Calibre: Database question

[edembowski]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

...
@edembowski
sort is basically an automatically generated version of title that ignores leading prepositions. You shouldn't have to worry about it, it should be automatically updated when you change title.

pilotbob's right, I'm talking about the database field.

Why dont you use the bulk metadata dialog to edit series and the metadata dialog to edit ISBN?

You're certainly right, I could use the dialog boxes, but that takes a lot longer. I have a rather large set that I'm importing, and it's just easier to edit it in a table view, and not all the fields are visible in the calibre grid. I'm not asking to re code the app, that wouldn't make sense just for my needs.

Also, I'm trying to better understand the database layout. I've been trying to document the db structure & relationships (I know they're likely to change).

- Ed

[mollybo]

Uh oh, am I the only person that likes having all the books stored in the database? I've got a wacky system for uploading books and count on them being in the databse if I can't find them in the funky time-based system I use for keeping track of when I downloaded the files.

I guess I can do a mass export from the Calibre database to start a more rational filing system, but since I convert and upload things in chunks I prefer a single database that holds everything.

[kovidgoyal]

@edembowski

Ah well the sort column in the authors table is indeed unused. This is because books can have multiple authors.

The database has a normalized structure, in that it tries to contain any given piece of information in only one place. This is good for long term data integrity, but it means that the database isn't easy to edit in a generic database browser program.

I would suggest the following work flow:

Get a list of all the ids and any other needed information using calibredb

Launch calibre-debug

In calibre-debug create a LibraryDatabase instance and just use the set_isbn and set_series methods on it to easily change those fields.

@mollybo

Note that all you books and database will still be contained in a single folder (and its sub folders), so you can continue doing things just as you have been, except that when you copy the database to a new computer/location you have to copy a single folder instead of a single file.

[mollybo]

Oh, that's fine then. Y'all scared me for a moment! My system may not be efficient, but it works for me.

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

when I'm ready, I'll make an announcement calling for beta testers. But since you're on linux (the platform that receives the most testing from me, things should go smoothly)

How's this coming? This is slowly moving up my list of priorities since I am doing more work remotely and working with an 90MB database file over SSH is really painful. I am really looking forward to this!

[kovidgoyal]

I'm holding off on it till after 0.5.0 (which in turn is waiting for a few outstanding bugs to be squashed).

[vietchovui]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

@jplumey

The database and ebooks will all be stored in the same directory, the ebooks organized in sub directories by author. You have to keep both database and ebook files on the same server.

Author's names are usually mistyped. And I usually remember only the title of the book, not the author's name. I have difficulties in searching for the folder that contains the book.
So I want to put all book in the same directory, to be more precise in the root directory of calibre's database. What I have to do?
And after converting book, there are at least 2 different file types of the same book. So I think it will be wonderful if calibre could provide the feature to keep just one file type of the book and delete the others.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by vietchovui

Author's names are usually mistyped. And I usually remember only the title of the book, not the author's name. I have difficulties in searching for the folder that contains the book.
So I want to put all book in the same directory, to be more precise in the root directory of calibre's database. What I have to do?
And after converting book, there are at least 2 different file types of the same book. So I think it will be wonderful if calibre could provide the feature to keep just one file type of the book and delete the others.

Forget that Calibre's Data folder even exists (except for back ups).
You touch it wrong and you break parts of the database.

You can do everything you need from the GUI, or on rarer conditions: The command line.

Find a book by:
Author
or Title
or Tag (use the Luggage tag at the bottom)
or Series
or (when record added) Date

Then, you use Send to Device or Save to Disk. All without ever knowing which folder the original was kept in.

Tip: Fixing the Author Name in the Meta-data, fixes the folder name-path.
You can even use the Bulk edit feature to fix a whole bunch of variations at the same time..

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by vietchovui

Author's names are usually mistyped.

Vietchovui one thing to be clear on is that on initial install you should start Calibre by pointing it to an empty folder. This way any typos are on you and you can do what theducks suggests below. Fixing a typo in the metadata will also correct the folder typo.

Originally Posted by theducks

Tip: Fixing the Author Name in the Meta-data, fixes the folder name-path.
You can even use the Bulk edit feature to fix a whole bunch of variations at the same time..