Lots of newbie questions - long post

AlexBell · 04-24-2009, 11:56 PM

The background to this post is that I broke my Cybook ereader yesterday. It will be some time before the new one arrives, so while I am waiting I thought I'd set up a Calibre library and reorganise my backups. I'm also going to remove DRMs with another program.

I keep my working ebooks on the Cybook SD card, and the backups on a flash drive. I'd like to make the folder structure of the SD card and the Calibre library on the flash drive match each other. On the Cybooks SD card I have folders for each author by surname, given names or initials (eg Bujold, Lois McMaster or Tolkien, J.R.R.) so they order alphabetically, and within the folder I rename the actual ebook file names if necessary so that they will order by sequence (eg Chalion1.prc, Chalion2.prc, etc). I very much do not want to have the ebook file name anything like Book Title - Author Name.prc (e.g. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith.prc).

Also, I very much prefer to have the author's name metadata as Given name or initials Surname (e.g. Lois McMaster Bujold or J.R.R. Tolkien) so it shows up that way on the Mobipocket reader screen.

So, is it possible to set up the Calibre library in the way described above? If so, how? I have practiced on a few books, but can't seem to get consistent results when changing the metadata fields.

Other questions
Is it possible to 'open up' an ebook in Mobipocket format to HTML with Calibre so I can correct typos and layout problems and then turn it back to Mobipocket?

I have noticed that some of the books on which I have practiced have multiple copies in the library folder. Is it possible to have each iteration overwrite the previous one?

One of the options in converting a file refers to removing paragraph spaces. Does this mean that I can convert Book.prc which has two or three lines of white space between paragraphs to Book.prc with indented paragraphs but no waste white space?

Is it possible to insert a page break at the end of chapters with Calibre?

Is there a tutorial anywhere where I can read up on questions like these without having to post on the forum?

Regards, Alex

sirbruce · 04-25-2009, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I'd like to make the folder structure of the SD card and the Calibre library on the flash drive match each other.

There's really no need to do this? Unless you're copying files straight over. You should use "Send to Device" in Calibre instead. As to your unique folder organization needs on your SD card, I don't know how Calibre handles that, but you can always rename things afterward.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Also, I very much prefer to have the author's name metadata as Given name or initials Surname (e.g. Lois McMaster Bujold or J.R.R. Tolkien) so it shows up that way on the Mobipocket reader screen.

You can edit the metadata of the author and author sort fields as you wish. There's even a setting so the author sort overrides the author field when you save or send to device.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

So, is it possible to set up the Calibre library in the way described above? If so, how? I have practiced on a few books, but can't seem to get consistent results when changing the metadata fields.

No, it's not possible to change Calibre's library organization. Calibre's library is for Calibre; it's not meant to the be the exact same thing you put on your ereader.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Other questions
Is it possible to 'open up' an ebook in Mobipocket format to HTML with Calibre so I can correct typos and layout problems and then turn it back to Mobipocket?

No. You could always convert from MOBI to EPUB, edit the EPUB, and then convert back to MOBI. But the EPUB won't work with a straight HTML editor so you'd have to have an understanding of the raw XML.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

I have noticed that some of the books on which I have practiced have multiple copies in the library folder. Is it possible to have each iteration overwrite the previous one?

You'd have to explain this in more detail. Each book has it's own directory; each directory has the same book one time for each format that's been provided for it. If you have two or more of the same format you need to delete one (either manually or from upper right in edit metadata inside Calibre). If you have multiple folders of the same number you have duplicate entries in Calibre; again, delete one from inside Calibre.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

One of the options in converting a file refers to removing paragraph spaces. Does this mean that I can convert Book.prc which has two or three lines of white space between paragraphs to Book.prc with indented paragraphs but no waste white space?

Is it possible to insert a page break at the end of chapters with Calibre?

I think someone else will have to address these specific questions; I think it depends on what format you're dealing with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Is there a tutorial anywhere where I can read up on questions like these without having to post on the forum?

The manual on the website isn't even complete, so I'm tempted to say "no".

AlexBell · 04-25-2009, 02:36 AM

Many thanks, Sirbruce, that's most helpful.

Regards, Alex

user_none · 04-25-2009, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

Other questions
Is it possible to 'open up' an ebook in Mobipocket format to HTML with Calibre so I can correct typos and layout problems and then turn it back to Mobipocket?

No. You could always convert from MOBI to EPUB, edit the EPUB, and then convert back to MOBI. But the EPUB won't work with a straight HTML editor so you'd have to have an understanding of the raw XML.

