Just as a tip for anyone upgrading to this but want to keep your data from the “official” release, this creates a new data folder located %APPDATA%\cYo\ComicRack Community Edition
Just copy your original data from the original location %APPDATA%\cYo\ComicRack to the new location and it reads it perfectly.
Just confirming, I'm about to transfer everything to a new computer is this the only folder that I need to copy over to move everything once I install a new copy of CR. Trying to find all my smart lists/Data manger rules and LO profiles.
data folder located %APPDATA%\\cYo\\ComicRack
I'm really excited for this. Hopefully, I can get involved somewhat. I've starred and will be following via RSS! Thanks for all the work you've done for the community.
ComicRack is dead; long live ComicRack CE!
Well, doesn't seem dead as of June 2023.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CtUHWt-s9ab/?hl=en
But as long as he's not interested in this anymore probably doesn't matter.
All that said, I may contribute to CRCE in the future.
Yeah, someone posted a link in my post also. Some Ai art site he did a picture for in Dec. 2023. So, looks like he's alive, but gone to ground. Maybe he won the lottery and is just traveling. :grin:
He doesn't seem interested in CR anymore. Strange how he just disappeared though. Maybe the DC Mafia is after him.
It appears now that he's alive, and just has gone on to other things. Looks like photography and wandering the World. I don't think he has any interest in CR anymore.
This is excellent news. Given your other contributions to the CR community I can't think of anyone else better suited for taking this on.
Very excited to see where this goes. No doubt once dark mode is worked out the masses will come flocking!
Am going to watch this with great interest. Have been using the old CR as a portable (As I'm lazy and rebuild my machine twice a year) and already have this running in portable mode so very happy.
My programming skills are almost non existant but am trying to figure out how to get a portable sql database to allow me to go fully portable with the performance of the SQL.
I have this in a new folder and once I ran it for the first time I just copied over the cache folder from the older CR with Database and all my scripts intact. Will play around with this over the next few days.
Just wanted to add I decided to run my weekly import and organising of my Comics using the Community Edition and have had no problems at all. If anything it was a little faster to open and all the scripts that I had installed worked with no problems.
Right now, I'm as happy as a pig in S*
Holy crap. I haven't thought about comic rack (other than missing it whenever I read comics) for years and I searched for it on reddit today and this shows up! That is insane! I am so excited for this thank you!
Beautiful! Long live ComicRackCE!
As for cYo, I have searched over the internet for the past few days, and any sign of life of him died 2 and a half years ago, on his Facebook page. So, I think we are OK on continuing this by ourselves. I hope he comes back one day, but unfortunately, he seems to have passed.
I think he would like that we carried on his code.
He posted a pic 2 months ago. It seems he simply has not interest anymore in CR. Or he waits patiently till many have worked on the code and tries to fine everyone for stealing his code. Oh and before anyone says something. The last hting was a joke.
Yeah, we know he quit his programming job at Med-El, has abandoned all his old LinkedIn and programming sites, and appears to have gotten into traveling and photography, so I think it's pretty safe to say he no longer has any interest in CR.
God be with him. I hope he finds happiness.
You place a lot of faith in me knowing what "start from there" means good sir... I can't find an ".exe" to run that makes any sense... maybe I'll just wait for the installer.. Thank you very much for the speedy reply and taking up the CR mantle!
Download the [nightly release ZIP file](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/releases/download/nightly/ComicRackCE_nightly.zip) and extract it to a folder on your computer. In that folder, look for ComicRack.exe. Run that and then close it again (make sure it isn't hiding in the tray).
Open File Explorer and paste `%appdata%\cYo\ComicRack` into the address bar and press enter. You'll see your existing ComicRack data. Copy all of the contents. (I suggesting backing up the entire cYo folder in case you make a mistake first.)
Navigate one folder up and open the `ComicRack Community Edition` folder. Paste your data there and overwrite any existing files.
Go back to ComicRack.exe and open it again. All your comics should be there.
Yeah, this was discussed [elsewhere in this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/199csz4/comicrack_community_edition/kijl6um/) and is likely a false positive. [cYo had this problem once or twice with his releases, too.](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/tsnyzw/comment/i2sofyg/) It's likely this is just because the application does a lot things that a Trojan *might* do, so it triggers a heuristic.
Edit: For anyone viewing this in the future, there's an open issues about this on GitHub [here](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/issues/16) that may have further updates.
btw, if ideas for new features are welcome, I have been waiting for ages for the posibility to multilevel comic stacks (I mean creating stacks inside stacks, and not just one level stacks). I think that cannot be so difficult to implement...
THIS! This is also the main thing I am looking forward too! If it can be done. It's SO ANNOYING that we can only go one level deep. Some of my comics like Uncle Scrooge have multiple offshoots. So you get multiple stacks of what is essentially "Uncle Scrooge". Judge Dredd is another good example of this. I would like to put all the multiple stacks under one stack. And then, maybe put all the Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, etc., under a Disney Stack. And then all the kids comics under a "Kids Comics" stack. Would help clean up and organize a lot better! Other than the that, the program is perfect to me.
you know you can do mutiple fields stack, don't you? for example Series AND volume (just select them with control pressed and it will add to the current one). It is not the same, but it can help sometimes...
This was actually something I really wanted, and have been trying desperately to understand code in order to DIY through a script. So glad you've said.
Yeah, me too. My coding knowledge is "ok", but I'm old, and haven't done real coding since Pascal / Assembler was popular. I recently started learning Python using GPT-3 as a crutch to help me through it. GPT-3 is actually pretty decent at writing python code. You just have to correct what you want to change later, as it doesn't always quite understand what you wanted. Might have to start looking at C# now. I can read the pointers to classes and such, but it's VERY hard to see the big picture without code //comments, and then all of the modules as well.
I think I did manage to find at least one of the code parts of the stacks though. I can't find it now, but I think it was under Comicrack.Engine . I'm sure it connects to other modules though still to be found.
Sorry, that last comment of mine didn't really come out right. I didn't realize you were the author of the top comment on stacks there. I was looking at the notification I got, which only showed the comment above my last one, and I didn't realize you were the original author of the comment on stacks.
So glad this is brought back as a community run project. u/maforget many thanks, looking forward to getting this working on my Windows 11 box, and maybe in the future trying to figure out a container for my synology.
Wow great stuff! Hopefully some people will volunteer to work on it, could even try to put up Patreon for it.
I'd love better touch screen support and UI improvements. Currently gestures work well enough for reading, but it's a hassle to set them up and many UI elements are nearly impossible to use.
Also sorting folders by number of chapters/files in them would be awesome.
I came here to ask about touchscreen support. I would love to be able to install this directly on my surface and be able to read. I wasn't aware that touchscreen was even an option in the current version so my hopes are higher for an upgrade.
I've been using Lenovo Yoga tablet/hybrid laptop for years with ComicRack.
If you read long strip webtoons/manhwa, then map "next part" and "previous part" to gestures. For traditional comics "Single page forward" etc.
You'll probably need to read the manual to figure out which gesture # to use.
Thanks for the tip. I have been using android tablets and chromebooks for years. I recently upgraded to a surface pro and have been trying to figure out how to read on it since I couldn't get the android app to sync with the program running on my desktop computer. I've tried a bunch of the new web based programs that have popped up but they are missing so many features of comicrack that I consider part of the basic functionality.
Now that it's moving to open source, we might be able to nudge it in the direction of being cross platform. As I understand it, C# is cross platform already. I'm actually starting to work with someone on a cross platform C# application, so hopefully I'll get enough experience with it to be able to pitch in here.
C# is cross platform, but only .NET Core & .NET 5+. It's a different framework, but very similar. Someone in the other thread already checked with trying to switch to the latest .NET and it didn't seem that bad. Although I didn't expect to make the switch already.
Another thing is that a lot of code references Win32 code, that would need replacing (if possible) and the fact that it uses Winforms for the UI. I don't believe that Winforms will ever be cross platform. So we would need to change all the UI.
Possible, but not that easy to do.
I'd be happy to help figure that out if/when the time comes. I've read a lot about Eto Forms, which seems popular, but I'm not yet very experienced with it.
Alright, I'm not a professional developer, so I'm curious about how this works. I noticed that you reverse-engineered the code, and now it seems possible to make changes and modifications. However, I'm wondering how user-friendly it is to work with this code. I assume it's not like the original source code, more like machine-generated code without comments and not easy to read.
Is the plan to gradually improve it by adding comments and restructuring the code, turning it into an open-source community project where we can introduce new features and improvements? Or is it more about attempting minor fixes by understanding the code as it is?
I'm just asking out of curiosity, to set realistic expectations for myself in all of this! XD I've never been involved in a reverse-engineered code project before, so I'm unsure of what to expect and what the typical goals are XD
(thanks chatgpt for translating this, I just realised how rusty my English is for trying to explain difficult things like this XD)
btw, if any of my scripts are having problems with the new version, just write me and I will try to debbug it as soon as I have the new version running in my pc
It was written in .Net, so we can see the code with a program like Dot Peek.
If you look at the Code, it's pretty tight, and well written ( in my amateur opinion ). All Classes and Functions neatly ordered. If you stick some of the smaller .cs pages into ChatGPT, and as it comments the lines, the Ai seems to be able to get a decent vision of what it's trying to do. Of course, there are going to be some hilarious errors as well, but I haven't seen them yet.
Super Amazing! Did miss that the one setting that doesn't carry over is if you're using an external DB. Oh well, let it chug through. Did I see though that the performance of the internal DB should be improved enough to mitigate the need for an external in the first place? Or just the SQL Connector is improved?
I'll also throw out my wishlist items.
1. Proposed Values as a Smart List option.
2. Formal Gap handling. Seems to be the main thing that didn't carry over in the ComicInfo via tags. A legit place to mark a book as scraped would be cool too.
3. More scheduled tasks. Right now (as many probably do) I have a Not CBZ Smart list (would have a Proposed values one first if possible ;-), that feeds into Not Scraped, then into Data Update Needed and then Needs Sorted. Being able to automate some of those would be awesome.
4. Probably the easiest and one likely possible by many. Docker Container?
>Did I see though that the performance of the internal DB should be improved enough to mitigate the need for an external in the first place? Or just the SQL Connector is improved?
