Issues importing mobi books from Fictionwise.

splat · 07-05-2008, 05:26 PM

Has anyone else had any problems when importing books in Mobipocket format purchased from Fictionwise.

Any time I import any of the books the metadata does not get picked up correctly. One of two things happens.

1) Title is set as the letter C and the author is set as the title of the book.
2) Title is set as the letter C and the author is set correctly.

I've also notices that the detection of embedded covers is hit and miss.

In all the books, the iLiad picks up the correct metadata.

This happens with Calibre version 0.4.76 on both OS X and Windows.

pilotbob · 07-05-2008, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by splat

Has anyone else had any problems when importing books in Mobipocket format purchased from Fictionwise.

Any time I import any of the books the metadata does not get picked up correctly. One of two things happens.

Are these secure books? If so, I don't think calibre is able to read secure ebooks.

BOb

Nate the great · 07-05-2008, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Are these secure books? If so, I don't think calibre is able to read secure ebooks.

BOb

That shouldn't make a difference. The file header is the same.

wallcraft · 07-06-2008, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

That shouldn't make a difference. The file header is the same.

Yes, but FictionWise is creating the multi-format e-books. A DRMed ebook should be identical from all sources, and is created by the publisher. So if there is something systematically different about FictionWise MOBI, it could only be the multi-format ebooks.

wallcraft · 07-06-2008, 09:21 AM

I looked at some of my multi-format ebooks from FictionWise. The PRC version is sometimes in the old PalmDOC format, which only has the title in the header. In such cases Windows MobiPocket Reader also fails to pick up the author. Even when the PRC version is in READMOBI format, it might not include the author in its metadata. Sometimes the "Kindle Compatible (MOBI)" version is identical to the PRC version, but in other cases it is different and typically better (more metadata and a cover image). In the cases I tried, Calibre 0.4.76 picked up the same metadata as Windows MobiPocket Reader - which means that the Author is often Unknown. I only tried about half a dozen titles, so this wasn't a definitive test.

In one case, the PRC (PalmDOC) file had no metadata but it did have a copy of (some of) the original .opf file which shows up in Windows MobiPocket Reader as "eBook Info" under Contents. Interestingly, Windows MobiPocket Reader did not extract the Author from eBook Info, and still shows the author as Unknown, but FBReader did detect the internal metadata and correctly identified the author.

kovidgoyal · 07-06-2008, 11:44 AM

Can you send me one or two of these books it is failing on (alongwith the PID so I can de-drm them and take a look).

cen · 07-10-2008, 03:10 PM

I've noticed the same thing. Fictionwise books all have the title set as C after import. Running the books through MobiDeDRM and importing the newly created copies, so far has resulted in the meta data being read correctly for all but one book, where Calibre seems to take the file name (without .prc) as the title.

edit: this was on 0.4.77.

momghoti · 02-11-2010, 07:09 PM

I've been having issues with importing certain Fictionwise prc ebooks as well, but for me they get a 'failed to read metadata' and the title is the file name (a bunch of letters and numbers, with no obvious meaning. I can't even figure out what the book is until I see the thumbnail.)without the .prc. I can't view the ebook via Calibre; it complains that it is DRM protected(my modification plugin seems to be ineffective). Any ideas?

kovidgoyal · 02-12-2010, 11:31 AM

Unfortunately, I can't help you with DRM removal.

bgalbrecht · 02-19-2010, 08:02 AM

I am also seeing this problem with most of the Mobipocket format ebooks I've purchased at Fictionwise. It looks to me as though these books have moved all the metadata into xml tags outside of the header. For example, when I convert this ebook from mobi to html with either the CPAN ebook package or mobi2html, I see this at the beginning of the book:

<html>
<head><dc:identifier>0803Asimovs</dc:identifier><dc:title>Asimov's SF, March 2008</dc:title><dc:
creator>Dell Magazine Authors</dc:creator><dc

ublisher>Dell Magazines</dc

ublisher><dc:rights>Copy
right © 2008 by Dell Magazines</dc:rights><dc:description>Science Fiction. 69421 words long. </
dc:description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:type>Novel</dc:type><dc:format>text/xml</dc:format><
dc:subject>Science Fiction</dc:subject></head>

kovidgoyal · 02-19-2010, 10:56 AM

calibre does detect internal mobi metadata.

bgalbrecht · 02-20-2010, 08:59 PM

I think the problem is that Calibre is looking for the metadata in a <meta> element block, but Fictionwise is putting them into a <head> element block.

kovidgoyal · 02-20-2010, 10:30 PM

yes calibre requires the metadata to be put inside a <metadata> element. The <metadata> element itself can be anywhere, including in the <head>,but it must be present.

bgalbrecht · 02-22-2010, 02:07 AM

So if the metadata tag is missing, what's the best way to go about adding it?

kovidgoyal · 02-22-2010, 02:35 AM

There isn't one. You could deconstruct, edit and rebuild the file, but it's easier to just enter the metadata by hand in calibre.

