Authors sorting on First Name, Last Name

[makaza]

Firstly thanks to everyone who takes the trouble to help and develop Calibre - a brilliant piece of software!

The problem I'm having is that Authors are displaying as LN, FN but sorting on the FN, LN.

Can anyone suggest what I'm doing wrong?

I've tried the sort algorithim and manage authors but I clearly haven't found the right combination

What I would find useful for the future is a facility to have imported books match the predominant sort arrangements existing in the current library or better still the equivalent of the Microsoft Office "format painter" button to copy sort values.
Regards
Anzhelika

[theducks]

Originally Posted by makaza

Firstly thanks to everyone who takes the trouble to help and develop Calibre - a brilliant piece of software!

The problem I'm having is that Authors are displaying as LN, FN but sorting on the FN, LN.

Can anyone suggest what I'm doing wrong?

I've tried the sort algorithim and manage authors but I clearly haven't found the right combination

What I would find useful for the future is a facility to have imported books match the predominant sort arrangements existing in the current library or better still the equivalent of the Microsoft Office "format painter" button to copy sort values.
Regards
Anzhelika

Calibre normally expects Fn Ln
There is a Preference under 'Adding books' (right side) to swap.

You can also use the Search and Replace function of Bulk metadata edit to repair existing entries

[makaza]

Thanks for a quick response but unfortunately I'm no further forward.
1. I can't see a preference under adding books to swap - simply options for the type directory structure I'm importing from . Have I misunderstood you?
2. Presumably the first option only applies before the books are imported so it won't help

3. Can you explain how the Search and Replace function could be used in this case - an example would be useful?
Regards
Anzhelika

[theducks]

Have you read the fine manual (FAQ) http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html#id37 ?

REGEX mode
Source: Author field: (.+),(.+)
Replace: \2 \1

The samples (on the right) should look right if you have the correct pattern

[makaza]

Yes, I did read the manual and have searched the forums but clearly did not find a solution - hence my post

I will try using your examples in the morning and let you know
Thanks
Anzhelika

[theducks]

Originally Posted by makaza

Yes, I did read the manual and have searched the forums but clearly did not find a solution - hence my post

I will try using your examples in the morning and let you know
Thanks
Anzhelika

Be sure to tick the automatic set Author sort on the first tab as well (you are fixing Authors)

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by makaza

1. I can't see a preference under adding books to swap - simply options for the type directory structure I'm importing from . Have I misunderstood you?

You are looking in the popup options for the Add Books icon. What you want is under Preferences (icon with the gears, or you can find it in the top menubar).

Inside the Preferences (or change calibre behavior) section, click on Adding Books. You'll find a tick box at the top right of the page that says "Swap author first name and last name". I find that helps, since most sources seem to be set up LN, FN instead of FN, LN like calibre.

[makaza]

Having used the tips provided I have resolved the sorting problem - all books now sort by LN FN however I now have the problem that some authors are displayed as FN LN and some are displayed as LN, FN.

How do I standardise the display so that all authors display as LN, FN.?

Any advice would be appreciated
Regards
Anzhelika

[Pinecone]

I wish that Calibre had a button on the Edit Metadata page to swap LN, FN to FN, LN in the author field.

If I add 10 books, 5 will be one way, 4 will be the other way, and 1 will have the title in the author field. So a quick method of swapping LN, FN to FN, LN would be VERY nice.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

I wish that Calibre had a button on the Edit Metadata page to swap LN, FN to FN, LN in the author field.

If I add 10 books, 5 will be one way, 4 will be the other way, and 1 will have the title in the author field. So a quick method of swapping LN, FN to FN, LN would be VERY nice.

Click and hold on the button to the right of the authors to bring up a menu of some 5 options. One of them should do what you want.

[kiwidude]

@Pinecone - and if you want to do it from the library view, rather than the single metadata edit dialog, you can use the Quality Check plugin, which has an option under the "Fix" menu.

[Pinecone]

Thanks.

But, it doesn't deal well with commas.

[kiwidude]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

Thanks.

But, it doesn't deal well with commas.

Do you have an example? For "normal" names of "Bloggs, Joe" <-> "Joe Bloggs" it works perfectly fine. Do you have some other example which it needs to handle better?

[speakingtohe]

If you download metadata for these books the error should be fixed to the standard way, commas and all

Helen

[transmitthis]

I'm not saying anything, in fact I'm not even here...