Is the Calibre library directly portable to current e-readers?

Chris Jones · 10-26-2012, 02:58 PM

I have populated a fairly large (~3GB) library on my laptop using Calibre's "add books" capability.

I was planning on copying this library to a micro SD card, popping the SD card into a (yet-to-be acquired..) e-reader, and start reading..

I looked at the structure of the Calibre library and saw that:

* There is an SQLite metadata.db database file at the top level of the Calibre library tree

* The custom book cover files that I downloaded manually/separately live at the top of each book's directory tree rather than inside the .epub files

This gives me a feeling that the Calibre library may not be fully compatible with the software on e-readers and that what I had in mind may not work as I hoped..!

Are my assumptions correct..?

Will I have to use the "Send to device" features of Calibre to upload the books to the e-reader via a USB connection..?

Has anyone had a comparable experience..?

jgaiser · 10-26-2012, 03:11 PM

SQLite is just for calibre. Won't interfere with uploading books to ereader.

Custom book covers are *not* automatically added to metadata. You will need to use the "Update epub" plugin or do a epub->epub convert.

Calibre is *fully* compatible with *all current* ebook readers.

While you can manually move files onto your ebook reader, calibre handles the transfer quite nicely.

Many of us have many years of successful experience with calibre.

Chris Jones · 10-26-2012, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgaiser

SQLite is just for calibre. Won't interfere with uploading books to ereader.

Custom book covers are *not* automatically added to metadata. You will need to use the "Update epub" plugin or do a epub->epub convert.

Calibre is *fully* compatible with *all current* ebook readers.

While you can manually move files onto your ebook reader, calibre handles the transfer quite nicely.

Many of us have many years of successful experience with calibre.

Thanks for the good news..!

What I would like to achieve is to have a master library on the PC and slave "read-only-environments" on one or several e-readers.

Basically, the idea is that:

1. Provided I update the sd cards whenever I add new books (or on a weekly basis.. e.g.), all libraries would remain in sync'
2. The slave libraries could be recreated at a pinch in the event an sd card goes bad or is mislaid..
3. Downloads to the PC would be faster in my particular setup
4. Updating the library on the sd card(s) would also be much faster using tools such as rsync than using Calibre's "send to device" feature.
5. I could easily create 'starter set' libraries for family or friends that they would update whichever way they please henceforeward..
6. Customization of (free) ebooks via sigil, the Gimp, inkscape.. etc. would be simpler.

Of course, the merits/downsides of this projected setup would be easier to evaluate if I alredy owned an e-reader of some description or other.. but I'd rather have some idea of how I will organize before I commit to any particular brand/model..

Thanks..!

susan_cassidy · 10-26-2012, 07:10 PM

You just want the book files on the ereader, not any of the other stuff. An rsync would transfer everything, which I don't think you would want. Not all ereaders have sd card slots, or the ability to display folder structure, which you find in Calibre.

Chris Jones · 10-26-2012, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

You just want the book files on the ereader, not any of the other stuff. An rsync would transfer everything, which I don't think you would want. Not all ereaders have sd card slots, or the ability to display folder structure, which you find in Calibre.

Thanks..! I mentioned rsync, because the idea would be to synchronize the files on the PC's HD with the contents of the SD card, rather than copy 3GB's worth every time I add a couple of books. Come to think of it, this raises another issue.. I'll have to run a test to verify that I can have all my .epub's in one flat directory and replace the .epub files currently in the Calibre library by soft links with the same names pointing to the actual files. I don't see any reason why Calibre would have any problem with that.. SQLite might, though..

Dopedangel · 10-27-2012, 02:44 AM

You are over thinking it. Use calibre to send files to your reader if you want to send files directly to sdcard and not use the ebook reader. Then you can use connect to folder option in calibre. Calibre detects what files are already on your device so you can dend only updated files later if you want.
Different readers have different requirements some will read the metadata but wont support series. Some will support folders so depending on the reader you get you can set up calibre to send files accordingly.

10-26-2012, 02:58 PM	#1
Chris Jones Addict Posts: 242 Karma: 37089 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: none	Is the Calibre library directly portable to current e-readers? I have populated a fairly large (~3GB) library on my laptop using Calibre's "add books" capability. I was planning on copying this library to a micro SD card, popping the SD card into a (yet-to-be acquired..) e-reader, and start reading.. I looked at the structure of the Calibre library and saw that: * There is an SQLite metadata.db database file at the top level of the Calibre library tree * The custom book cover files that I downloaded manually/separately live at the top of each book's directory tree rather than inside the .epub files This gives me a feeling that the Calibre library may not be fully compatible with the software on e-readers and that what I had in mind may not work as I hoped..! Are my assumptions correct..? Will I have to use the "Send to device" features of Calibre to upload the books to the e-reader via a USB connection..? Has anyone had a comparable experience..?

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10-26-2012, 03:11 PM	#2
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,281 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	SQLite is just for calibre. Won't interfere with uploading books to ereader. Custom book covers are not automatically added to metadata. You will need to use the "Update epub" plugin or do a epub->epub convert. Calibre is fully compatible with all current ebook readers. While you can manually move files onto your ebook reader, calibre handles the transfer quite nicely. Many of us have many years of successful experience with calibre.

10-26-2012, 07:10 PM	#4
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	You just want the book files on the ereader, not any of the other stuff. An rsync would transfer everything, which I don't think you would want. Not all ereaders have sd card slots, or the ability to display folder structure, which you find in Calibre.

10-27-2012, 02:44 AM	#6
Dopedangel Wizard Posts: 1,759 Karma: 30063305 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Singapore Device: Boyue	You are over thinking it. Use calibre to send files to your reader if you want to send files directly to sdcard and not use the ebook reader. Then you can use connect to folder option in calibre. Calibre detects what files are already on your device so you can dend only updated files later if you want. Different readers have different requirements some will read the metadata but wont support series. Some will support folders so depending on the reader you get you can set up calibre to send files accordingly.