Converting EPUB to AZW3/MOBI

[cybmole]

Doubly impressed. Now for quadruple gold stars persuade kovid to implement the feature request that makes it unnecessary to hide the darn things in the first place

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Just to explain a few things

for /r says scan the current directory and all sub directories
"%1" ensures that if the matched file name contains spaces there are no issues
%~p1 extracts the directory name
%~n1 extracts just the file name (with no path or extension)

AH... I could have simplified

for /r %1 in (*.original_epub) do 7za a "%~p1""%~n1".7z "%1"

to

for /r %1 in (*.original_epub) do 7za a "%~pn1".7z "%1"

@PeterT - after packing the original-epub into the 7z and removing it, would one not need tell calibre about the removal of the original_epub and the addition of the 7z? And after extracting the original_epub, wouldn't one need to do the same - tell calibre the original epub is there?

To do the 'telling calibre' of changes to available formats, I think one would need the calibre book row number - which is available from the book folder name or the adjacent metadata.opf file.

If calibre's not told of the changes then the Library Maintenance->Check Library should throw exceptions.

@cybmole - you've known about this issue for quite a long time, yet it seems you have persisted with your 'misuse' of the ORIGINAL_EPUB for purposes other than that for which it was designed. If this is now creating you problems, then welcome to the world of 'How recalcitrance can lead to unintended consequences'. Political history is littered with examples - Charles I and Louis XVI are just two that spring to mind, I won't mention those of more recent times.

ORIGINAL_FMT files are never going to be what you want them to be, any more than the earth will become flat. So why don't you bite the bullet and implement your own scheme for securing the format as originally downloaded, as many others have done on realising they've misunderstood the purpose of ORIGINAL_FMT files.

Me, I create the book with say blah-blah.epub, I then rename blah-blah.epub to blah-blah.epub_orig and add that to the newly created book, there's not much can be done in calibre with a XXXX_ORIG format - but at least I know where it is should I ever want it. And I tweaked ORIGINAL_FMT files off, preferring to rely on my backup regime as I do for all other data.

BR

[cybmole]

Actually.I haven't been able to misuse the darn things and have no wish to. They just sit there doing nothing, as designed.,except for when they jump in and ruin a conversion from epub. Please explain the misuse felony in more detail
The misuse I wish to apply but can't, is to have them go awol while I convert from epub is all.

[cybmole]

Ps in all respects but one, they are exactly what I want them to be, an archived copy of the book as added. That IS the current design, so long as tweak epub is set to not overwrite.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by cybmole

Actually.I haven't been able to misuse the darn things and have no wish to. They just sit there doing nothing, as designed.,except for when they jump in and ruin a conversion from epub. Please explain the misuse felony in more detail
The misuse I wish to apply but can't, is to have them go awol while I convert from epub is all.

@cybmole - Maybe 'mis-imagining' would have been a better word, I mis-inherited 'mis-use' from an earlier post

As I read your issue - you want to the ORIGINAL_FMT file to be the format file with which you created the book.

When I started using calibre I too assumed that was the purpose of the ORIGINAL_FMT files. But when I found out it wasn't that - and that they were copies that calibre creates in case something goes awry with conversion, modify, polish etc - which was something I didn't need, I shrugged and moved on as previously described.

As I already said IMO, the confusion is with the name - would better if it had been LASTGOOD_xxxx. The non word LASTGOOD better expresses the purpose and unlike ORIGINAL it does not have a common usage meaning that's been established over the last several millennia.

Originally Posted by cybmole

Ps in all respects but one, they are exactly what I want them to be, an archived copy of the book as added. That IS the current design, so long as tweak epub is set to not overwrite.

Could you be more specific I can't find a anything with 'overwrite' in Tweaks.