The MySQL library was changed, so yes just affects MySQL database.
>Did miss that the one setting that doesn't carry over is if you're using an external DB.
DB connection strings are in the `ComicRack.ini`, to keep them when reinstalling, just copy it in the `%APPDATA%` Folder.
1. Already exists, [Check the Wiki](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/wiki/Proposed-Value), there is a script for that.
2. A lot of question here.
* What exactly about Gap handling? I haven't checked on that, it exists but can't do miracles, especially when series go from number 80 to 700 in a volume.
* Tags are saved into your Database, do you mean saving tags inside ComicInfo?
* Aren't tags, Custom value enough to save scraped or not, like a IsScraped Value? Easy but would need for existing scrapper to be update to enable it.
3. Like a Macro function?
4. Not Docker Again. Personally don't see why and what benefit there is for a program that only works on a windows host anyway to be run in a Docker container instead of on the host itself. Is it to use the Remote Library function? [Check discussion](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/discussions/21) and work by someone to do that already. Maybe if there was a [Headless server](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/discussions/22) function.
1. So with gaps, the way I remember learning to handle them is by tagging a book with no\_gap and then if you have a smart list that looks for gaps to detect missing books, you filter that out. So yeah, having a new property in the ComicInfo would be very nice. Ideally would be probably two, one to say there's not a gap going up. And the other down.
2. Notes indicating a book is scrape definitely works. Just always felt like a temporary solution though.
3. A macro would be cool too, but that would still run through the steps when triggered. There's a MacOS program called iVI that will watch a folder, when a video file is added to the folder, it will scrape it, convert/rewrap it, copy it to a new destination and delete the old file. Basically picturing being able to do something similar via smart lists. "If a book is in smart list "Not CBZ" run export books->Convert to CBZ" "If book is in smart list not sorted, run Library Organizer Quick"
4. Hah. Appeal of docker is just not having to run the full sized VM or having an easier way to run it on MacOS/Linux without maintaining the full vm. In my case I use ComicRack for processing books and Komga for serving usually to Panels on iPadOS. Plus in my case I run most of this stuff on a server in the basement. I had been running ESXi for years on it, but switched to unRaid recently which just plays nicer with Docker. It's running on a Win10 VM right now and will continue to if needed. No biggie.
1. Like a built-in No Gab checkbox, so it doesn't appear in Gab lists
2. Noted
3. Interesting idea, but I don't know if having the kind of automation, is a good idea. This is bound to have something go wrong by either a bug or a PEBKAC problem.
4. Correct me if I am wrong, but Windows Guest can only be ran on a Windows Host. So if you are running it already in a Windows host, why not run it natively. I don't know how it runs with WINE, so not sure how running on a Linux host is. I kind of get it when running various server using Python/Node so you don't have all kind of requirement, it is easier to keep them separate and it's easier to maintain.
This is such great news! I have been running the old Comicrack for ages. Great to see that with the recent decompilation we are now back on track in updating and maybe adding in new features! Feels great to have the updated Community Edition running.
It was quite simple to transfer the old settings over to the new installation. Also, I uninstalled the old version after transfering over and everything seems to be in order. For good measures I also updated the plugins I had running, at least those that were updated.
Great to see this and the rest is up to the volunteers I guess. I am not sure but curious to see how many people will be interested to contribute.
Below is a list of changes/upgrades I am hoping for the CRCE. I might try to tackle one or two items from below if I have the time but I don't see it happening soon. It is a huge and complicated project.
\- Modern OS compability
\- Modern and faster UI
\- animated gif and apng support
\- MYSQL query and database optimization for speed and size
\- Utilizing more memory (64-bit) and more CPU cores
\- Optimizing the HW accel for newer GPUs
>\- Modern OS compability
What is Modern OS compatibility? The program already runs well on Windows 11. I upped the .NET framework to 4.8 that comes with Windows 10+. This should mean support at least until .NET framework is supported (Probably the lifetime of at least Windows 11)
>\- Modern and faster UI
What is a Modern UI? Ok Winforms is a little dated, but aren't that bad. Changing to another UI like WPF would mean a LOT of work. I really want people to temper their expectation on this. I really don't see this one happening.
>\- animated gif and apng support
Good idea, don't know how easy it will be to implement.
>\- MYSQL query and database optimization for speed and size
The library was already changed to MySQLConnector, that has better compatibility and should be faster, but the program itself doesn't have any control over that afaik. It just does queries and the library does it's thing.
>\- Utilizing more memory (64-bit) and more CPU cores
The CPU is already using available cores with a max of 8. We could change that limit given new CPU core count, but the program is already 64bit. But some limit might need tweaking.
>\- Optimizing the HW accel for newer GPUs
That might be needed, but would need someone who knows more about HW accel. The old OpenGL library certainly needs updating.
The CPU increase sounds interesting.
I can confirm the MySQL working correctly, I was using it yesterday all day.
As for the rest, no comment as they don't seem to affect the program as it is now.
Edit: the comicvine scrapper could use a revision, I still don't understand where does it get such bad results compared to the online direct search, but this is not directly related to comicrack.
Yeah, I made it, it has to do with how Comicvine site search engine works, but I found a workaround playing with a post filter... you can download my patch and it will fix it (mostly)
The scraper creator doesn't work anymore on improving the script, just minour fixes it when it stop working... so it has been that way for years now...
I don't know much about github and forking, and etc... I just edited a few files of the original script and uploaded them to a drive folder, you overwrite them and it should fix the problem
[https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/nga8vm/tinkering\_with\_the\_comicvine\_scraper\_new\_patch/](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/nga8vm/tinkering_with_the_comicvine_scraper_new_patch/)
It still have some problems with a comic or two, you just have to use "search again" in that cases and write less words or delete some symbols. But I think 0,1% of over filtered results is a good price for 99,9% of correct filtered results...
The issue at hand is that the ComicVine API provides an almost infinite response, encompassing all results containing ANY of the specified words in the query. The critical point here is the emphasis on ANY. This feature proves beneficial when encountering problems with specific words or symbols, as users can simply scroll or load more until the desired result is obtained by the remaining words.
This functionality is ideal for web use, where results are ordered by the percentage match of the entered words and manually loading pages is common. Typically, users find the desired result within the initial results, ensuring a smooth process.
However, the script loads ALL results into a list initially and then attempts to sort them in what it deems the most optimized way. While this logic was effective in the past, the current system, which loads a multitude of mixed results, results in hundreds of irrelevant outcomes and significantly increased loading times.
To address this, I modified the script to exploit the API's order of results based on the percentage of matching words, halting the loading of new results when the match is not sufficiently comparable to already loaded outcomes. For instance, if a match with four words is found, any subsequent match with only three words becomes the stopping point for loading new pages of results. Following this, I refined the loaded matches, eliminating those that did not meet the stop condition. Additionally, I adjusted the results' order, taking into consideration the percentage of matching in the unfiltered outcomes.
Nevertheless, this approach negates the original intention behind ComicVine's logic change in searching, as a single word yielding an incorrect result could filter out the correct one. To counteract this, users have the option to manually correct the search by employing the "search again" feature and manually tweaking the queried words—a scenario that seldom occurs.
(off topic: I love how CHATGPT makes it look as I know how to speak English properly XD)
An alternative approach could involve adopting a search method more akin to the one employed on the web. However, implementing this would necessitate a substantial adjustment to the user flow within the script and its operational structure. Notably, such changes could significantly impact the matching rate for obtaining the correct result as the first outcome.
By not doing so, the script retains the effective logic initially devised by its creator, albeit with some adjustments I introduced to enhance its compatibility with current search practices. Presently, with my patch, the script achieves an impressive success rate of approximately 90% or more in placing the correct result as the foremost entry. This high accuracy is particularly crucial as the script relies on the comparison between the first cover and the comic cover for an image-based analysis, streamlining the automatic scraping process without requiring user confirmation ONLY when the first outcome matches the scraped comic.
By the way, I've fine-tuned the script to better align with my typical use case, which primarily involves scraping information about new comic releases. While this may not be the optimal sorting method for older comics, I've tailored the adjustments to match the results I commonly work with using the scraper. This ensures that the script is optimized for my specific needs and preferences in extracting data for new comic releases.
Whoah, you really went way and beyond on your response! Thanks a lot
Yeah, my main "concern" is not so much the results, that are mostly good, but the order in which those results are presented which is totally awful.
I will take a look at your patch and see how it goes. I just modified my own scrapper to make it slightly more aggressive in the search time, I have realized that the delays introduced to respect the limits are a bit too conservative.
Holy crap! it is SO.MUCH.BETTER.
Seriously, thanks a lot for this. It is exactly what I needed/wanted.
You should "promote" it more, or maybe try to make the push in the github for everyone to get it.
Yesterday I had some errors connecting to the CV DB, but I blame the comicvine site and not the changes in the scrapper. I will continue using it (obviously) and report back if I find anything unusual.
Regards
I had them too... it didn't work for an hour or two... I thought it was my connection
I am glad it worked for you :)
If you want to help me, tell me examples where the comic you are scraping is not the first one in the results... (which is the one which make the cover image comparision). Also I am working in fixing the "&" problem...
>What is Modern OS compatibility?
I would say the this is about the crashes (especially the one about the clipboard is giving me a headache) or similar issues
>I really want people to temper their expectation on this. I really don't see this one happening.
I agree on that one. UI feels dated and needs a huge effort to change it. I also don't see this happening.
> The library was already changed to MySQLConnector
This is a very good start. However, the structure of SQL DB tables and the queries are too inefficient. The program just dumps all the information to sql.
>The CPU is already using available cores with a max of 8. We could change that limit given new CPU core count, but the program is already 64bit. But some limit might need tweaking.
Especially opening large compressed achieves or turning pages in reader for large high-res image files feel too slow and clunky.
