go-jwlm

A command-line tool to easily merge JW Library backups, written in Go. For the iOS version, visit ios-jwlm.

go-jwlm allows you to merge two .jwlibrary backup files, while giving you control of the process - your notes are precious, and you shouldn‘t need to trust a program solving possible merge conflicts for you.

I created this project with the goal of having a tool that is able to work on multiple operating systems, and even allowing it to be incorporated in other programs as a library (like an iOS app). It is - and will be for quite some time - a work-in-progress project, so I‘m always open for suggestion and especially reports if you encounter an unexpected behavior or other bugs.

The usage is pretty simple: you have one command, you name your backup files - and press enter. The tool will merge all entries for you. If it encounters a conflict (like the same note with different content or two markings that overlap), it will ask you for directions: should it choose the left version or the right one? After that is finished, you have a nicely merged backup that you can import into your JW Library App. The first merge process might take some time because of the number of possible conflicts, depending on how far apart you backups are. But if you merge them regularly, it should be a matter of seconds :)

Usage

go-jwlm merge <left-backup> <right-backup> <merged-backup>

If a conflict occurs while merging, the tool will ask for directions: should it choose the left version or the right one. For that, it shows you the actual entries (I‘m planning to improve that view and add more information, especially about publications, in the future). If you are not sure what to do, press ? for help.

Resolve conflicts automatically

Currently, there are three solvers you can use to automatically resolve conflicts: chooseLeft, chooseRight, and chooseNewest (though the last one is only usable for Notes). As their names suggest, chooseLeft and chooseRight will always choose the same side if a conflict occurs, while chooseNewest always chooses the newest entry.

You can enable these solvers with the --bookmarks, --markings, --notes, and --inputFields flags:

go-jwlm merge <left-backup> <right-backup> <merged-backup> --bookmarks chooseLeft --markings chooseRight --notes chooseNewest --inputFields chooseLeft

The conflict resolvers are helpful for regular merging when you are sure that one side is always the most up-to-date one. For a first merge, it is still recommended to manually solve conflicts, so you don't risk accidentally overwriting entries.

Compare two backups

To quickly compare two backup files and check if their content is equal, you can use the go-jwlm compare <left-backup> <right-backup> command. This one is mainly used for validation, but might be helpful in other situations :)

Installation

You can find the compiled binaries for Windows, Linux, and Mac under the Release section.

Installation using Homebrew (Mac and Linux)

go-jwlm can be easily installed using Hombrew:

brew install andreassko/homebrew-go-jwlm/go-jwlm

See the instructions on how to install Homebrew at https://brew.sh

Mobile version

If you want to merge backups using your iPhone or iPad, have a look at JWLM. It uses the whole merge logic of go-jwlm, but wraps it in a nice and easy to use iOS app. It is already available on the App Store.

There might come an Android version at some point, but as I personally don't use any Android devices, it is - unfortunately - not the highest priority for me right now. If you are interested in helping with this project, feel free to contact me or just start it on your own :)

Technical background

Gomobile enables to include Go packages within a mobile application. As there are still some limitations, I built a wrapper for most structs and methods. To build the binding on your own, install Gomobile, change into the gomobile directory of this repo and run gomobile bind -target <ios or android>.

A word of caution

It took me a while to trust my own program, but I still keep backups of my libraries - and so should you. Go-jwlm is still in beta-phase, so there is a possibility that something might get lost because of a yet-to-find bug. So please keep that in mind and - again - if you found a bug, feel free to open an issue.

Need help?

Something is unclear, you have suggestions for documentation or you found a bug? Feel free to open an issue. I‘m happy to help, though please be patient if it takes a while for me to respond :)