File name as book title?

[Raddatzjos]

I have a series of books (nearly 60 of them!) that I went through and did a batch file rename of on my MacBook to make them easier to sort on my Nook Simple Touch, my thought being I'll start book 1's title with 01, book 2's with 02, and so forth all the way to 60, thus arranging them in the order they're meant to be read. To my dismay, this is not the case due to the Nook displaying not the file name, but rather the metadata in the file, something my batch rename tool doesn't do and a detail I didn't realize until I was finished.

Is there a way to use Calibre to batch edit the metadata of all the books so their file name becomes the title my Nook displays so my device sorts them correctly? I have the patience to read, but not to rename files one by one, especially if I discover the need to attempt this again.

[toddos]

Look at setting up a "Metadata plugboard" for your device in the settings. For example, I have this configured for my Nook STR:

epub:NOOK_COLOR = {series}{series_index:0>2s| - | - }{title}

Basically, that means "for format epub, when sending to device NOOK_COLOR (the STR reports as NOOK_COLOR), name the book on the device as 'Series name - NN - Title of book", where the "Series name - NN - " part only happens if the book has a defined series. That means books end up in my Nook library as "A Song of Ice and Fire - 05 - A Dance with Dragons".

Edit for clarification: This happens when you send books to your device. It doesn't change how books are listed in calibre, and it definitely doesn't change anything about the file on disk. And of course you should never touch the files on disk themselves except through calibre, lest you break your library.

For more information, read the docs.

[Sabardeyn]

Raddatzjos,
Someone more knowledgeable than me will come by shortly and give you better information for Send to Device / Save to Disk, as applicable. I don't use an ereader so I cannot really advise there. (Luckily, Toddos got here before me!)

If you changed the filename for the files in either your calibre Library on your Mac, or the books sent to your Nook, I would think you're going to have problems because the filenames no longer match. My guess would be that you're going to have to revert the changes you made. However, I would suggest waiting until you get confirmation from a more informed user.

You might want to look into a batch file renaming program that can perform Regex functions on the Mac. As I use a PC I cannot suggest an application. I mention it because it should allow some fancy renaming to correct things. For instance, it could be used to strip those leading numbers and any spaces (sometimes multiple passes are required). This might make things easier. Be advised that regex is very powerful and one of those things you have to use sparingly and carefully - it's easy to mess up instead of fixing things.

(Calibre offers regex on book data [only] via the Edit Metadata screen, Search & Replace tab. This includes the info calibre uses to set the expected, internal ebook filename format required to make the program function properly.)

[Raddatzjos]

I edited the filenames before adding to Calibre, so my library wasn't affected. My books don't have series information in them, it would have to be done manually, much like editing the titles would, because each book is currently sorted alphabetically, not chronologically, and there is no date listed in there either.

Also, I don't understand what you mean by "regex functions". Looking it up, I find you mean "regular expression" but Calibre works in Python and I'm a truly horrible programmer.

[Sabardeyn]

Yes, regex is Regular Expression.

It is a complex search methodology that you've been using in it's simplest form every time you perform a search of any kind, anywhere. But most of the more complex stuff has been hidden; handled behind the scenes for you by whatever program (or website) you are using.

I recommended a Mac application that allows bulk file renaming with regex support simply because it can do lots of changes if necessary and, with some practice, handle almost anything you might come across. No matter how strange.

Take a look around the RegexBuddy website for some examples on what regex can do and how to program it. This is a Windows only program meant to help teach and create regex expressions.

Regex comes in several flavors, depending on how a programming language implements search functions. Most of the stronger programming languages have their own version of regex. So there is python regex, C regex, etc. They're generally pretty close in syntax. Calibre uses python regex.

If you look through the various topics here in the calibre foums, you will find that their are a lot of regex expressions scattered about. Here are two regex topics:

Tyrannasaurus Regex
More fun with regex / wildcards

[Raddatzjos]

Not to sound rude, Sabardeyn, but what does the file renaming program used have to do with getting the file name to show up as the book title in Calibre? I understand you're trying to help me find another useful program, but that's not my current issue here. I used A Better Finder Rename 9 (a program that works quite well, especially for someone new to tools like that) to rename the files before adding them to Calibre, but I want those file names to be the book titles rather than the titles embedded in the metadata.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Raddatzjos

I want those file names to be the book titles rather than the titles embedded in the metadata.

toddos pointed you to a solution in post 2 though you will need to use the series column (or a custom column) marking them from 1 - 60. Use metadata plugboards to set the title in your book as it is sent to your device. For more info check out this sticky post or this tutorial (change as needed).

[Sabardeyn]

Raddatzjos,
I thought you wanted a quick fix for the files on your HDD or device while you went back and corrected book metadata. A bulk renamer with regex would be simpler than manually altering 60 filenames.