BR

[PeterT]

@BetterRed: Agree with you but I was just trying to show cybmole how trivial it was to do what he asked

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by cybmole

Actually.I haven't been able to misuse the darn things and have no wish to. They just sit there doing nothing, as designed.,except for when they jump in and ruin a conversion from epub. Please explain the misuse felony in more detail
The misuse I wish to apply but can't, is to have them go awol while I convert from epub is all.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@cybmole - Maybe 'mis-imagining' would have been a better word, I mis-inherited 'mis-use' from an earlier post

As I read your issue - you want to the ORIGINAL_FMT file to be the format file with which you created the book.

I stand by my description. Is that not indeed a "use"? It is according to my dictionary.

"Using" them as a storage mechanism for the first canonical version of the books is exactly the use I was referring to -- whether those files ever get utilized (by some bespoke per-device conversion regimen?) is orthogonal to the issue.

[cybmole]

If "allowing them to exist" constitutes "misuse" then guilty as charged.
I did not design the upgrade which caused them to be created at 1st conversion and to then stick around afterwards. I just derive comfort from knowing that they are there as a fallback. I want the original_FMT file to be what it is, no more no less, created as per the current rules, no more no less.
no misuse, no harm no foul so far, yes?

So original_FMT can be defined as a file that is optionally created at first conversion or at first tweak, depending which happens first and depending what prefs you set.

I think we are all on the same page with that. I don't want to redefine it or mess with the ( complex) rules of when/ how/ if it gets created.

My issue/bug/feature whatever is wanting to STOP them being force- used when converting to a DIFFERENT format, without having to hide or destroy them in order to achieve that.
More of a non-use than a mis-use crime ?

PS tweak never overwrites an original_FMT file. it optionally creates one if none exists., so a name change to "last good" would be inaccurate, unless called "last good before last tweak" which is a bit of a mouth full.

my only gripe, as I am sure you are all sick of reading is that when I convert FROM epub TO another DIFFERENT format, I cannot use what is truly my "most recent good" epub , I am forced to use original_epub. all I want is a choice ,- there, and only there; I am not wanting versioning. If calibre editor insisted on opening original_FMT each time and ignoring your previous edits, a lot more of you would be up in arms. I simply want the conversion process to follow the same logic as the edit process.

the thread has shown that it's only trivial to work-around this if you have a mastery of MS DOS & even then there are some unresolved questions as to how that affects library integrity checks.
I can manually get around it no problem, as I only want the occasional convert. : open path, move original_epub to desktop, convert epub to azw, move it back into calibre folder.
When I did the bug report/feature request. I argued that selecting source format "epub" on drop down list on the conversion screen should mean exactly that,and not mean well OK but behind the scenes we're gonna use original_epub, like it or not), but have been shot down repeatedly for illogic.

I will leave y'all with that while I go figure if I'm now being orthogonal

[eschwartz]

No mastery of MS-DOS is needed, I can do the same thing via bash instead.

On a more serious note -- you needn't work around it at all -- simply don't use it.

P.S. The editor doesn't save backups; since it is a manual process by definition, all edits have been cleared by you, and there is no need to back them up.

[BetterRed]

When you drive down a one-way cul-de-sac, then there only two ways out a) dig a hole to sleep in, pop your head up every few months in the hope that the city planners will see the madness of one-way cul-de-sacs or b) sprout wings (write a script), or call for an airlift (commission someone to write a script), to get you out of there

You seem to have chosen option a).

It's too late for you to do what I did, after nudging into that same o-w c-d-s, I slammed the motor into reverse saying 'Cor, that's not the way to Dublin', and backed myself out of there, toot-toot (sweet) :lol:

My method, workaround if you insist, involves zero scripting - all done with a file manager and calibre library manager. At no stage are the library folders & files out of whack with the database - i.e. no library integrity comprises. And calibre doesn't do a darn thing with my .FMT_ORIG files, except move them when needs must.

The term Whingeing Pom comes to mind. Brit down under here. Looks like we're for some Aussie's Bragging Boorishly, might need to dig a hole to hide in for a week or two Ψ²

BR

[cybmole]

yep , option A is me.

i'm trying to stop keeping the thread alive, but others insist .

I am fine with muddling along using what I & others have come up with, and keeping the whingeing down to no more than twice a year