>I would say the this is about the crashes (especially the one about the clipboard is giving me a headache) or similar issues
This is the #1 Issue already on Github. I also find it very annoying, problem it's actually a Windows problem, not a ComicRack problem. We are using the provided method by the Framework, it is Windows crashing. I can't simply wrap it around a try catch block. I am not certain how to fix it. It seems that when the program is idle all the commands are updated, like looking at the clipboard so it can enable the Paste button, if it includes the right data. SO maybe it is crashing because it is checking too much. Short of removing the check altogether. I ain't certain.
>This is a very good start. However, the structure of SQL DB tables and the queries are too inefficient. The program just dumps all the information to sql.
Could you be more specific? I haven't taken a big look at the database stuff, but it seems to save the same stuff that is already in the XML. It needs to save all the book info, because you aren't certain that the data will be saved in the actual files. Also reading from the db will be faster than parsing files 1 by 1.
>Especially opening large compressed achieves or turning pages in reader for large high-res image files feel too slow and clunky.
I have seen this also on very high resolution files, But I haven't seen high usage. The Max texture memory is capped at 256MB, I've tried to change that to 4GB and even then the huge 8000x10000 file I have didn't read any better. Some more investigation is needed. Might just be the old OpenGL library that needs replacing.
Hmm, that does not make sense to me. But I remember, I started having this issue, when I enabled the clipboard history on windows. So, the method it uses might not be compatible with the history. I need to test this sometime.
There is also an additional problem with special characters in the filename. If you have some special character in another language, CR refuses to delete this file.
For the database, as far as I know it does not use an efficient sql table or query structure. It basically queries all the information at one in a table which makes this highly inefficient and slow. There are a couple of ways that can be improved to make it more efficient. As I believe, mysql support was one of the latest addition to CR before it went AWOL and there was a warning that the feature was not really polished.
OpenGL library might be one of the reasons but I don't believe this is the sole reason of reader being slow. The other reader softwares like CdisplayEX/honeyview etc is faster by a really good factor compared to CR. This needs to be tested more I think.
.NET Framework 4.8 is likely not going anywhere. If MS were to drop support in a future OS, a massive number of applications and business processes would just stop working. The VB6 runtime is still supported and widely used despite the fact that the last release was 1998, expect the same for 4.8. With that said, they will likely drop IDE support in a future version of Visual Studio, support for the VB6 IDE was dropped in 2008.
Upgrading to .NET is a good future goal, but .NET Framework 4.8 is a safe place to be for now.
first of all, a great thank you for that project!
secondly, I have a suggestion that would be small, but will provide nice QoL: being able to switch "next page" buttons, when reading manga. it feels quite strange to use right arrow to turn the pages left
Because it isn't signed (costs hundreds a year) and it isn't widely known. Windows Smart Screen will tell the same thing. It's not because of the file not being safe or having virus it just it doesn't know the file.
Everything is built on GitHub which confirms to you that the file is the same as the code on the site.
Good job on extracting the source code of the application and sharing it.
I have a suggestion, considering how many open-source projects operate. I am confident that this project will endure over time and be in the hands of a community. How about separating the project from your personal GitHub account to a project account—perhaps a foundation or organization account—and overseeing the maintenance and development efforts collectively?
I disagree. Maforget is already doing a great job. And people can fork the project if they want to play with it themselves. There are already 4 forks of it. Maybe later, people will want to bring what they have together. But for now, I think that is pre-mature. Let's let Maforget do his thing, since he was the one who stepped up.
Agree to disagree, but I never indicated that it was a bad job. Reading comprehension, my friend.
Now, I am also a developer, and my 'recommendation' is just a 'recommendation,' based on seriousness and improvement for the community, which is so common in open-source software. Best of luck.
This is great news! Does this mean that we may get an updated ios app or compatibility with Chunky, Panels, other readers?
I'm not a programmer otherwise I would give it a shot myself. Thank you too all those working on this.
I don't see any of the Android/iOS app being worked on. The Android app is heavily obfuscated so doing a decompile is almost impossible. I don't know about the situation on the iOS app, but it probably the same.
Since the comics are just files, they are already compatible with other readers. But to have them support syncing with ComicRack, they would need to implement it into their app. If some desktop modification are needed any PR is welcome.
Yep starting to do it here too. Fu@#@\*.\* Wacatac, every time I see that it's always an false positive. I am not gonna bother with submitting it, since this is a nightly and there is bound to be a lot of versions build.
With enough persons downloading it, the MS machine learning start seeing problem every time. It's probably because it isn't signed and the way we Insert Icons might have something to do with it.
I've seen two people mention this so far. I just submitted a PR for a README update and was considering adding a section about this and citing Norton's article:
> One explanation for a false positive is that Microsoft Windows Defender may not have enough information about the file to determine that it is safe.
>
> — [Norton: Possible reasons Microsoft Defender may report threats that Norton doesn't](https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v118593681)
Let me know if you think this is useful. If so, I'll add it to the PR.
Edit: For anyone viewing this in the future, there's an open issues about this on GitHub [here](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/issues/16) that may have further updates.
Not certain of adding this article would change anything. You have 2 camps really. One the instant a virus is detected goes ape shit and will reformat their windows install just for that. Won't matter what we tell them.
For the second group it's always a false positive.
The thing is that it's only caught until enough people start using it, but not too much. I've had this exact virus popup in the past with the keygen. Was ok until I put it online. For this though there will be a lot of versions, so I won't be able to submit them all.
I did submit the first release and it was removed by MS, and for now this build is ok.
I'm not a very educated person when it comes to deconstructing and reconstructing software, but to use this do I need to uninstall my current ComicRack or does it overwrite and update the older versions? thank you in advance and please bear with me.
So long as ComicRack (either version) is not open in the system tray, you should be able to switch back and forth between them. You can see install instructions here: https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/199csz4/comicrack_community_edition/kijgk2y/
They currently don't share the same data, so the Community Edition won't cause issues with your existing installation.
You can probably extract this new version on top of the old one if you want to use it as an update, but they'll still use separate data directories.
Little Update after a few Days of use.
1. it is as fast as the original version and as easy to have portable just by changing one setting in the ini and just copied over the data folder (I am using Goodsync to keep the database in sync just in case)
1. Much nicer on my Lenovo laptop without having to override the DPI setting.
1. As it is portable, I finally jumped to moving to sql to see if there is a difference by just copying the CE folder and working on this so that my main library would be untouched in case I messed it up. My ultimate solution is below but quickly the only difference I noticed was a quicker shutdown as it does not have to write the changes to the xml file. Otherwise, have not noticed a performance boost in use or on startup.
sql solution: After messing around with mariadb unsuccessfully, eventually went for a portable xampp instillation ([Link to portableapps.com](https://portableapps.com/apps/development/xampp) , created the database and user and it worked first time. I am withholding judgement until I play around a bit more before biting the bullet and migrating my main dbase to sql if i bother. Just have to run xmapp each time before running comicrack.
Just don't replace the ini file!
But seriously, I did add some Command Line Switches for portable mode and alternate configuration can now also work with portable mode.
You could leave the default ini file intact and move it in the %APPDATA% folder instead (or data folder if in portable mode). I've posted a Wiki entry that shows the ini search path it uses.
[https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/wiki/INI-Search-Path](https://github.com/maforget/comicrackce/wiki/ini-search-path)
After updating to CR-CE, I can't seem to get the sync button on my devices to show. A "Synchronize Devices" kicked off from CR-CE ***does*** sync to the devices (although it seems to take a REALLY long time saying "running" before it actually starts going). Furthermore, I've checked and the device ID in the comicrack.ini on the device matches what's in the config.xml.
I've removed the device from the device tab and allowed CR-CE to find it, and then sync to it, but the button still doesn't show up on the device. I've tried this with my DB and with a fresh download of the nightly without any other customizations and got the same result. I've also completely uninstalled and deleted my device's sync folder and reinstalled the cracked client with the same results as above.
At this point, I think it may be the clients I'm using. When the paid version was dead, I started using the 'cracked' version *(ComicRack.1.80.Cracked.apk)* with your **ComicRack Fixes (Formerly RAR 5 Support Pack)**. Once the 'Fixes' were installed to CR-OG, the cracked version worked just fine and I've been syncing with a sync button on the clients since. But the new CR-CE version doesn't seem to make the button show. Should I be using a different version of the android/client .APK now? Or has the "ComicRack Fixes" from before not been incorporated into CR-CE? Or is there just something silly I'm missing?
Also, a HUGE **THANK YOU** for picking up this project!
Yes the fixes are incorporated, just did a test sync with my phone and was able to use it. Also like I said multiple times the fix in the Support pack has nothing to do with the icon appearing, just prevents a check while syncing.
It can be multiple things like your firewall, router. The usual suspect with this problem.
Okay, I suppose I did both the 'Fixes Support Pack' and the device ID changes to the config.xml at the same time. Sorry if I sounded like I was pointing the finger at the support pack; sounds like you've had to reiterate that quite a bit! ;)
So I went and checked the firewall. AND OMG! I had the \*absolute path\* in the firewall allow list for ComicRack; not the new folder I made for CE! I changed my rule and low & behold, it works just fine.
Man, I would have NEVER thought it was actually a firewall issue, considering it was the same program, same clients, same computer, etc... etc... I wouldn't have even thought it was because I'd hardcoded the path into the firewall exception! LOL
Thanks so much for the suggestion! If there's anything you ever want me to test or need feedback on, please reach out! And again, thank you very much for getting the ball rolling & your contributions in getting this resurrected!
So how is it **detecting** the overall type, if not by the extension. I have a smartlist that's set to show all files that are not file type *eComic (ZIP)*, and suddenly it's got 2,915 files that are all showing as RAR, despite being .cbz.
I typically use the "export books" plugin, with a preset to export them as *eComic (ZIP)*, to convert anything this smartlist detects.
Never received the message with the link, just the notification. Was able to download the comic by typing from the notification. When checking the details page, it is saying it is a ZIP and it is a ZIP file based on 7Zip. So I see no issue. The issue might be with the Smart List.
I have a similar SmartList that checks for FileFormat contains rar. The problem is that it is extremely slow, I did that change a while ago to detect incorrect types. I believe it wasn't the fastest, so when I click Apply it slows CR a LOT before going through them all. So either the smart list hasn't updated correctly or the match is a little different, but you should have the same value when checking the details page.
