me use Pubdate as an example:

1. Altered its value in PB tool in Verbum
2. No change in Library (Logos has same value)
3. Compile PB in Verbum
4. Pubdate is changed in Library
5. Value is sync'd to PB tool in Logos but no change in Library
6. PB tool misleadingly states "last built today" in Logos
7. Upload PB in Verbum
8. Download in Logos fixes the Pubdate in Library
   1. a recompile in Logos would have the same effect.

Note that User metadata changes in Library are sync'd between the Apps e.g. Abbreviated Title

So:

• recompile to align Library metadata with PB tool
  • except for user data changes in Library
• if you Upload the PB and then download to another installation, the metadata should be the same in both installations
  • otherwise recompile in the other installation(s), ensuring you have the same source files!
• I can't explain your point 10 unless there was a failure to sync metadata from Verbum to Logos OR you did not allow sufficient time for the volume of changes OR some books needed to be recompiled but you didn't.
• As for point 11 with missing metadata, it is true that ANY changes to metadata require recompilation. If you don't want to do that on every installation then an upload is required to bring Library in sync with the tool.