Actually, epub files are just zip archives with some xml for things like the table of contents but the book files themselves are html. Just rename the extension from epub to zip, extract, and you will see you can simply open the html content files in any editor. Make your changes, save, rezip and rename back to epub. the xml parts are pretty straightforward themselves, they will allow you set restructure the toc, change the metadata and add or delete html files.

sirbruce · 04-25-2009, 11:05 AM

Not in my experience. All the EPUB content files generated by Calibre are XHTML.

user_none · 04-25-2009, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Not in my experience. All the EPUB content files generated by Calibre are XHTML.

Correct, and so is the mobileread forum... Any recent html editor (dreamweaver will even validate the markup for you) will have no problem dealing with the content xhtml files within the epub archive.

darkmonk · 04-25-2009, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user_none

Correct, and so is the mobileread forum... Any recent html editor (dreamweaver will even validate the markup for you) will have no problem dealing with the content xhtml files within the epub archive.

XHTML is pretty much the same, although most all formatting goes in the css file. Seriously, unless you wanted to style it with invisible tables, you should be using XHTML.

darkmonk · 04-25-2009, 11:06 PM

oops, double post...

AlexBell · 04-26-2009, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirbruce

No. You could always convert from MOBI to EPUB, edit the EPUB, and then convert back to MOBI. But the EPUB won't work with a straight HTML editor so you'd have to have an understanding of the raw XML.

I'm sorry, sirbruce, I don't understand what you mean by this; you seem to indicate in a later post that Calibre's epub files are in XHTML format.

I can handle XHTML and CSS without too much problem with the CoffeeCup HTML editor.

Regards, Alex

sirbruce · 04-26-2009, 02:53 AM

I meant XHTML, not XML, yes. Always get those confused.

AlexBell · 04-27-2009, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirbruce

I meant XHTML, not XML, yes. Always get those confused.

Thanks, sirbruce.

Regards, Alex

04-24-2009, 11:56 PM	#1
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	Lots of newbie questions - long post The background to this post is that I broke my Cybook ereader yesterday. It will be some time before the new one arrives, so while I am waiting I thought I'd set up a Calibre library and reorganise my backups. I'm also going to remove DRMs with another program. I keep my working ebooks on the Cybook SD card, and the backups on a flash drive. I'd like to make the folder structure of the SD card and the Calibre library on the flash drive match each other. On the Cybooks SD card I have folders for each author by surname, given names or initials (eg Bujold, Lois McMaster or Tolkien, J.R.R.) so they order alphabetically, and within the folder I rename the actual ebook file names if necessary so that they will order by sequence (eg Chalion1.prc, Chalion2.prc, etc). I very much do not want to have the ebook file name anything like Book Title - Author Name.prc (e.g. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith.prc). Also, I very much prefer to have the author's name metadata as Given name or initials Surname (e.g. Lois McMaster Bujold or J.R.R. Tolkien) so it shows up that way on the Mobipocket reader screen. So, is it possible to set up the Calibre library in the way described above? If so, how? I have practiced on a few books, but can't seem to get consistent results when changing the metadata fields. Other questions Is it possible to 'open up' an ebook in Mobipocket format to HTML with Calibre so I can correct typos and layout problems and then turn it back to Mobipocket? I have noticed that some of the books on which I have practiced have multiple copies in the library folder. Is it possible to have each iteration overwrite the previous one? One of the options in converting a file refers to removing paragraph spaces. Does this mean that I can convert Book.prc which has two or three lines of white space between paragraphs to Book.prc with indented paragraphs but no waste white space? Is it possible to insert a page break at the end of chapters with Calibre? Is there a tutorial anywhere where I can read up on questions like these without having to post on the forum? Regards, Alex

04-25-2009, 11:06 PM	#8
darkmonk Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 12 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: none	oops, double post... Last edited by darkmonk; 04-25-2009 at 11:07 PM. Reason: double post; wish could delete

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04-25-2009, 02:36 AM	#3
AlexBell Wizard Posts: 3,413 Karma: 13369310 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Launceston, Tasmania Device: Sony PRS T3, Kobo Glo, Kindle Touch, iPad, Samsung SB 2 tablet	Many thanks, Sirbruce, that's most helpful. Regards, Alex

04-25-2009, 11:05 AM	#5
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	Not in my experience. All the EPUB content files generated by Calibre are XHTML.

04-26-2009, 02:53 AM	#10
sirbruce Provocateur Posts: 1,859 Karma: 505847 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Device: Kindle Touch, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, iPhone 3GS	I meant XHTML, not XML, yes. Always get those confused.

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