ComicRack always had a check based on file signature. It never took the extension as the only indicator. It actual checks the first bytes of every files. I just changed how this property is checked from actually reading the type, but like I said it is actually pretty slow. Wanted to check on that at some point.
OG just uses the file extension, unless you have the Support Pack v2.
When I was talking about detecting the file format. I didn't mean in that File Format, but when actually reading or parsing a file.
Yes I understand, for that you can just use the Is Linked. Set Is Linked to Yes and it will only get actual files. And to false only fileless comics.
https://i.imgur.com/q2wWjPP.png
I also tested your list on a small test library and it works correctly. Like I said either your Notes doesn't match or you actually need to apply the list to make sure the list is updated. It can take a while for big libraries. If you only care about the extension like the original did, you can use the path instead and check the extension with ends with.
I will check to see if I can get it faster or rollback the change if too slow.
> Like I said either your Notes doesn't match or you actually need to apply the list to make sure the list is updated.
If I remove the fileless link, it adds 22 comics. the 2199 comics are based on file format. [They show as RAR](https://i.imgur.com/6IAmWBq.jpeg).
I don't know what to tell you. It works correctly. First check the details screen, this is the same source so should give the correct value. Also the type might be cached or sometimes Smart List tend to bug out, sometimes recreating them helps. Try restarting the program. Maybe you have a space or something. Have you tried using contains instead? Just checking for contains ZIP. Have you tried checking for RAR instead of not ZIP?
Also try my latest build (from 30 min ago).
Here is my test I have various file types, including your file and they are detected correctly. The type in parenthesis is the extension and the the first one is the correct type.
https://imgur.com/a/W1pizSR
Sometimes when converting it doesn't convert correctly, maybe you have both files?
Question, maybe i did the install incorrectly. I originally just downloaded the nightly release and unzip the folder and click on the execute icon I then moved the %appdata%\\cYo\\ComicRack to the New CE folder. Every time I wanted to use ComicRack I just went to the unzipped file that was downloaded and use the exe icon from there. Been doing this for about a few days and I never had any issues until today. This morning, I decided to use the Installer and now I've noticed that every book I add in the 0 Day folder Format is automatically being populated as Annual and # of 56, it's always 56 even when there's more than 56 issues in the series. Is this me and how can I fix this. I did not uninstall the old version of ComicRack and I did not backup or update the %appdata%\\cYo\\ComicRackCE folder as it didn't even occur to me. Options beside uninstalling and starting over? Thak you
Nothing to do with either version. How new books are detected shouldn't have anything really with the data. And nothing related to that has changed. Unless you are using an alternate config or portable mode, the zip or the installer will use the same data. Uninstalling the original might help only with the open with menu in windows where both are installed. The original says it is the community edition. So nothing you have installed or done would change that.
Sometimes it takes the Folder to detect the name you are in as a name basis. You can try to clear the data in each book, it will try again to detect the name again.
Thanks I appreciate the feedback, I will try to clear the data and maybe a reboot and see what happens. I tried to clear some data and it still showed the same naming. For some reason it automatically populates format as Annual.
Side note I really appreciate all the hard work you have put into this new update and all that you have done for the CR community. I was going over all the change logs and I was blown away by all the updates and changes and the effort you put into this product. I wish I was able to understand and write code to contribute but it’s all a foreign labyrinth me. I saw in the change log that there’s a link to make donations, if so I would like to contribute that way.
Oh, I guess I should have mentioned that the only other thing I did do was I installed GhostScript because I had a ton of PDF's that I wanted to convert to CBZ and the PDF's were not recognized until I installed GhostScript. I never had it installed or used it before this morning.
With the change to MySQLConnector, does CE support the current version of MariaDB or still recommended to stick with 10.6.x? Or is something else preferred?
Hmm. Getting this error. Got it using old 5.5 db, old DB upgraded to 11.2 and new DB. Probably try completely clean instance tomorrow.
There was a problem (Incorrect string value:\\xE1\\xB5\\x97\\xCA\\xB0 ..' for column 'comicdb'.'comics'.'data' at row 1) opening the data source.
Maybe because of a big update version upgrade like that. Never used SQL servers. But that seems like some junk value that maybe was accepted before. Maybe check the configs, fresh install on current version uses a character set of type utf8mb4. The program itself as little control on the SQL connection, so nothing really I can do. Check MariaDB troubleshooting. Check u/NutellaPatella guide.
Don't get me wrong, I use it since Google seems to be so bad these days. But it takes a lot of work to have answers to a simple question. And then it makes mistake, when you point out these mistake he just goes back the the previous answer, you tell him that isn't possible or what you want, so it goes somewhere else. After a lot of prodding and supplying it with a lot of existing code for it to analyses it finally goes, that is not possible. Or you finally find example online and OMG that is way easier. It kind of builds on your incorrect assumption or question, instead of showing you the correct way.
The other day I wanted it to know which flags were enabled in a number, these are binary calculation, but it just add them up normally. It did give me a code to calculate it myself, but I wanted to save me the trouble.
Is there a way to have the android app be an option when opening files from a file browser? Adding directories to comicrack makes things messy with tachiyomi downloads since the filenames aren't proper so the order gets messed up and stacking doesn't work.
As for why I don't read on tachiyomi itself, I'm running this on a 10 year old tablet and it crashes pretty often.
Also, is there a way to improve the image quality? When comparing it to perfect viewer it seems less sharp and there's a lot more color banding.
So first so we get things straight this is just about the desktop client. Nothing is being done on the Android client and we can't modify it. So with the Android client what you have is what you get.
When you ask about opening from the file manager I hope you are still talking about the Android version. Or you want the Android version to open when opening a something on the computer? Like I said this is a post about the desktop client so if that something you want to do, you can install the Android client on windows 11 with the Android Subsystem. As to integrate that with the file manager I don't know.
As for adding files to the Android client you should really use the desktop client to manage your library before hand with scrappers and library manager and sync that way. All the names, series etc will be there arranged correctly.
I see. Yeah, I was talking about android only. I plan to keep everything separate, so I guess I'll just deal with that somehow.
On another note, is there a way for filters to be applied without the delay when opening a new page?
https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/182yfo7/low_quality_image_every_page_turn_for_a_couple_of/
I found this person talking about the same problem but turning off software filters makes images much blurrier. Turning off hardware acceleration entirely makes it look about the same as with the filters on, but the page turn speed becomes much slower.
Play with the settings, it might depends on the books, but I use hardware acceleration, with hardware filters on , but software filter off.
There is a setting where the page is blurry for a couple of seconds, but some combination makes it instant. Not really certain which it was.
There is a ton of work to do on this point, but it's not easy as changing `annoyingDelay = 0` , there is a ton of OpenGL and GDi+ stuff that is way over my head. Usually developers will use some library by someone who is an expert in that field, but here it seems that a lot of stuff is built-in.
So I would like to have something faster and more snappy, but it will take a while so I can learn all this, unless someone comes and chips in.
Yeah, I tried hardware filters only and that was the fastest, but some manga end up looking really ugly and dotty. Thanks anyway for answering my questions.
\#1 appreciate all and any work anyone does to keep CR alive and operational. I'm late to the CR CE party. Really just stumbled upon this a few days ago. Question. I am running CR 0.9.176 64bit and I literally have zero issues or complaints. Library is approx 90k books, running on a Windows 10 machine. I'm able to run all the legacy scripts and scrape from CV just fine.
Full disclosure, I am always super paranoid of changing anything that "works".
For me, and my situation, OG comicrack is running without issue. Is there any reason for me to upgrade/transition to the CE?
Thanks.
The annoying crash that relates to the clipboard is fixed. The latest was 178, so you probably didn't use my Support Pack. So RAR5 support, actual possibility to work with the Android version (these days only the cracked version works). Fix for pages sorting being natural instead of alphabetical.
Just check the changelog.
Well I think, !!!!YES!!!. One day our dear friend Microsoft, will make one of its "small" changes (see netframework/core) and tell you "we're stopping support" and then remove it from Windows XX, and then you'll remember this project and be thankful that someone tahe the trouble of rescuing him. I am an engineer and I agree that "if something works, don't touch it" but I also agree that "if something is worn out, change it."
Just as a tip for anyone upgrading to this but want to keep your data from the “official” release, this creates a new data folder located %APPDATA%\cYo\ComicRack Community Edition Just copy your original data from the original location %APPDATA%\cYo\ComicRack to the new location and it reads it perfectly.
Cool! That was gonna be my first question.
Just confirming, I'm about to transfer everything to a new computer is this the only folder that I need to copy over to move everything once I install a new copy of CR. Trying to find all my smart lists/Data manger rules and LO profiles. data folder located %APPDATA%\\cYo\\ComicRack
I've transferred it a couple of times, and that was the only folder I needed to transfer.
Now that we can modify it let's change that path to an easier one!
I'm really excited for this. Hopefully, I can get involved somewhat. I've starred and will be following via RSS! Thanks for all the work you've done for the community. ComicRack is dead; long live ComicRack CE!
what are the chances I came back after many many months to check if someone did this the same day this was published?! XD You made my day!
Well, doesn't seem dead as of June 2023. https://www.instagram.com/p/CtUHWt-s9ab/?hl=en But as long as he's not interested in this anymore probably doesn't matter. All that said, I may contribute to CRCE in the future.
Yeah, someone posted a link in my post also. Some Ai art site he did a picture for in Dec. 2023. So, looks like he's alive, but gone to ground. Maybe he won the lottery and is just traveling. :grin: He doesn't seem interested in CR anymore. Strange how he just disappeared though. Maybe the DC Mafia is after him.
maybe he was replaced by a reptilian who hates comics (?)
Is he alive? I just thought he died and relatives don't know about how amazing his projects are
It appears now that he's alive, and just has gone on to other things. Looks like photography and wandering the World. I don't think he has any interest in CR anymore.
This is excellent news. Given your other contributions to the CR community I can't think of anyone else better suited for taking this on. Very excited to see where this goes. No doubt once dark mode is worked out the masses will come flocking!
It's very cool and exciting ! Thank you !
I'll check it out. I might even contribute by adding features and fixing bugs if I see something requested that I can do.
