Ubooquity 1.8.0
22 june 2015 Release
Ubooquity 1.8.0 is available.
Update: 1.8.0 has been replaced by 1.8.2 which contains a bug fix for the reverse proxy feature
New requirements
Starting with this version, Ubooquity requires Java 7 or later.
New features and improvements
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Cache management
Ubooquity now provides caching information to your browser. This will avoid unnecessary file transfers and save bandwith. -
"host" option
By default, Ubooquity binds itself to all available network interfaces. This new command line parameter allows you to specify the hostname Ubooquity should use when configuring its binding.
Example: if you launch Ubooquity on your local machine (with the address 192.168.0.42, for instance), you will be able to access it with your browser on localhost:2202 and 192.168.0.42:2202. Now if you add "--host 192.168.0.42" to your command line, localhost:2202 won't work anymore. -
"workdir" option
This new command line parameter allows you to specify where Ubooquity should create its own files (database, logs, preferences, cache, etc). The "user.dir" method, sometime mentionned on the forum to achieve the same result, is not reliable. You should use the new setting instead. -
Comics folder customization
When displaying your comics grouped by folder, you can now add images and text to customize the appearance of theses folders. (cf forum request)
Add a "folder.jpg" image (also works with png and gif) in your folder to have this image displayed instead of the usual cover.
Add a "folder-info.html" file in your folder to have its HTML displayed on top of the content of the folder. The HTML can use other elements contained in the folder (like images, style sheets, etc) as long as their source path starts with "[[FOLDER]]" (e.g. src="http://vaemendis.net/ubooquity/[[FOLDER]]/dcComicsLogo1.png" ).
If you want to give it a try, download this example folder. Unzip it, share it, and see how it's done.
To use this new feature, "Folder metadata display" has to be enabled in the advanced options. -
New comics reader
The comics reader has been rewritten from scratch to make it more usable and add "fit to width/height" options, as well as an automatic split of double pages. (cf forum discussion)
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New command line format
Command line paramaters should now be passed with a "--" prefix instead of "-" (although the old syntax is still working). Here is the complete list of available parameters:
Option Description ------ ----------- --debug Activate debug mode --headless Prevent Ubooquity from displaying a desktop user interface --help Display command line help --host <hostname or IP address> Specify the hostname or IP address to which Ubooquity is going to bind itself to --port <Integer: Port number> Specify on which Ubooquity is going to listen --webadmin Activate the web administration page --workdir <directory path> Specify the working directory of Ubooquity -
Extended exclusion pattern
The settings previously called "Folder exclusion pattern" (now "Scan exclusion pattern") has been modified to include files as well. Now, any file or folder whose path matches the regular expression defined by this parameter will be ignored by Ubooquity. (cf forum request)
Fixed bugs
- Fixed "raw files" not working on Linux/Mac OS (cf forum)
- Fixed a problem with rendering PNG files using color type 6 (cf forum)
- Fixed reverse proxy for OPDS feeds (cf forum)
- Fixed database path bug (cf forum)
- Miscellaneous minor bug fixes
Please note that the log format override method has changed (more specifically, the log configuration name has changed).
Ubooquity 1.7.6, bug fixes
29 march 2015 Release
Ubooquity 1.7.6 is available.
Just minor bug fixes.
Fixed bugs
- Fixed option to bypass single root folder
- Apply "java.awt.headless" system flag when using headless option
Ubooquity 1.7.5, minor release
21 march 2015 Release
Ubooquity 1.7.5 is available.
This is a minor release: a few bug fixes and a few very specific features.
Fixed bugs
- Problem with special characters (e.g. accents) in user names with iOS
- Incorrect comics file name when downloading (happened when comics contained metadata, the downloaded file name was the title instead of being the original file name)
-
Incorrect sorting of comics titles containing accents
This bug is fixed only on new databases. This means that if you want to have this bug fixed when updating Ubooquity, you will have to manually delete the file "ubooquity-4.h2.db" in your working directory (after having stopped Ubooquity of course). Since this file contains the scanned comics and ebooks data, this operation will trigger a full rescan of your collection.
