When I add a file (txt, doc, etc) to the Connect Reader Software, does the software convert the file and store it somewhere? If so, where? (i.e. on the local hard drive)

Welcome to MobileRead.

The CONNECT software on your PC will load the file either in the internal memory of the Reader or on the add-in memory card if you have installed one. It is up to you based on which one you drag and drop the file to. It will not change the copy of the file on your hard disk.

That said, you cannot later copy the file from the Reader to your hard disk. It is a one way process when using the CONNECT software. {edit: However, using utilities found here at MobileRead you can directly access the internal Reader file structure as well as add, delete, and modify files in the Reader.} (The add-in memory card may be read and written directly outside the CONNECT software.)

BBeB, RTF, TXT, and PDF files are written to the Reader. Some say that DOC files also work and that the CONNECT software will convert them to RTF if you have MS Word installed as they say it uses part of that program to convert the files. For me that has never worked and I do all of the RTF conversion outside CONNECT.

What RWood said is essentially right, except that you can copy files back from your Reader by using some of the tools that were developed by ubercool Linux geeks you find here on board.

And just to clarify the conversion thing: ConnSoft (that is, the connect software) doesn't convert files to another format. The sole exception to this is Word files, which, as RWood pointed out, ConnSoft can convert to RTF files if you have MSWord on your PC -- the process is supposed to be invisible to the user, the .DOC just shows up on the Reader as a .RTF. :nice:

Hey RWood, you hint at utilities that can modify files in the reader. Could you tell me which utility?

Here's my problem. I've got a bunch of books on my Reader, but the titles are too long. I would like to be able to modify the titles to make them shorter so that I can read the title from within the reader.

Example title:
Clancy, Tom - Jack Ryan 01 - The Hunt for Red October

This title is so long that on the reader all I see is:
Clancy, Tom - Jack Ryan 01 - The

As you can imagine it makes it hard for me to figure out which book I'm opening up.

I've got about 105 books on my reader. It would take awhile to delete all of my current books, change the titles, then upload them back to the reader. Instead I'd love a program that would allow me to directly access that information directly from my PC and change the titles.

I don't know why the Connect software doesn't do that. Personally, I hate the Connect software. It's very slow and goes unresponsive when transferring data, adding books to collections, deleting files, etc.

In short, does anyone know of a PC based utility that could replace Connect and provide me the ability to rename my files?

Thanks for the help.

It depends on what type of files they are. Any file that you can open in MS Word you can just open it there and go to File -> Properties and modified the Title, Author, etc...

Most of my files are *.txt files.

I don't think you understand my problem. The files are on my reader. I want to be able to modify the titles on the reader. I don't want to have to modify the files on my PC, delete the old files on the reader, then upload the renamed files onto the reader. As a last resort I can do that, but I was hoping there was a utility that allowed me to directly rename the titles of the files that are on my reader currently. That way I could skip the deletion and re-uploading steps. Hope that makes my needs a little clearer.

You are right, we did not understand your problem. There is not yet any program that can modify files that are already in the internal memory of the Sony Reader. Files that are on an add-in memory card can be modified when that card is in a card reader attached to your computer.

All of the answers above about modifing the properties meta file data were valid for RTF, LRF, or PDF files. But you are using TXT files which have no Sony Reader defined meta data. The title displayed on the Sony Reader is the file name and the author field is filled in with the date the file was last saved or loaded. As long as you keep using TXT files there is no way to change the title displayed other than to delete the current files from the Reader, rename them on your computer, and then reload them back to the Reader.

That said, many of us have found that the RTF format provides a superior reading experience than TXT files. In addition to being able to select serif or san-serif typefaces, the RTF format allows for meta data so that the books may be accessed by either title or author. Text often times has embedded returns that break lines in odd spots that only worse as the size of the fint increases. Additionally, RTF formatted books may be set in full justification and the interline spacing may be set to your taste. Stingo has developed a macro that runs in MS Word that does a great job of stripping the end of line carrage returns from a TXT file and preparing it for reflowing in the Reader. However the RTF files -- like TXT files -- do not support any graphics or photographs.