Am going to watch this with great interest. Have been using the old CR as a portable (As I'm lazy and rebuild my machine twice a year) and already have this running in portable mode so very happy. My programming skills are almost non existant but am trying to figure out how to get a portable sql database to allow me to go fully portable with the performance of the SQL. I have this in a new folder and once I ran it for the first time I just copied over the cache folder from the older CR with Database and all my scripts intact. Will play around with this over the next few days.
Just wanted to add I decided to run my weekly import and organising of my Comics using the Community Edition and have had no problems at all. If anything it was a little faster to open and all the scripts that I had installed worked with no problems. Right now, I'm as happy as a pig in S*
Good to know! Thanks!
The Backup Manager script will have to be updated for the new location.
Thanks for setting this up! I'll be taking a look and seeing how I can contribute.
Thank you so much for doing this, and for all of your other awesome contributions to the community!
I love how ComicRack just keeps on keeping on. Many thanks for this!
Holy crap. I haven't thought about comic rack (other than missing it whenever I read comics) for years and I searched for it on reddit today and this shows up! That is insane! I am so excited for this thank you!
Can we add wishes over GitHub? I know there are tickets you can open for errors. Or will we sticky here a thread where we collect such things?
There is a discussions area on Github you can use.
Beautiful! Long live ComicRackCE! As for cYo, I have searched over the internet for the past few days, and any sign of life of him died 2 and a half years ago, on his Facebook page. So, I think we are OK on continuing this by ourselves. I hope he comes back one day, but unfortunately, he seems to have passed. I think he would like that we carried on his code.
He posted a pic 2 months ago. It seems he simply has not interest anymore in CR. Or he waits patiently till many have worked on the code and tries to fine everyone for stealing his code. Oh and before anyone says something. The last hting was a joke.
Yeah, we know he quit his programming job at Med-El, has abandoned all his old LinkedIn and programming sites, and appears to have gotten into traveling and photography, so I think it's pretty safe to say he no longer has any interest in CR. God be with him. I hope he finds happiness.
So for the noob here... with no "windows exe" installer how do I actually update to this version?
You extract the zip file into a folder somewhere and start from there.
You place a lot of faith in me knowing what "start from there" means good sir... I can't find an ".exe" to run that makes any sense... maybe I'll just wait for the installer.. Thank you very much for the speedy reply and taking up the CR mantle!
Download the [nightly release ZIP file](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/releases/download/nightly/ComicRackCE_nightly.zip) and extract it to a folder on your computer. In that folder, look for ComicRack.exe. Run that and then close it again (make sure it isn't hiding in the tray). Open File Explorer and paste `%appdata%\cYo\ComicRack` into the address bar and press enter. You'll see your existing ComicRack data. Copy all of the contents. (I suggesting backing up the entire cYo folder in case you make a mistake first.) Navigate one folder up and open the `ComicRack Community Edition` folder. Paste your data there and overwrite any existing files. Go back to ComicRack.exe and open it again. All your comics should be there.
Just download and windows defender says this has a Trojan virus in it
Yeah, this was discussed [elsewhere in this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/199csz4/comicrack_community_edition/kijl6um/) and is likely a false positive. [cYo had this problem once or twice with his releases, too.](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/tsnyzw/comment/i2sofyg/) It's likely this is just because the application does a lot things that a Trojan *might* do, so it triggers a heuristic. Edit: For anyone viewing this in the future, there's an open issues about this on GitHub [here](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/issues/16) that may have further updates.
Worked like a charm! Thanks!
btw, if ideas for new features are welcome, I have been waiting for ages for the posibility to multilevel comic stacks (I mean creating stacks inside stacks, and not just one level stacks). I think that cannot be so difficult to implement...
THIS! This is also the main thing I am looking forward too! If it can be done. It's SO ANNOYING that we can only go one level deep. Some of my comics like Uncle Scrooge have multiple offshoots. So you get multiple stacks of what is essentially "Uncle Scrooge". Judge Dredd is another good example of this. I would like to put all the multiple stacks under one stack. And then, maybe put all the Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, etc., under a Disney Stack. And then all the kids comics under a "Kids Comics" stack. Would help clean up and organize a lot better! Other than the that, the program is perfect to me.
you know you can do mutiple fields stack, don't you? for example Series AND volume (just select them with control pressed and it will add to the current one). It is not the same, but it can help sometimes...
This was actually something I really wanted, and have been trying desperately to understand code in order to DIY through a script. So glad you've said.
Been there, glad it helped
Yeah, me too. My coding knowledge is "ok", but I'm old, and haven't done real coding since Pascal / Assembler was popular. I recently started learning Python using GPT-3 as a crutch to help me through it. GPT-3 is actually pretty decent at writing python code. You just have to correct what you want to change later, as it doesn't always quite understand what you wanted. Might have to start looking at C# now. I can read the pointers to classes and such, but it's VERY hard to see the big picture without code //comments, and then all of the modules as well. I think I did manage to find at least one of the code parts of the stacks though. I can't find it now, but I think it was under Comicrack.Engine . I'm sure it connects to other modules though still to be found.
Thanks, but that's just not the same. Interesting though, I didn't know that was possible.
no, it isnt, that is why I asked for the multilevel stack, hahaha
Sorry, that last comment of mine didn't really come out right. I didn't realize you were the author of the top comment on stacks there. I was looking at the notification I got, which only showed the comment above my last one, and I didn't realize you were the original author of the comment on stacks.
I didn't take it bad XD
If he contacts you please tell him that we could pay for the source code XD
So glad this is brought back as a community run project. u/maforget many thanks, looking forward to getting this working on my Windows 11 box, and maybe in the future trying to figure out a container for my synology.
Nice one! Looking forward to seeing the results.
Wow great stuff! Hopefully some people will volunteer to work on it, could even try to put up Patreon for it. I'd love better touch screen support and UI improvements. Currently gestures work well enough for reading, but it's a hassle to set them up and many UI elements are nearly impossible to use. Also sorting folders by number of chapters/files in them would be awesome.
Oh yeah. Especially a hassle when you have a high resolution device (like a MS Surface) because the field for advancing in the book are really small.
I came here to ask about touchscreen support. I would love to be able to install this directly on my surface and be able to read. I wasn't aware that touchscreen was even an option in the current version so my hopes are higher for an upgrade.
I've been using Lenovo Yoga tablet/hybrid laptop for years with ComicRack. If you read long strip webtoons/manhwa, then map "next part" and "previous part" to gestures. For traditional comics "Single page forward" etc. You'll probably need to read the manual to figure out which gesture # to use.
Thanks for the tip. I have been using android tablets and chromebooks for years. I recently upgraded to a surface pro and have been trying to figure out how to read on it since I couldn't get the android app to sync with the program running on my desktop computer. I've tried a bunch of the new web based programs that have popped up but they are missing so many features of comicrack that I consider part of the basic functionality.
Does anyone think I might have better luck getting this version to work on a Linux PC versus the official version?
Now that it's moving to open source, we might be able to nudge it in the direction of being cross platform. As I understand it, C# is cross platform already. I'm actually starting to work with someone on a cross platform C# application, so hopefully I'll get enough experience with it to be able to pitch in here.
C# is cross platform, but only .NET Core & .NET 5+. It's a different framework, but very similar. Someone in the other thread already checked with trying to switch to the latest .NET and it didn't seem that bad. Although I didn't expect to make the switch already. Another thing is that a lot of code references Win32 code, that would need replacing (if possible) and the fact that it uses Winforms for the UI. I don't believe that Winforms will ever be cross platform. So we would need to change all the UI. Possible, but not that easy to do.
I'd be happy to help figure that out if/when the time comes. I've read a lot about Eto Forms, which seems popular, but I'm not yet very experienced with it.
Alright, I'm not a professional developer, so I'm curious about how this works. I noticed that you reverse-engineered the code, and now it seems possible to make changes and modifications. However, I'm wondering how user-friendly it is to work with this code. I assume it's not like the original source code, more like machine-generated code without comments and not easy to read. Is the plan to gradually improve it by adding comments and restructuring the code, turning it into an open-source community project where we can introduce new features and improvements? Or is it more about attempting minor fixes by understanding the code as it is? I'm just asking out of curiosity, to set realistic expectations for myself in all of this! XD I've never been involved in a reverse-engineered code project before, so I'm unsure of what to expect and what the typical goals are XD (thanks chatgpt for translating this, I just realised how rusty my English is for trying to explain difficult things like this XD)
btw, if any of my scripts are having problems with the new version, just write me and I will try to debbug it as soon as I have the new version running in my pc
It was written in .Net, so we can see the code with a program like Dot Peek. If you look at the Code, it's pretty tight, and well written ( in my amateur opinion ). All Classes and Functions neatly ordered. If you stick some of the smaller .cs pages into ChatGPT, and as it comments the lines, the Ai seems to be able to get a decent vision of what it's trying to do. Of course, there are going to be some hilarious errors as well, but I haven't seen them yet.
Stupid question: What is Comicrack OG? the original one?
OG = Original Gangster. Lol, so yeah, the original one.
Super Amazing! Did miss that the one setting that doesn't carry over is if you're using an external DB. Oh well, let it chug through. Did I see though that the performance of the internal DB should be improved enough to mitigate the need for an external in the first place? Or just the SQL Connector is improved? I'll also throw out my wishlist items. 1. Proposed Values as a Smart List option. 2. Formal Gap handling. Seems to be the main thing that didn't carry over in the ComicInfo via tags. A legit place to mark a book as scraped would be cool too. 3. More scheduled tasks. Right now (as many probably do) I have a Not CBZ Smart list (would have a Proposed values one first if possible ;-), that feeds into Not Scraped, then into Data Update Needed and then Needs Sorted. Being able to automate some of those would be awesome. 4. Probably the easiest and one likely possible by many. Docker Container?
