How can I author sort sequence

[lizzielou]

When I look at my Calibre library the author column is sorted into author surname then first name even though it is displayed as first name+surname.

Eg Anne McCaffrey books show up half way down my list under 'M' but I would like these to come up first under 'A'.

I think I can do this by going into the metadata for each book and altering the author sort field to match the author name field, but I have several hundreds of books and it would take forever to do it this way.

Is there any way I can do this with a simple global command? I have tried to read the manual but it is far too technical for me to understand so if anyone could please explain if and how I could do this in fairly easy terms I would be very grateful.

[HarryT]

You want to sort your authors by first name? Forgive me, but I have to ask - why?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You want to sort your authors by first name? Forgive me, but I have to ask - why?

This is the second person this week that has asked that

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You want to sort your authors by first name? Forgive me, but I have to ask - why?

Dunno about the OP but when the "author names" you deal with look like the following:

Fact Vs Fiction
hoshi-ni-onegai
iron chefs lady
Lonely in the basement
MiladyLane

It's easier to sort by "first name" rather than "last name".

@lizzielou
Go to: Preferences » Tweaks » Author sort name algorithm
change the following line:

author_sort_copy_method = 'comma'

to:

author_sort_copy_method = 'copy'

[speakingtohe]

I just go by the defaults, but at one time it was first name last name in the tag browser. Then to my dismay it changed.

Eventually their came the tweaks and the copy author sort options, but I had sort of gotten used to the odd way of doing things. (Odd only to me I am sure)

The inconsistencies still bother me, such as why the names are displayed first name last name in the tag browser, the main window and even in the underlying file structure, but I am used to it now so I hope another massive change doesn't occur.

Helen

[chaley]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

@lizzielou
Go to: Preferences » Tweaks » Author sort name algorithm
change the following line:

author_sort_copy_method = 'comma'

to:

author_sort_copy_method = 'copy'

After changing the tweak you must recalculate all the author_sort values so that they conform to the tweak's value. Go to Manage Authors (list box below the tag browser pane on the left or right-click on authors in the tag browser) and press the "Recalculate all author sort values" button.

[cybmole]

as an aside, go into any record store and Bob Dylan will be filed under B, not D.
Eva Cassidy will be filed under E.

ditto for how media player, Itunes etc. sort by artist.

book & music industries are out of step on this

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by cybmole

as an aside, go into any record store and Bob Dylan will be filed under B, not D.
Eva Cassidy will be filed under E.

ditto for how media player, Itunes etc. sort by artist.

book & music industries are out of step on this

Not in my music collection they aren't . "Richard Wagner" is catalogued under "W", "Bob Dylan" under "D".

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not in my music collection they aren't . "Richard Wagner" is catalogued under "W", "Bob Dylan" under "D".

if you have wider musical tastes that is not very workable - where do you put e.g.
Thin Lizzy - File under Lizzy, Thin ???
Arctic Monkeys under Monkeys, Arctic ???
"Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds" - under N, C, B, or S ???

I used to force a LN, FN ordering for my music collection, but go so fed up of having to edit media player folders after every CD rip. Once I realised that I was also out of step with music stores sorting systems, I decided to go with the flow.

Microsoft's view of the media world seems to be : drop any leading "The" when sorting, but otherwise go with full name in alphabetical order.
So The Eagles appear under E, Thin Lizzy appear under T.

as for calibre - I don't really care how it organises under the bonnet or even in the main listing , if I want an author I just put part of the author name in the search field & hit Enter - works for me!

[lizzielou]

Thank you very much for your help, I have now fixed it the way I want it. I can see that it is very easy once you know how.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by cybmole

if you have wider musical tastes that is not very workable - where do you put e.g.
Thin Lizzy - File under Lizzy, Thin ???
Arctic Monkeys under Monkeys, Arctic ???
"Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds" - under N, C, B, or S ???

I used to force a LN, FN ordering for my music collection, but go so fed up of having to edit media player folders after every CD rip. Once I realised that I was also out of step with music stores sorting systems, I decided to go with the flow.

Personally, what I do is to put personal names under the surname, but group names under the first letter of the group, ignoring "A" and "The". Hence "Bob Dylan" goes under "D", but "Thin Lizzy" under "T" and "The Eagles" under "E".

It works for me .

[transmitthis]

I have to have First name, First. It's just easier for me to look down a list when it sorted that way.

I Always keep the leading "A" and "The" too, Well it's there for a reason, it changes the meaning
Dance with Dragons, is different than
A Dance with Dragons and also different than
The Dance with Dragons

PS - another FN. LN post - there getting daily, maybe Calibre needs this well used option to be more obvious.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by transmitthis

I have to have First name, First. It's just easier for me to look down a list when it sorted that way.

I Always keep the leading "A" and "The" too, Well it's there for a reason, it changes the meaning
Dance with Dragons, is different than
A Dance with Dragons and also different than
The Dance with Dragons

PS - another FN. LN post - there getting daily, maybe Calibre needs this well used option to be more obvious.

interesting one. I have the George Martin books in calibre library.
they all have titles like A something of/with something else

so on a "books by this author select" then look naturally ordered.

I think the case for dropping leading "A " is weaker than for dropping leading "The" , but I expect it is all customisable already

out of curiosity I tried to wild card search All my book titles so how many had the title form " A blahblahblah.." but could not figure out the sort syntax.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by cybmole

out of curiosity I tried to wild card search All my book titles so how many had the title form " A blahblahblah.." but could not figure out the sort syntax.

title:"~^a "

The ~ means the search uses a regular expression. The regexp begins with the anchor ^, which indicates that whatever follows it must be at the beginning of the phrase (the title in this case). The characters "a " (letter 'a' then space) are what must be at the beginning. It is quoted so that the space is considered part of the regexp.

For completeness, this search looks for a leading "a" or "an" followed by a space.

title:"~^a(n | )"

The following does the same thing.

title:"~^an? "

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by chaley

title:"~^a "

The ~ means the search uses a regular expression. The regexp begins with the anchor ^, which indicates that whatever follows it must be at the beginning of the phrase (the title in this case). The characters "a " (letter 'a' then space) are what must be at the beginning. It is quoted so that the space is considered part of the regexp.

For completeness, this search looks for a leading "a" or "an" followed by a space.

title:"~^a(n | )"

The following does the same thing.

title:"~^an? "

thanks - the 1st case finds 37 out of 1011 books

I also had a quick look for a preferences tweak that would change how those 37 titles are sorted, ( without changing how "The" cases are handled) but could not immediately find one.