How Can I export certain contents of a particuarl data fields

llphilly · 02-15-2020, 09:32 AM

Hello:

I have a custom field called "Category" where is I might category my books under certain subjects and subtopics as so:

CATEGORY
Business - Strategy
Business - Marketing
Business - Technology
Health - Nutrition
Health - Fitness
Health - General

Unfortunately this list has grown to a hundred different choices... and I need to do some consolidation of these choices...

Is there a way to export this field out of Calibre like in a CSV file so I can say import the list in excel and review it there?

It is hard to review right now and see the full list in one shot within Calibre bc there are so many choices... ?

Adoby · 02-15-2020, 09:42 AM

Calibre has a "Create Catalog" feature. It can do exactly what you want.

If you don't see the button for "Create Catalog" you can go to settings and add it to the main menu.

You might want to consider using a custom field of the type tags. It provides some very nice extra functionality in the tag browser.

For instance you get a category editor you can access by right-clicking the field in the tag browser.

And you can also use hierarchical tags by specifying that under Look And Feel and then Tag Browser.

Or you can use several tags for the same book. And search and create virtual libraries based on various combinations.

Hierarchical:
Nonfiction.Business.Marketing
Nonfiction.Business.Marketing.Internet

Multiple tags:
Business, Marketing, Nonfiction

theducks · 02-15-2020, 09:46 AM

See also the CLI (visit the help page: Commandline tools for info)
calibredb --list
That may give you finer control. either way should get you 'a' CSV

Katja_hbg · 02-16-2020, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by llphilly

Unfortunately this list has grown to a hundred different choices... and I need to do some consolidation of these choices...

For consolidation there may be an easier way than exporting as you could do maintenance in one step.
If the category colum is shown in the tag browser, right click, about forth entry from top «category maintain» (not sure about the wording as mine is german).
This will list all entries, how often used, and !! allow you to change it into any value incl any existing value which is in fact consolidation.

llphilly · 02-16-2020, 07:46 AM

Thanks you ALL for the recommendations ! I was able to extract a simple list of my Book Categories using the CREATE CATALOG feature and that helped alot ! I didn't know that feature existed.. so it's nice to have that to output this as well as some of the other fields info if i need to do some maintenance/checkups.

I will explore creating a custom field with the tags types as a future upgrade...:-)
The hierarchy feature sounds very handy..

And thank you for the tip on using the Tag browser. I knew about that feature and am using that for the actual consolidation part... I still needed the advice on how to export a simple list that I could review in Excel bc the list had grown so big that it was hard for me to review effectively within the application to start identifying those things i could consolidate...

Thanks again for taking the time to address my question.. :-)

02-15-2020, 09:32 AM	#1
llphilly Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: PA, USA Device: ipad, Kindle oasis	How Can I export certain contents of a particuarl data fields Hello: I have a custom field called "Category" where is I might category my books under certain subjects and subtopics as so: CATEGORY Business - Strategy Business - Marketing Business - Technology Health - Nutrition Health - Fitness Health - General Unfortunately this list has grown to a hundred different choices... and I need to do some consolidation of these choices... Is there a way to export this field out of Calibre like in a CSV file so I can say import the list in excel and review it there? It is hard to review right now and see the full list in one shot within Calibre bc there are so many choices... ?

02-15-2020, 09:42 AM	#2
Adoby Handy Elephant Posts: 1,736 Karma: 26785668 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Southern Sweden, far out in the quiet woods Device: Thinkpad E595, Ubuntu Mate, Huawei Mediapad 5, Bouye Likebook Plus	Calibre has a "Create Catalog" feature. It can do exactly what you want. If you don't see the button for "Create Catalog" you can go to settings and add it to the main menu. You might want to consider using a custom field of the type tags. It provides some very nice extra functionality in the tag browser. For instance you get a category editor you can access by right-clicking the field in the tag browser. And you can also use hierarchical tags by specifying that under Look And Feel and then Tag Browser. Or you can use several tags for the same book. And search and create virtual libraries based on various combinations. Hierarchical: Nonfiction.Business.Marketing Nonfiction.Business.Marketing.Internet Multiple tags: Business, Marketing, Nonfiction Last edited by Adoby; 02-15-2020 at 10:07 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Cannot modify selected data within Export Calibre data	Pholipe	Library Management	1	09-05-2019 11:34 AM
Managing multiple series in custom data fields	BadAngel	Library Management	2	07-20-2017 11:17 PM
Swap data between two fields	RealGomer3	Library Management	1	01-11-2016 10:20 PM
Renaming filename *.epub based on meta data fields?	ibu	Calibre	35	08-04-2013 06:06 PM
Data of costom fields not copied to other libary	Ababakar	Library Management	11	01-19-2012 06:44 AM

02-15-2020, 09:46 AM	#3
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,839 Karma: 54837878 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	See also the CLI (visit the help page: Commandline tools for info) calibredb --list That may give you finer control. either way should get you 'a' CSV

02-16-2020, 07:46 AM	#5
llphilly Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: PA, USA Device: ipad, Kindle oasis	Thanks you ALL for the recommendations ! I was able to extract a simple list of my Book Categories using the CREATE CATALOG feature and that helped alot ! I didn't know that feature existed.. so it's nice to have that to output this as well as some of the other fields info if i need to do some maintenance/checkups. I will explore creating a custom field with the tags types as a future upgrade...:-) The hierarchy feature sounds very handy.. And thank you for the tip on using the Tag browser. I knew about that feature and am using that for the actual consolidation part... I still needed the advice on how to export a simple list that I could review in Excel bc the list had grown so big that it was hard for me to review effectively within the application to start identifying those things i could consolidate... Thanks again for taking the time to address my question.. :-)