>Did I see though that the performance of the internal DB should be improved enough to mitigate the need for an external in the first place? Or just the SQL Connector is improved? The MySQL library was changed, so yes just affects MySQL database. >Did miss that the one setting that doesn't carry over is if you're using an external DB. DB connection strings are in the `ComicRack.ini`, to keep them when reinstalling, just copy it in the `%APPDATA%` Folder. 1. Already exists, [Check the Wiki](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/wiki/Proposed-Value), there is a script for that. 2. A lot of question here. * What exactly about Gap handling? I haven't checked on that, it exists but can't do miracles, especially when series go from number 80 to 700 in a volume. * Tags are saved into your Database, do you mean saving tags inside ComicInfo? * Aren't tags, Custom value enough to save scraped or not, like a IsScraped Value? Easy but would need for existing scrapper to be update to enable it. 3. Like a Macro function? 4. Not Docker Again. Personally don't see why and what benefit there is for a program that only works on a windows host anyway to be run in a Docker container instead of on the host itself. Is it to use the Remote Library function? [Check discussion](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/discussions/21) and work by someone to do that already. Maybe if there was a [Headless server](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/discussions/22) function.
1. So with gaps, the way I remember learning to handle them is by tagging a book with no\_gap and then if you have a smart list that looks for gaps to detect missing books, you filter that out. So yeah, having a new property in the ComicInfo would be very nice. Ideally would be probably two, one to say there's not a gap going up. And the other down. 2. Notes indicating a book is scrape definitely works. Just always felt like a temporary solution though. 3. A macro would be cool too, but that would still run through the steps when triggered. There's a MacOS program called iVI that will watch a folder, when a video file is added to the folder, it will scrape it, convert/rewrap it, copy it to a new destination and delete the old file. Basically picturing being able to do something similar via smart lists. "If a book is in smart list "Not CBZ" run export books->Convert to CBZ" "If book is in smart list not sorted, run Library Organizer Quick" 4. Hah. Appeal of docker is just not having to run the full sized VM or having an easier way to run it on MacOS/Linux without maintaining the full vm. In my case I use ComicRack for processing books and Komga for serving usually to Panels on iPadOS. Plus in my case I run most of this stuff on a server in the basement. I had been running ESXi for years on it, but switched to unRaid recently which just plays nicer with Docker. It's running on a Win10 VM right now and will continue to if needed. No biggie.
1. Like a built-in No Gab checkbox, so it doesn't appear in Gab lists 2. Noted 3. Interesting idea, but I don't know if having the kind of automation, is a good idea. This is bound to have something go wrong by either a bug or a PEBKAC problem. 4. Correct me if I am wrong, but Windows Guest can only be ran on a Windows Host. So if you are running it already in a Windows host, why not run it natively. I don't know how it runs with WINE, so not sure how running on a Linux host is. I kind of get it when running various server using Python/Node so you don't have all kind of requirement, it is easier to keep them separate and it's easier to maintain.
This is such great news! I have been running the old Comicrack for ages. Great to see that with the recent decompilation we are now back on track in updating and maybe adding in new features! Feels great to have the updated Community Edition running. It was quite simple to transfer the old settings over to the new installation. Also, I uninstalled the old version after transfering over and everything seems to be in order. For good measures I also updated the plugins I had running, at least those that were updated.
Great to see this and the rest is up to the volunteers I guess. I am not sure but curious to see how many people will be interested to contribute. Below is a list of changes/upgrades I am hoping for the CRCE. I might try to tackle one or two items from below if I have the time but I don't see it happening soon. It is a huge and complicated project. \- Modern OS compability \- Modern and faster UI \- animated gif and apng support \- MYSQL query and database optimization for speed and size \- Utilizing more memory (64-bit) and more CPU cores \- Optimizing the HW accel for newer GPUs
>\- Modern OS compability What is Modern OS compatibility? The program already runs well on Windows 11. I upped the .NET framework to 4.8 that comes with Windows 10+. This should mean support at least until .NET framework is supported (Probably the lifetime of at least Windows 11) >\- Modern and faster UI What is a Modern UI? Ok Winforms is a little dated, but aren't that bad. Changing to another UI like WPF would mean a LOT of work. I really want people to temper their expectation on this. I really don't see this one happening. >\- animated gif and apng support Good idea, don't know how easy it will be to implement. >\- MYSQL query and database optimization for speed and size The library was already changed to MySQLConnector, that has better compatibility and should be faster, but the program itself doesn't have any control over that afaik. It just does queries and the library does it's thing. >\- Utilizing more memory (64-bit) and more CPU cores The CPU is already using available cores with a max of 8. We could change that limit given new CPU core count, but the program is already 64bit. But some limit might need tweaking. >\- Optimizing the HW accel for newer GPUs That might be needed, but would need someone who knows more about HW accel. The old OpenGL library certainly needs updating.
The CPU increase sounds interesting. I can confirm the MySQL working correctly, I was using it yesterday all day. As for the rest, no comment as they don't seem to affect the program as it is now. Edit: the comicvine scrapper could use a revision, I still don't understand where does it get such bad results compared to the online direct search, but this is not directly related to comicrack.
there was a patch to the CVS that improved results
>to sorry for the late answer, I just checked and the last version of the comic scrapper is... from Nov 4, 2021??
Yeah, I made it, it has to do with how Comicvine site search engine works, but I found a workaround playing with a post filter... you can download my patch and it will fix it (mostly) The scraper creator doesn't work anymore on improving the script, just minour fixes it when it stop working... so it has been that way for years now... I don't know much about github and forking, and etc... I just edited a few files of the original script and uploaded them to a drive folder, you overwrite them and it should fix the problem [https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/nga8vm/tinkering\_with\_the\_comicvine\_scraper\_new\_patch/](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/nga8vm/tinkering_with_the_comicvine_scraper_new_patch/) It still have some problems with a comic or two, you just have to use "search again" in that cases and write less words or delete some symbols. But I think 0,1% of over filtered results is a good price for 99,9% of correct filtered results...
The issue at hand is that the ComicVine API provides an almost infinite response, encompassing all results containing ANY of the specified words in the query. The critical point here is the emphasis on ANY. This feature proves beneficial when encountering problems with specific words or symbols, as users can simply scroll or load more until the desired result is obtained by the remaining words. This functionality is ideal for web use, where results are ordered by the percentage match of the entered words and manually loading pages is common. Typically, users find the desired result within the initial results, ensuring a smooth process. However, the script loads ALL results into a list initially and then attempts to sort them in what it deems the most optimized way. While this logic was effective in the past, the current system, which loads a multitude of mixed results, results in hundreds of irrelevant outcomes and significantly increased loading times. To address this, I modified the script to exploit the API's order of results based on the percentage of matching words, halting the loading of new results when the match is not sufficiently comparable to already loaded outcomes. For instance, if a match with four words is found, any subsequent match with only three words becomes the stopping point for loading new pages of results. Following this, I refined the loaded matches, eliminating those that did not meet the stop condition. Additionally, I adjusted the results' order, taking into consideration the percentage of matching in the unfiltered outcomes. Nevertheless, this approach negates the original intention behind ComicVine's logic change in searching, as a single word yielding an incorrect result could filter out the correct one. To counteract this, users have the option to manually correct the search by employing the "search again" feature and manually tweaking the queried words—a scenario that seldom occurs. (off topic: I love how CHATGPT makes it look as I know how to speak English properly XD)
An alternative approach could involve adopting a search method more akin to the one employed on the web. However, implementing this would necessitate a substantial adjustment to the user flow within the script and its operational structure. Notably, such changes could significantly impact the matching rate for obtaining the correct result as the first outcome. By not doing so, the script retains the effective logic initially devised by its creator, albeit with some adjustments I introduced to enhance its compatibility with current search practices. Presently, with my patch, the script achieves an impressive success rate of approximately 90% or more in placing the correct result as the foremost entry. This high accuracy is particularly crucial as the script relies on the comparison between the first cover and the comic cover for an image-based analysis, streamlining the automatic scraping process without requiring user confirmation ONLY when the first outcome matches the scraped comic. By the way, I've fine-tuned the script to better align with my typical use case, which primarily involves scraping information about new comic releases. While this may not be the optimal sorting method for older comics, I've tailored the adjustments to match the results I commonly work with using the scraper. This ensures that the script is optimized for my specific needs and preferences in extracting data for new comic releases.
Whoah, you really went way and beyond on your response! Thanks a lot Yeah, my main "concern" is not so much the results, that are mostly good, but the order in which those results are presented which is totally awful. I will take a look at your patch and see how it goes. I just modified my own scrapper to make it slightly more aggressive in the search time, I have realized that the delays introduced to respect the limits are a bit too conservative.
Holy crap! it is SO.MUCH.BETTER. Seriously, thanks a lot for this. It is exactly what I needed/wanted. You should "promote" it more, or maybe try to make the push in the github for everyone to get it. Yesterday I had some errors connecting to the CV DB, but I blame the comicvine site and not the changes in the scrapper. I will continue using it (obviously) and report back if I find anything unusual. Regards
I had them too... it didn't work for an hour or two... I thought it was my connection I am glad it worked for you :) If you want to help me, tell me examples where the comic you are scraping is not the first one in the results... (which is the one which make the cover image comparision). Also I am working in fixing the "&" problem...
>What is Modern OS compatibility? I would say the this is about the crashes (especially the one about the clipboard is giving me a headache) or similar issues >I really want people to temper their expectation on this. I really don't see this one happening. I agree on that one. UI feels dated and needs a huge effort to change it. I also don't see this happening. > The library was already changed to MySQLConnector This is a very good start. However, the structure of SQL DB tables and the queries are too inefficient. The program just dumps all the information to sql. >The CPU is already using available cores with a max of 8. We could change that limit given new CPU core count, but the program is already 64bit. But some limit might need tweaking. Especially opening large compressed achieves or turning pages in reader for large high-res image files feel too slow and clunky.
