Need help with Personal Books

Need help with Personal Books

I rewrote one of the works I have in my Personal Books and wanted to replace the old body file with the new one. When I clicked on edit the only option it gave me was to add a file, and since I wanted to change and not add to the existing file I right clicked on edit and then delete. This deleted all trace of the work from the Tools/Personal Books screen, so I placed the newly edited version there as a new work. However, I find that the old version was deleted only from the Tools/Personal Books screen and not from the Library, leaving me now with both versions there. So … three questions:

1. Can I delete the old file version from the Library? And if so, how? (Again, it’s no longer on the Tools/Personal Books screen, and deleting it from there was what got me in trouble.)

2. If I want to edit one of my Personal Books in the future, how should I go about it? (I use MS Word for writing and editing, and need to know how to change the old file with the newly edited one.)

3. I have placed jpg cover pictures for my works in Tools/Personal Books, but one of them still appears with the generic cover in the Library. Any suggestions?

New to the Forum .. but 21 happy years with Logos,

Bob

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Lynden O. Williams

Welcome to the forums Bob. I do not have the answer to your question, it has been asked before, but if you are not aware of this site, I am hoping that it will help. http://wiki.logos.com/personal_books

Robert Geiss

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513522#Comment_513522

Many thanks,

I think you gave me my answer .. or at least where to find it.

Thanks again,

Bob

Rosie Perera

1. Can I delete the old file version from the Library? And if so, how? (Again, it’s no longer on the Tools/Personal Books screen, and deleting it from there was what got me in trouble.)

I think one of the following methods should work, but I'm not absolutely positive, and I'm not sure which is preferable:

a) Hide the version from the Library that you want to get rid of (drag it to Hidden Resources in Tools > Program Settings; or Ctrl+right-click on it and choose "Hide this resource"). Restart Logos.

b) Delete the compiled PB file from your Resources folder. You can find the file name by opening the resource from your Library, opening its info panel, and looking under Support Info. It will be a *.lbspbb file. And you should be able to find it in your Logos5\Data\{random-folder}\ResourceManager\Resources folder. (Or Logos4 if you're still running Logos 4 or upgraded directly from Logos 4 to Logos 5).

2. If I want to edit one of my Personal Books in the future, how should I go about it? (I use MS Word for writing and editing, and need to know how to change the old file with the newly edited one.)

Under "Add Body Files" right-click on the old file, and click Delete. Then add the new file as you normally would if it had been the only one.

3. I have placed jpg cover pictures for my works in Tools/Personal Books, but one of them still appears with the generic cover in the Library. Any suggestions?

Hmm...I've never seen this before. Try changing the cover image to something else, rebuilding the book, then change back to the cover image you want, and rebuild the book again. If that still doesn't work, try entering Rebuild Personal Book Index in the command box.

Dave Hooton

I'll add a couple of comments to the above replies.

1. Can I delete the old file version from the Library? And if so, how? (Again, it’s no longer on the Tools/Personal Books screen, and deleting it from there was what got me in trouble.)

Deleting the PB from the Personal Book tool will normally remove all traces of it after you restart Logos. When it didn't work I hid the resource (as per Rosie) and restarted Logos. But you can unhide the resource some time later (again restart Logos) and that will get rid of all traces as it won't reappear in Personal Books.

2. If I want to edit one of my Personal Books in the future, how should I go about it? (I use MS Word for writing and editing, and need to know how to change the old file with the newly edited one.)

Where you have a new file you can delete the existing one by right clicking it in Body Files and selecting Delete, and then adding the new file. But this isn't necessary for normal updates/edits as you simply make changes to the existing body file and then choose Build book.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513708#Comment_513708

Deleting the PB from the Personal Book tool will normally remove all traces of it after you restart Logos.

Really? Shouldn't that be undesired behavior? If someone creates a personal book, and declares "it is finished!"… should they not be able to delete the PBB project from the PBB tool with the result of the personal book remaining in the library? Have I misunderstood you? (I'm not trying to imply that you believe the behavior should be one way or the other, I'm just trying to understand what you said [:)]).

Graham Criddle

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513770#Comment_513770

Really? Shouldn't that be undesired behavior? If someone creates a personal book, and declares "it is finished!"… should they not be able to delete the PBB project from the PBB tool with the result of the personal book remaining in the library?

Dave is correct in that deleting the PBB from the tool removes it from the library as well.

From Logos help:

IV. Delete a Personal Book.
1. To remove a book from the Personal Book list and from the Library, right-click on a book that is collapsed, or in non-edit mode, in the Personal Book tool.
1. To close a book that is in Edit mode, click on the “X” in the top right corner of the “1. Fill in Library Information” section.
2. Choose Delete from the context menu.

With the PB tool defining metadata information etc I would be surprised if it worked in any other way.

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513778#Comment_513778

Thanks Graham. In that case, Logos really needs to improve the PBB tool. It needs to work just like the library. Also, there needs to be a warning: "Deleting this book from the PBB Tool will also remove the book from your library. Do you want to continue?"

With the PB tool defining metadata information etc I would be surprised if it worked in any other way.

Does this mean that when a personal book is shared (in the future), that an entry will be created in the personal book builder tool?

Graham Criddle

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513795#Comment_513795

Hi Alabama

In that case, Logos really needs to improve the PBB tool. It needs to work just like the library.

Isn't it different in that the PB tool is all about user-created resources - which then appear in the library which, in turn, is about resources which you own in Logos?

Also, there needs to be a warning: "Deleting this book from the PBB Tool will also remove the book from your library. Do you want to continue?"

I am fine with that - but would always have expected that behaviour.