07-05-2008, 05:26 PM	#1
splat Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 348 Join Date: Dec 2006	Issues importing mobi books from Fictionwise. Has anyone else had any problems when importing books in Mobipocket format purchased from Fictionwise. Any time I import any of the books the metadata does not get picked up correctly. One of two things happens. 1) Title is set as the letter C and the author is set as the title of the book. 2) Title is set as the letter C and the author is set correctly. I've also notices that the detection of embedded covers is hit and miss. In all the books, the iLiad picks up the correct metadata. This happens with Calibre version 0.4.76 on both OS X and Windows.

02-19-2010, 08:02 AM	#10
bgalbrecht Wizard Posts: 1,806 Karma: 13399999 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: US Device: Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle 4	I am also seeing this problem with most of the Mobipocket format ebooks I've purchased at Fictionwise. It looks to me as though these books have moved all the metadata into xml tags outside of the header. For example, when I convert this ebook from mobi to html with either the CPAN ebook package or mobi2html, I see this at the beginning of the book: <html> <head><dc:identifier>0803Asimovs</dc:identifier><dc:title>Asimov's SF, March 2008</dc:title><dc: creator>Dell Magazine Authors</dc:creator><dcublisher>Dell Magazines</dcublisher><dc:rights>Copy right © 2008 by Dell Magazines</dc:rights><dc:description>Science Fiction. 69421 words long. </ dc:description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:type>Novel</dc:type><dc:format>text/xml</dc:format>< dc:subject>Science Fiction</dc:subject></head>

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07-06-2008, 09:21 AM	#5
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	I looked at some of my multi-format ebooks from FictionWise. The PRC version is sometimes in the old PalmDOC format, which only has the title in the header. In such cases Windows MobiPocket Reader also fails to pick up the author. Even when the PRC version is in READMOBI format, it might not include the author in its metadata. Sometimes the "Kindle Compatible (MOBI)" version is identical to the PRC version, but in other cases it is different and typically better (more metadata and a cover image). In the cases I tried, Calibre 0.4.76 picked up the same metadata as Windows MobiPocket Reader - which means that the Author is often Unknown. I only tried about half a dozen titles, so this wasn't a definitive test. In one case, the PRC (PalmDOC) file had no metadata but it did have a copy of (some of) the original .opf file which shows up in Windows MobiPocket Reader as "eBook Info" under Contents. Interestingly, Windows MobiPocket Reader did not extract the Author from eBook Info, and still shows the author as Unknown, but FBReader did detect the internal metadata and correctly identified the author.

07-06-2008, 11:44 AM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Can you send me one or two of these books it is failing on (alongwith the PID so I can de-drm them and take a look).

07-10-2008, 03:10 PM	#7
cen Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 140 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: iRex iLiad (v1) / Sony Librie	I've noticed the same thing. Fictionwise books all have the title set as C after import. Running the books through MobiDeDRM and importing the newly created copies, so far has resulted in the meta data being read correctly for all but one book, where Calibre seems to take the file name (without .prc) as the title. edit: this was on 0.4.77.

02-11-2010, 07:09 PM	#8
momghoti Zealot Posts: 121 Karma: 1000021 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Hook, UK Device: Cybook Bookeen	I've been having issues with importing certain Fictionwise prc ebooks as well, but for me they get a 'failed to read metadata' and the title is the file name (a bunch of letters and numbers, with no obvious meaning. I can't even figure out what the book is until I see the thumbnail.)without the .prc. I can't view the ebook via Calibre; it complains that it is DRM protected(my modification plugin seems to be ineffective). Any ideas?

02-12-2010, 11:31 AM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Unfortunately, I can't help you with DRM removal.

02-19-2010, 10:56 AM	#11
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	calibre does detect internal mobi metadata.

02-20-2010, 08:59 PM	#12
bgalbrecht Wizard Posts: 1,806 Karma: 13399999 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: US Device: Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle 4	I think the problem is that Calibre is looking for the metadata in a <meta> element block, but Fictionwise is putting them into a <head> element block.

02-20-2010, 10:30 PM	#13
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	yes calibre requires the metadata to be put inside a <metadata> element. The <metadata> element itself can be anywhere, including in the <head>,but it must be present.

02-22-2010, 02:07 AM	#14
bgalbrecht Wizard Posts: 1,806 Karma: 13399999 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: US Device: Nook Simple Touch, Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Clara HD, Kindle 4	So if the metadata tag is missing, what's the best way to go about adding it?

02-22-2010, 02:35 AM	#15
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	There isn't one. You could deconstruct, edit and rebuild the file, but it's easier to just enter the metadata by hand in calibre.

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