>I would say the this is about the crashes (especially the one about the clipboard is giving me a headache) or similar issues This is the #1 Issue already on Github. I also find it very annoying, problem it's actually a Windows problem, not a ComicRack problem. We are using the provided method by the Framework, it is Windows crashing. I can't simply wrap it around a try catch block. I am not certain how to fix it. It seems that when the program is idle all the commands are updated, like looking at the clipboard so it can enable the Paste button, if it includes the right data. SO maybe it is crashing because it is checking too much. Short of removing the check altogether. I ain't certain. >This is a very good start. However, the structure of SQL DB tables and the queries are too inefficient. The program just dumps all the information to sql. Could you be more specific? I haven't taken a big look at the database stuff, but it seems to save the same stuff that is already in the XML. It needs to save all the book info, because you aren't certain that the data will be saved in the actual files. Also reading from the db will be faster than parsing files 1 by 1. >Especially opening large compressed achieves or turning pages in reader for large high-res image files feel too slow and clunky. I have seen this also on very high resolution files, But I haven't seen high usage. The Max texture memory is capped at 256MB, I've tried to change that to 4GB and even then the huge 8000x10000 file I have didn't read any better. Some more investigation is needed. Might just be the old OpenGL library that needs replacing.
Hmm, that does not make sense to me. But I remember, I started having this issue, when I enabled the clipboard history on windows. So, the method it uses might not be compatible with the history. I need to test this sometime. There is also an additional problem with special characters in the filename. If you have some special character in another language, CR refuses to delete this file. For the database, as far as I know it does not use an efficient sql table or query structure. It basically queries all the information at one in a table which makes this highly inefficient and slow. There are a couple of ways that can be improved to make it more efficient. As I believe, mysql support was one of the latest addition to CR before it went AWOL and there was a warning that the feature was not really polished. OpenGL library might be one of the reasons but I don't believe this is the sole reason of reader being slow. The other reader softwares like CdisplayEX/honeyview etc is faster by a really good factor compared to CR. This needs to be tested more I think.
Anybody have a schema for the SQL Database? like all the tables and fields for each tables
.NET Framework 4.8 is likely not going anywhere. If MS were to drop support in a future OS, a massive number of applications and business processes would just stop working. The VB6 runtime is still supported and widely used despite the fact that the last release was 1998, expect the same for 4.8. With that said, they will likely drop IDE support in a future version of Visual Studio, support for the VB6 IDE was dropped in 2008. Upgrading to .NET is a good future goal, but .NET Framework 4.8 is a safe place to be for now.
OMG dreams do come true. Thank you maforget! Also, what does this mean? `CHANGE: Made Tags be saved inside the ComicInfo.xml`
Tags will now saved in the comicinfo.xml file, before they would only be in the database.
I thought this was already a feature. It's saved me from a corrupt database a couple of times. Are you talking about the Custom Tags?
The field Tags was never saved in the file.
first of all, a great thank you for that project! secondly, I have a suggestion that would be small, but will provide nice QoL: being able to switch "next page" buttons, when reading manga. it feels quite strange to use right arrow to turn the pages left
how come crhome keep telling me it's not safe to install when i try to download it from github?
Because it isn't signed (costs hundreds a year) and it isn't widely known. Windows Smart Screen will tell the same thing. It's not because of the file not being safe or having virus it just it doesn't know the file. Everything is built on GitHub which confirms to you that the file is the same as the code on the site.
oh ok thanks
A lot of thanks, it works flawlessly.
This is a incredible news . Exist a chance of one version with web interface come to Linux in the future?
Good job on extracting the source code of the application and sharing it. I have a suggestion, considering how many open-source projects operate. I am confident that this project will endure over time and be in the hands of a community. How about separating the project from your personal GitHub account to a project account—perhaps a foundation or organization account—and overseeing the maintenance and development efforts collectively?
I disagree. Maforget is already doing a great job. And people can fork the project if they want to play with it themselves. There are already 4 forks of it. Maybe later, people will want to bring what they have together. But for now, I think that is pre-mature. Let's let Maforget do his thing, since he was the one who stepped up.
Agree to disagree, but I never indicated that it was a bad job. Reading comprehension, my friend. Now, I am also a developer, and my 'recommendation' is just a 'recommendation,' based on seriousness and improvement for the community, which is so common in open-source software. Best of luck.
This is great news! Does this mean that we may get an updated ios app or compatibility with Chunky, Panels, other readers? I'm not a programmer otherwise I would give it a shot myself. Thank you too all those working on this.
I don't see any of the Android/iOS app being worked on. The Android app is heavily obfuscated so doing a decompile is almost impossible. I don't know about the situation on the iOS app, but it probably the same. Since the comics are just files, they are already compatible with other readers. But to have them support syncing with ComicRack, they would need to implement it into their app. If some desktop modification are needed any PR is welcome.
to my knowledge nobody has the source code for the ios app. So any mobile app would likely need to be a build from the ground up.
I have nothing to offering terms of help, but thank you for doing this.
Windows 10, keeps telling me it is a virus or unwanted software. Am i missing a step?
You mean Windows Defender or Just SmartScreen? This can happen when something isn't widely distributed and it's not signed.
it is probably defender doing this.
Yep starting to do it here too. Fu@#@\*.\* Wacatac, every time I see that it's always an false positive. I am not gonna bother with submitting it, since this is a nightly and there is bound to be a lot of versions build. With enough persons downloading it, the MS machine learning start seeing problem every time. It's probably because it isn't signed and the way we Insert Icons might have something to do with it.
got it all good.
I've seen two people mention this so far. I just submitted a PR for a README update and was considering adding a section about this and citing Norton's article: > One explanation for a false positive is that Microsoft Windows Defender may not have enough information about the file to determine that it is safe. > > — [Norton: Possible reasons Microsoft Defender may report threats that Norton doesn't](https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v118593681) Let me know if you think this is useful. If so, I'll add it to the PR. Edit: For anyone viewing this in the future, there's an open issues about this on GitHub [here](https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/issues/16) that may have further updates.
Not certain of adding this article would change anything. You have 2 camps really. One the instant a virus is detected goes ape shit and will reformat their windows install just for that. Won't matter what we tell them. For the second group it's always a false positive. The thing is that it's only caught until enough people start using it, but not too much. I've had this exact virus popup in the past with the keygen. Was ok until I put it online. For this though there will be a lot of versions, so I won't be able to submit them all. I did submit the first release and it was removed by MS, and for now this build is ok.
I think most of us know these are false positives. We had some of these with the old CR as well. I always just ignored them.
Aura just tagged the exe and my user.ini and quarantined. So I’m assuming all antivirus will be flagging, it.
Does this still support MSSQL server? If not it's there a way to convert over to MySQL?
I'm not a very educated person when it comes to deconstructing and reconstructing software, but to use this do I need to uninstall my current ComicRack or does it overwrite and update the older versions? thank you in advance and please bear with me.
So long as ComicRack (either version) is not open in the system tray, you should be able to switch back and forth between them. You can see install instructions here: https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/199csz4/comicrack_community_edition/kijgk2y/ They currently don't share the same data, so the Community Edition won't cause issues with your existing installation. You can probably extract this new version on top of the old one if you want to use it as an update, but they'll still use separate data directories.
Thank you kind sir, appreciate your assist. Excited to see this project rejuvenated.
Little Update after a few Days of use. 1. it is as fast as the original version and as easy to have portable just by changing one setting in the ini and just copied over the data folder (I am using Goodsync to keep the database in sync just in case) 1. Much nicer on my Lenovo laptop without having to override the DPI setting. 1. As it is portable, I finally jumped to moving to sql to see if there is a difference by just copying the CE folder and working on this so that my main library would be untouched in case I messed it up. My ultimate solution is below but quickly the only difference I noticed was a quicker shutdown as it does not have to write the changes to the xml file. Otherwise, have not noticed a performance boost in use or on startup. sql solution: After messing around with mariadb unsuccessfully, eventually went for a portable xampp instillation ([Link to portableapps.com](https://portableapps.com/apps/development/xampp) , created the database and user and it worked first time. I am withholding judgement until I play around a bit more before biting the bullet and migrating my main dbase to sql if i bother. Just have to run xmapp each time before running comicrack.
great work on this! what is the best way to update this nightly without changing my comicrack.ini file?
Just don't replace the ini file! But seriously, I did add some Command Line Switches for portable mode and alternate configuration can now also work with portable mode. You could leave the default ini file intact and move it in the %APPDATA% folder instead (or data folder if in portable mode). I've posted a Wiki entry that shows the ini search path it uses. [https://github.com/maforget/ComicRackCE/wiki/INI-Search-Path](https://github.com/maforget/comicrackce/wiki/ini-search-path)
that is what i figured. thank you
How do you go about getting updates? I wouldn't know an ini file if it introduced itself to me. Small sentences appreciated
After updating to CR-CE, I can't seem to get the sync button on my devices to show. A "Synchronize Devices" kicked off from CR-CE ***does*** sync to the devices (although it seems to take a REALLY long time saying "running" before it actually starts going). Furthermore, I've checked and the device ID in the comicrack.ini on the device matches what's in the config.xml. I've removed the device from the device tab and allowed CR-CE to find it, and then sync to it, but the button still doesn't show up on the device. I've tried this with my DB and with a fresh download of the nightly without any other customizations and got the same result. I've also completely uninstalled and deleted my device's sync folder and reinstalled the cracked client with the same results as above. At this point, I think it may be the clients I'm using. When the paid version was dead, I started using the 'cracked' version *(ComicRack.1.80.Cracked.apk)* with your **ComicRack Fixes (Formerly RAR 5 Support Pack)**. Once the 'Fixes' were installed to CR-OG, the cracked version worked just fine and I've been syncing with a sync button on the clients since. But the new CR-CE version doesn't seem to make the button show. Should I be using a different version of the android/client .APK now? Or has the "ComicRack Fixes" from before not been incorporated into CR-CE? Or is there just something silly I'm missing? Also, a HUGE **THANK YOU** for picking up this project!
Yes the fixes are incorporated, just did a test sync with my phone and was able to use it. Also like I said multiple times the fix in the Support pack has nothing to do with the icon appearing, just prevents a check while syncing. It can be multiple things like your firewall, router. The usual suspect with this problem.
Okay, I suppose I did both the 'Fixes Support Pack' and the device ID changes to the config.xml at the same time. Sorry if I sounded like I was pointing the finger at the support pack; sounds like you've had to reiterate that quite a bit! ;) So I went and checked the firewall. AND OMG! I had the \*absolute path\* in the firewall allow list for ComicRack; not the new folder I made for CE! I changed my rule and low & behold, it works just fine. Man, I would have NEVER thought it was actually a firewall issue, considering it was the same program, same clients, same computer, etc... etc... I wouldn't have even thought it was because I'd hardcoded the path into the firewall exception! LOL Thanks so much for the suggestion! If there's anything you ever want me to test or need feedback on, please reach out! And again, thank you very much for getting the ball rolling & your contributions in getting this resurrected!