Thinking about it I have never really considered a Personal Book as "finished" but always something which I might come back to and change. Hence, I have no real intention of deleting them from the PB tool unless they were created purely for test purposes in which case I would want them removed from the library as well on deletion.

This is probably linked to most of my PB work being material that I am personally creating as opposed to - for example - importing public domain material into Logos for personal use. In the latter case I can understand why it could be seen as "finished".

Does this mean that when a personal book is shared (in the future), that an entry will be created in the personal book builder tool?

An interesting question which I hadn't thought about. I'll leave that one to Logos.[:)]

Graham

Dave Hooton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513795#Comment_513795

Thanks Graham. In that case, Logos really needs to improve the PBB tool. It needs to work just like the library.

If I understand you, there isn't a feature to remove personal books from only the Library. You don't want to confuse it with Hiding because you would want to restore it from the PB tool? But why parallel the situation with Logos resources rather than remove all traces?

Logos haven't got the method 100%, similar to the situation where it sometimes can't remove the existing resource file when recompiling, so I found it best to hide the PB if it remained in Library.

Also, there needs to be a warning: "Deleting this book from the PBB Tool will also remove the book from your library. Do you want to continue?"

I agree because the PB interface is so poor that you might trigger that deletion by mistake, but the message should be "Do you really want to remove this book from the PB Tool and Library?".

Does this mean that when a personal book is shared (in the future), that an entry will be created in the personal book builder tool?

Yes, otherwise we are back to your surmise about treating them similar to Logos resources. The next question is how to differentiate the display when, presumably, the source file is not being shared!?

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513829#Comment_513829

Isn't it different in that the PB tool is all about user-created resources - which then appear in the library which, in turn, is about resources which you own in Logos?

When I make a special meal, I make a mess in the kitchen. Eventually, The kitchen gets cleaned and the food goes to the dining room. I don't expect the food to vanish when the kitchen gets cleaned! [:P]

Thinking about it I have never really considered a Personal Book as "finished" but always something which I might come back to and change. Hence, I have no real intention of deleting them from the PB tool unless they were created purely for test purposes in which case I would want them removed from the library as well on deletion.

I still don't see the correlation between the tool used to create the books, and the finished, compiled books in my library. I currently have over 150 personal books. The personal book builder is EXTREMELY sluggish, and gets more so with every personal book I create. I know that some users have many more books than I do.

This is probably linked to most of my PB work being material that I am personally creating as opposed to - for example - importing public domain material into Logos for personal use. In the latter case I can understand why it could be seen as "finished".

I think that is the crux of the issue. Most of my books fall into the "vyrso type books I have created on my own." Books, for example, that Logos doesn't carry. There are some books which I will want to be able to tweak when I have more time, but there are others that I consider finished. I am not deleting any of the books from the pbb until Logos begins syncing the files... but there is a good chance I would have deleted more than half once that happens. I'm glad I know now about the potential pitfall of doing so!

If I understand you, there isn't a feature to remove personal books from only the Library. You don't want to confuse it with Hiding because you would want to restore it from the PB tool? But why parallel the situation with Logos resources rather than remove all traces?

I don't understand what you are asking. I was not writing about removing personal books only from the library... although there is a way to do so. If you use the normal "hide" procedure, it indeed removes the book from the library, but the resource remains in the personal book builder tool for you to recompile. I have had to use this method before when a book could not be automatically removed to recompile the book.

My comment wasn't about removing the book from the library... it was about removing the book from the personal book builder tool, but remaining in the library!

Graham Criddle

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513839#Comment_513839

Isn't it different in that the PB tool is all about user-created resources - which then appear in the library which, in turn, is about resources which you own in Logos?

When I make a special meal, I make a mess in the kitchen. Eventually, The kitchen gets cleaned and the food goes to the dining room. I don't expect the food to vanish when the kitchen gets cleaned!

At the risk of straining an analogy too far you would, it is useful to hang on to the recipe if you like the finished product[:)]

I still don't see the correlation between the tool used to create the books, and the finished, compiled books in my library

Arguably there doesn't need to be one if you are prepared to break all links between the information in the tool and the "finished" project, just as deleting a set of computer program source files wouldn't affect the final, complied executable program. But if you then wanted to modify that personally created book in any way you would - presumably - need to start the build process all over again and delete the original from the library as well to avoid any confusion.

For those reasons, I can see some value in maintaining the linkage between the information in the PB tool and the library.

I currently have over 150 personal books. The personal book builder is EXTREMELY sluggish, and gets more so with every personal book I create. I know that some users have many more books than I do.

I would see that as a reason for optimising the PB tool not changing the underlying way it works. I have less than 50 and, maybe consequently, don't experience any performance issues so that hasn't been a driver for me personally.

. I am not deleting any of the books from the pbb until Logos begins syncing the files... but there is a good chance I would have deleted more than half once that happens. I'm glad I know now about the potential pitfall of doing so!

That's a result then[:)]

JT (alabama24)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/513845#Comment_513845

At the risk of straining an analogy too far you would, it is useful to hang on to the recipe if you like the finished product

Touché. [:)]

Arguably there doesn't need to be one if you are prepared to break all links between the information in the tool and the "finished" project, just as deleting a set of computer program source files wouldn't affect the final, complied executable program. But if you then wanted to modify that personally created book in any way you would - presumably - need to start the build process all over again and delete the original from the library as well to avoid any confusion.

For those reasons, I can see some value in maintaining the linkage between the information in the PB tool and the library.

I can see that point... but... it needs MAJOR work. It is very sluggish. You would be crying, begging for mercy... you would "get religion" if you had to scroll through my list.

If I were going to keep the connection... I would do a major rework of the library and include the PBB tool directly within the library itself.