New features
- Limited* support for WebP images in comics
- Limited* support of DJVU files
- New advanced option to exclude folders from scan using regular expressions
- New advanced option to bypass root folder page when there is only one root folder
* Limited by the platform Ubooquity will run on. Both feature were succesfuly tested on Windows, but they don't work on Raspberry Pi (Linux). So they might or might not work depending on your setup. These limitations come from the libraries I use, nothing I can do about it.
Technical stuff
- Added an OPDS tag for "current folder content" (should be used by Chunky reader in the future)
- Allowed use of fonts and SVG files in themes, for better customization possibilities
A word of warning for Java 6 users. This the last version supporting Java 6. Next version will require Java 7 to run. (Java 6 has been obsolete for many years anyway)
Ubooquity 1.7.0, with OPDS and comics metadata
14 december 2014 Release
Ubooquity 1.7.0 is available.
This upgrade will trigger a complete rescan of your of comics and ebooks files. You will not lose your settings, but depending on the size of your collection, it could take time.
If you use the "Modern" theme, you will have to download the new version of this theme on the themes page.
New features
- Comics Metadata : Ubooquity now reads and displays comics metadata in the ComicRack format. You can write such metadata in your comics with applications like ComicRack (obviously) or ComicTagger.
- Better PDF support : Ubooquity now embeds two new libraries which will improve PDF support, especially for documents containing JPG2000 images or using cryptography features (not fully encrypted PDF though). They will no longer generate errors when scanned and their cover will be displayed correctly.
- OPDS feeds : You can activate OPDS feeds in the "advanced" option of Ubooquity. Your feeds will be available at the following addresses (port and IP are just examples):
http://10.0.0.1:2202/opds-comics
http://10.0.0.1:2202/opds-books
These feeds support authentication through HTTP Basic Authentication (same credentials as the ones you already use). This authentication method is not as secure as the one already used by Ubooquity, so be carefull if you use OPDS feeds on an open network without activating the SSL/HTTPS feature.
I have done some tests with a few ebooks/comics readers with OPDS support. Unfortunately the OPDS specification is not followed at 100% by all the applications. Here are the results of my tests:
Note that the the "Comics online reading" column corresponds to a feature not supported by the original OPDS standard but is an extension developped for Ubooquity and Challenger Comics Viewer. More details here.
Miscellaneous
- Added an option to automatically minimize Ubooquity interface at startup.
- Added an option to hide empty folders.
- Improved ebooks metadata display (publication date, language, file format).
- Trailing slashes and backslashes are now automatically removed when entering shared folder paths in the web administration page.
- Fixed a rare bug which added a pink overlay on some comics images.
- Fixed a bug on folder images: Ubooquity now always uses the first image found in the directory or its subdirectories.
The improved comics online reader development is still in progress.
Ubooquity 1.6.0, with SSL support (HTTPS)
26 october 2014 Release
Ubooquity 1.6.0 is available.
[UPDATE] If you use the "Modern" theme, you will have to download the new version of this theme on the themes page.
New features
- SSL support : You can now access your files in a more secure way by using the HTTPS protocol instead of HTTP. To do that you will need to get a SSL certificate (either by buying one or generating a self-signed one), generate a Java keystore and configure Ubooquity to use it.
- Reverse proxy : If you want to use reverse proxy, you can now choose the prefix which will be added at the beginning of every URL served by Ubooquity.
- "New comics/books" links : two new links on the home page which will take you to a page containing the latest comics and books added to your collection.
Miscellaneous
- Added an option to disable files auto scan at startup (if you want your files scanned only when you press the "scan" button).
- Failed logon attempts for the webadmin page are now displayed on a single line so that they are easier to parse with fail2ban.
- Log files rotate when they reach 1 MB instead of 5 MB.
- Removed session limitation restricting a user to a single active session (you were automatically logged out of a device when logging into another). You can now have several sessions on different devices at the same time.
- Removed port range restriction (ports under 1024 are now authorized).
- Fixed advanced preferences page in webadmin.
- Fixed several bugs related to user rights management.
- Fixed a bug preventing the comic pages displayed in the online reader from being wider than 1200 pixels.
- Fixed online reader keyboard shortcuts in Chrome.
- Fixed a bug which was degrading perfomances of the online reader when a scan was in progress.
No OPDS support yet, and the online reader has not been improved much either. But work is in progress and these features/improvements will probably be delivered in the 1.7.0 version.