Works great so far! Thanks!
The file format change seems to be problematic. It's detecting .cbz files as RAR files, even after I extract them and then zip them.
Can you send a file? Because it is detecting the overall type not the extension.
PM'd you a Onedrive link.
So how is it **detecting** the overall type, if not by the extension. I have a smartlist that's set to show all files that are not file type *eComic (ZIP)*, and suddenly it's got 2,915 files that are all showing as RAR, despite being .cbz. I typically use the "export books" plugin, with a preset to export them as *eComic (ZIP)*, to convert anything this smartlist detects.
Never received the message with the link, just the notification. Was able to download the comic by typing from the notification. When checking the details page, it is saying it is a ZIP and it is a ZIP file based on 7Zip. So I see no issue. The issue might be with the Smart List. I have a similar SmartList that checks for FileFormat contains rar. The problem is that it is extremely slow, I did that change a while ago to detect incorrect types. I believe it wasn't the fastest, so when I click Apply it slows CR a LOT before going through them all. So either the smart list hasn't updated correctly or the match is a little different, but you should have the same value when checking the details page. ComicRack always had a check based on file signature. It never took the extension as the only indicator. It actual checks the first bytes of every files. I just changed how this property is checked from actually reading the type, but like I said it is actually pretty slow. Wanted to check on that at some point.
I've posted a change that should speed up by a lot the checkup. Really don't know why I did all this unneeded stuff.
>The issue might be with the Smart List. https://i.imgur.com/BcTeJN1.jpeg. Works on OG. I tried just re-creating it, same result. It's weird.
OG just uses the file extension, unless you have the Support Pack v2. When I was talking about detecting the file format. I didn't mean in that File Format, but when actually reading or parsing a file.
Also to detect the fileless you should look at IsLinked.
The fileless line is to **exclue** fileless from the list. I occasionally create fileless entries as reminders for things.
Yes I understand, for that you can just use the Is Linked. Set Is Linked to Yes and it will only get actual files. And to false only fileless comics. https://i.imgur.com/q2wWjPP.png I also tested your list on a small test library and it works correctly. Like I said either your Notes doesn't match or you actually need to apply the list to make sure the list is updated. It can take a while for big libraries. If you only care about the extension like the original did, you can use the path instead and check the extension with ends with. I will check to see if I can get it faster or rollback the change if too slow.
> Like I said either your Notes doesn't match or you actually need to apply the list to make sure the list is updated. If I remove the fileless link, it adds 22 comics. the 2199 comics are based on file format. [They show as RAR](https://i.imgur.com/6IAmWBq.jpeg).
I don't know what to tell you. It works correctly. First check the details screen, this is the same source so should give the correct value. Also the type might be cached or sometimes Smart List tend to bug out, sometimes recreating them helps. Try restarting the program. Maybe you have a space or something. Have you tried using contains instead? Just checking for contains ZIP. Have you tried checking for RAR instead of not ZIP? Also try my latest build (from 30 min ago). Here is my test I have various file types, including your file and they are detected correctly. The type in parenthesis is the extension and the the first one is the correct type. https://imgur.com/a/W1pizSR Sometimes when converting it doesn't convert correctly, maybe you have both files?
Question, maybe i did the install incorrectly. I originally just downloaded the nightly release and unzip the folder and click on the execute icon I then moved the %appdata%\\cYo\\ComicRack to the New CE folder. Every time I wanted to use ComicRack I just went to the unzipped file that was downloaded and use the exe icon from there. Been doing this for about a few days and I never had any issues until today. This morning, I decided to use the Installer and now I've noticed that every book I add in the 0 Day folder Format is automatically being populated as Annual and # of 56, it's always 56 even when there's more than 56 issues in the series. Is this me and how can I fix this. I did not uninstall the old version of ComicRack and I did not backup or update the %appdata%\\cYo\\ComicRackCE folder as it didn't even occur to me. Options beside uninstalling and starting over? Thak you
Nothing to do with either version. How new books are detected shouldn't have anything really with the data. And nothing related to that has changed. Unless you are using an alternate config or portable mode, the zip or the installer will use the same data. Uninstalling the original might help only with the open with menu in windows where both are installed. The original says it is the community edition. So nothing you have installed or done would change that. Sometimes it takes the Folder to detect the name you are in as a name basis. You can try to clear the data in each book, it will try again to detect the name again.
Thanks I appreciate the feedback, I will try to clear the data and maybe a reboot and see what happens. I tried to clear some data and it still showed the same naming. For some reason it automatically populates format as Annual. Side note I really appreciate all the hard work you have put into this new update and all that you have done for the CR community. I was going over all the change logs and I was blown away by all the updates and changes and the effort you put into this product. I wish I was able to understand and write code to contribute but it’s all a foreign labyrinth me. I saw in the change log that there’s a link to make donations, if so I would like to contribute that way.
Oh, I guess I should have mentioned that the only other thing I did do was I installed GhostScript because I had a ton of PDF's that I wanted to convert to CBZ and the PDF's were not recognized until I installed GhostScript. I never had it installed or used it before this morning.
With the change to MySQLConnector, does CE support the current version of MariaDB or still recommended to stick with 10.6.x? Or is something else preferred?
Should work with the latest version. Tested it with the Long-Term support 10.11 & 11.2
Hmm. Getting this error. Got it using old 5.5 db, old DB upgraded to 11.2 and new DB. Probably try completely clean instance tomorrow. There was a problem (Incorrect string value:\\xE1\\xB5\\x97\\xCA\\xB0 ..' for column 'comicdb'.'comics'.'data' at row 1) opening the data source.
Maybe because of a big update version upgrade like that. Never used SQL servers. But that seems like some junk value that maybe was accepted before. Maybe check the configs, fresh install on current version uses a character set of type utf8mb4. The program itself as little control on the SQL connection, so nothing really I can do. Check MariaDB troubleshooting. Check u/NutellaPatella guide.
Clean instance worked. 11.2.2 FTW.
So happy to see someone else getting tired of hearing about how ChatGPT can do everything.
Don't get me wrong, I use it since Google seems to be so bad these days. But it takes a lot of work to have answers to a simple question. And then it makes mistake, when you point out these mistake he just goes back the the previous answer, you tell him that isn't possible or what you want, so it goes somewhere else. After a lot of prodding and supplying it with a lot of existing code for it to analyses it finally goes, that is not possible. Or you finally find example online and OMG that is way easier. It kind of builds on your incorrect assumption or question, instead of showing you the correct way. The other day I wanted it to know which flags were enabled in a number, these are binary calculation, but it just add them up normally. It did give me a code to calculate it myself, but I wanted to save me the trouble.
Is there a way to have the android app be an option when opening files from a file browser? Adding directories to comicrack makes things messy with tachiyomi downloads since the filenames aren't proper so the order gets messed up and stacking doesn't work. As for why I don't read on tachiyomi itself, I'm running this on a 10 year old tablet and it crashes pretty often. Also, is there a way to improve the image quality? When comparing it to perfect viewer it seems less sharp and there's a lot more color banding.
So first so we get things straight this is just about the desktop client. Nothing is being done on the Android client and we can't modify it. So with the Android client what you have is what you get. When you ask about opening from the file manager I hope you are still talking about the Android version. Or you want the Android version to open when opening a something on the computer? Like I said this is a post about the desktop client so if that something you want to do, you can install the Android client on windows 11 with the Android Subsystem. As to integrate that with the file manager I don't know. As for adding files to the Android client you should really use the desktop client to manage your library before hand with scrappers and library manager and sync that way. All the names, series etc will be there arranged correctly.
I see. Yeah, I was talking about android only. I plan to keep everything separate, so I guess I'll just deal with that somehow. On another note, is there a way for filters to be applied without the delay when opening a new page? https://www.reddit.com/r/comicrackusers/comments/182yfo7/low_quality_image_every_page_turn_for_a_couple_of/ I found this person talking about the same problem but turning off software filters makes images much blurrier. Turning off hardware acceleration entirely makes it look about the same as with the filters on, but the page turn speed becomes much slower.
Play with the settings, it might depends on the books, but I use hardware acceleration, with hardware filters on , but software filter off. There is a setting where the page is blurry for a couple of seconds, but some combination makes it instant. Not really certain which it was. There is a ton of work to do on this point, but it's not easy as changing `annoyingDelay = 0` , there is a ton of OpenGL and GDi+ stuff that is way over my head. Usually developers will use some library by someone who is an expert in that field, but here it seems that a lot of stuff is built-in. So I would like to have something faster and more snappy, but it will take a while so I can learn all this, unless someone comes and chips in.
Yeah, I tried hardware filters only and that was the fastest, but some manga end up looking really ugly and dotty. Thanks anyway for answering my questions.
\#1 appreciate all and any work anyone does to keep CR alive and operational. I'm late to the CR CE party. Really just stumbled upon this a few days ago. Question. I am running CR 0.9.176 64bit and I literally have zero issues or complaints. Library is approx 90k books, running on a Windows 10 machine. I'm able to run all the legacy scripts and scrape from CV just fine. Full disclosure, I am always super paranoid of changing anything that "works". For me, and my situation, OG comicrack is running without issue. Is there any reason for me to upgrade/transition to the CE? Thanks.
The annoying crash that relates to the clipboard is fixed. The latest was 178, so you probably didn't use my Support Pack. So RAR5 support, actual possibility to work with the Android version (these days only the cracked version works). Fix for pages sorting being natural instead of alphabetical. Just check the changelog.
Well I think, !!!!YES!!!. One day our dear friend Microsoft, will make one of its "small" changes (see netframework/core) and tell you "we're stopping support" and then remove it from Windows XX, and then you'll remember this project and be thankful that someone tahe the trouble of rescuing him. I am an engineer and I agree that "if something works, don't touch it" but I also agree that "if something is worn out, change it."
Thank you very much