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Old 04-28-2012, 01:34 PM   #1
africalass
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Using Empty Books to store other document types

Hi!

I'd just like to check if some of my actions on library management are feasible.

When I write a course (as a teacher) I then store it in my Calibre teaching library. These are normally .doc / .docx / .pdf files so this works fine. Handouts and other related notes can then also be added and I put them in the same 'series'.

I also like to add any associated .ppt or .mp4 that relate to the course so that they are all together. I do this by creating an empty book (with appropriate tags and in the same series) and then going to the file path and pasting the file in. This is the only time I ever do anything with the library structure, as I love that Calibre manages it for me.

However, I want to be sure that Calibre will not delete any such files, as it manages the file structure. Would Calibre delete these? Is it likely that in a future version these would be deleted? Is there any better way to catalogue these files with Calibre?

I do recognise that Calibre was not created for these types of files, and so understand if there is no way to store them. It's just that I love this management system, and am finding all my docs much easier to find this way.

Thanks so much.
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Old 04-28-2012, 02:04 PM   #2
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If Calibre does not know about the file, then here is always a danger that it inadvertently gets lost. I think from what you said you are adding this file outside Calibre's functionality so that Calibre does not know about it?

However you should be able to add any file type via the formats section of the Edit Metadata dialog. If you do that then Calibre will know about the file, and will also list it as a 'format' in the Calibre GUI.
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Old 04-28-2012, 02:43 PM   #3
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Hi

Thanks for the reply. yes, I was adding without Calibre's 'knowledge' as I didn't know I could add non book formats. I always add via the 'add books' or 'add books from directories'.

Is the method you're talking about done via the 'add files' (or shift+A) way, which I've not used previously? Or how do I use the Edit Metadata dialogue to do this?

Many thanks.
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Old 04-28-2012, 02:54 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by africalass View Post
Hi

Thanks for the reply. yes, I was adding without Calibre's 'knowledge' as I didn't know I could add non book formats. I always add via the 'add books' or 'add books from directories'.

Is the method you're talking about done via the 'add files' (or shift+A) way, which I've not used previously? Or how do I use the Edit Metadata dialogue to do this?

Many thanks.
No. You first create an Empty book entry as you have been doing. Then select that entry and hit the Edit Metadata dialog and add the file from there.

Having said that if you do not already have a book entry I think you can still add one of these files via Add Books option.
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Old 04-28-2012, 03:20 PM   #5
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Thanks so much. Will do it this way from now on. I'm presuming once Calibre knows about it that it won't delete it. I'm also guessing that this method will mean that I can't have multiple powerpoints with different filenames in.

Thanks
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Old 04-28-2012, 04:07 PM   #6
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Thanks so much. Will do it this way from now on. I'm presuming once Calibre knows about it that it won't delete it. I'm also guessing that this method will mean that I can't have multiple powerpoints with different filenames in.
Correct. The files get the same name as would be the case for an eBook file. You can only have a single file with any given file extension attached to a particular eBook entry.

One thing you can do is store several files in a RAR or ZIP archiVe and add that instead.
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Old 04-28-2012, 05:06 PM   #7
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many thanks.
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Old 04-30-2012, 06:55 AM   #8
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What I do in this situation is a little better, as it allows storage of any files, but still uses calibre as the Dbase.

Make an empty book as normal, and edit the metadata as you see fit.
Then make a folder in your Documents, or where ever you want to store all your related files. create a shortcut to this file, and drag it on to calibre so it makes an entry. Then just merg the two entries, keeping the lnk and metadata.

You could make the folder first and just drag it in, then change metadata to suit.

This means Calibre only has the .lnk in the database, and all your files are in your own folder structure, easy to copy move backup and add to as you need. This is great for files that calibre does not support.
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Old 04-30-2012, 12:22 PM   #9
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Thanks for this - I like the idea and might try it. Especially as sometimes I have multiple presentations / images for one course, so it would be much neater.

My concern would be about backing up if they are held separately, but I suppose this would be negated if I make a separate folder next to all my other Calibre Libraries specifically for such files. Though the links may be lost if the libraries and extras folder were copied to another computer?

Thanks.
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