Many people have converted their files to LRS which is an unprotected (non-DRM) form of the Sony BBeB format. For example I use Book Designer to prepare files for my Reader and it does a wonderful job.

These free utilities and more are available on the MobileRead Wiki Conversion page. (http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_conversion)

Good luck and tell us how it works out for you.

Thanks for your response. I guess I'm going to have to go back to my .Lit files and redo my conversions again . . . groan. I've got a buttload of .Lit's I've converted 115 of them so far, just the tip of the iceberg. Took me about an hour to do the conversions and load them onto my reader so far. Was hoping I wouldn't have to repeat the process, but oh well. The nihilist in me is screaming life is pain then you die.

EDIT-About a half hour later

Yep, the nihilist in me was correct. 30 mins. later and I've only converted and loaded 12 books onto the reader. The title and author look a lot nicer now at least, but boy this is gonna take forever. My library is several hundred books large.

Yep, the nihilist in me was correct. 30 mins. later and I've only converted and loaded 12 books onto the reader. The title and author look a lot nicer now at least, but boy this is gonna take forever. My library is several hundred books large.

Do you have to do them all at once? Why not just modify each file as you upload it to the Reader to read it? That's what I do personally - my preferred format is RTF, and I do some standard editing on each file I upload (bump up the font size to 16pt, set the title and author, etc). I've got something like 15,000 e-books on my hard disk, so I wouldn't even dream of trying to edit them all at once :grin:.

Same here. I was planning to put a considerable amount of books on the reader but I found out quickly that it was useless. I only read one book at a time. If you spend a half hour converting 12 books for 90hours of reading, that's worth it. We're all stuck with the immediacy of having chores done quickly, it's just a matter of doing things a little at a time. After a while it becomes pleasant to browse and format books. You can compare this with cleaning, you can't go ahead and clean the house 52 times in the same day to get rid of it for the rest of the year. :happy2: You just learn to enjoy it or do something else at the same time like listening to music.

I have an other question. Where on a computer does ConnectSoftware store the library contents?

I have an other question. Where on a computer does ConnectSoftware store the library contents?
Purchased books are stored in My Documents\My Books, while the database itself is in %userprofile%\Application Data\Sony Corporation\CONNECT Reader\Database.

Do you have to do them all at once? Why not just modify each file as you upload it to the Reader to read it? That's what I do personally - my preferred format is RTF, and I do some standard editing on each file I upload (bump up the font size to 16pt, set the title and author, etc). I've got something like 15,000 e-books on my hard disk, so I wouldn't even dream of trying to edit them all at once :grin:.

Question: I converted some text files to rtf, changed font/layout attributes as well as title/author (by right-clicking on file and selecting 'properties' then editing the fields) BUT: the title/author showing up in the Library software and on my Reader don't match the edited fields. Author appears as a default from my Word program, and the title corresponds to part of the first line of text in the file. Help? Any way to change the file data?

(btw, I'm using Word 2002.)

That's a VERY old post of mine that you quoted, from "pre-Book-Designer" days! These days I'd always use BD and create a proper LRF file.

However, the metadata that the Sony uses in an RTF file are those from the "File/Properties" dialog in Word and they should show up just fine if you edit them.

Here's my problem. I've got a bunch of books on my Reader, but the titles are too long. I would like to be able to modify the titles to make them shorter so that I can read the title from within the reader.

As a temporary solution just press and hold the size button so the screen rotates and this way you see much longer text in the title. I am very lazy so I use this method when I accidentaly leave titles longer ;-)

That's a VERY old post of mine that you quoted, from "pre-Book-Designer" days! These days I'd always use BD and create a proper LRF file.

However, the metadata that the Sony uses in an RTF file are those from the "File/Properties" dialog in Word and they should show up just fine if you edit them.

I knew it was old but seemed related. ;) I got it now. I was altering the "properties" from right-clicking the file icon. Changing them from Word's File/Properties menu itself seemed to do the trick. (I'll get around to BD someday!) Thx.