Can I have multiple libraries?

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by JvdW

Check if the folder Calibre contains files like gui.py and global.py among others.
If so make a copy of the folder and proceed as outlined in the previous posts, substituting the right path.

Regards,

Joop

Joop is correct.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Ok, I copied that one folder but you are confusing me about making the .bat files. Can you go into more detail? Btw, my libraries are named e-Books and e-Songbooks. Does that make a difference? I can rename both or delete and rebuild e-Songbooks if necessary (it has only one test entry in it). Btw, I added my sig with my system

[JvdW]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Ok, I copied that one folder but you are confusing me about making the .bat files. Can you go into more detail? Btw, my libraries are named e-Books and e-Songbooks. Does that make a difference? I can rename both or delete and rebuild e-Songbooks if necessary (it has only one test entry in it). Btw, I added my sig with my system

Just make the batch files according to your path, I'm guessing its something like:
C:\Documents and Settings\Setup\Application Data\Calibre1
and
C:\Documents and Settings\Setup\Application Data\Calibre2
and then start the first one.
e-Books.bat

set CALIBRE_CONFIG_DIRECTORY=C:\Documents and Settings\Setup\Application Data\Calibre1
calibre

e-SongBooks.bat

set CALIBRE_CONFIG_DIRECTORY=C:\Documents and Settings\Setup\Application Data\Calibre2
calibre

After starting e-Books.bat, goto Preferences and change its Library path to the one you want, that is, e-Books.

Do the same for the other batchfile, e-SongBooks.bat.

From now on you'll only have to double click on either bat file to use the select library.

Hope I have been not to quick for you, if so just tell me/us and we'll try again.

No worries,

Joop

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by JvdW

Just make the batch files

Again, Joop is correct. I gave you instructions on "how" to make the batch files by creating an empty text file first, then change its name to the batch file name, then edit it. Sometimes, people don't know how to "create" the file, and I find the easiest way is the method I described. You can also copy another bat file, change the name, delete the contents and paste in the new content you need.

If your computer does not show the file extension (a stupid Windows default), the second method may be easier for you.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

You guys must think I'm a complete idiot because I'm still confused.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

You guys must think I'm a complete idiot because I'm still confused.

Don't worry about it Just tell us what is confusing you and we'll walk you through it step by step. At the end, you'll look back and say "Aha!"

Perhaps an overview would help:

You already have two libraries, but only one configuration directory. The configuration directory is connected to the last of the two libraries you accessed. You need a second configuration directory (that's what you're working on now) and two batch files, one for each library. Once you have the batch files, one will start up configuration1 and the other configuration2. At first, configuration2 will be pointed to the same library as configuration1, because they are copies of each other. You will need to run the batch file for each and fix the wrong one (by changing the library in preferences) so that configuration1 points to library1 and configuration2 points to library2. Then you are done. and thereafter you can use the two batch files to start whichever set you want.

Did that help?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Starson17

Don't worry about it Just tell us what is confusing you and we'll walk you through it step by step. At the end, you'll look back and say "Aha!"

Perhaps an overview would help:

You already have two libraries, but only one configuration directory. The configuration directory is connected to the last of the two libraries you accessed. You need a second configuration directory (that's what you're working on now) and two batch files, one for each library. Once you have the batch files, one will start up configuration1 and the other configuration2. At first, configuration2 will be pointed to the same library as configuration1, because they are copies of each other. You will need to run the batch file for each and fix the wrong one (by changing the library in preferences) so that configuration1 points to library1 and configuration2 points to library2. Then you are done. and thereafter you can use the two batch files to start whichever set you want.

Did that help?

Not really. Here is where I am stumped:

Originally Posted by Starson17

...Put this inside it with notepad:
...

How do I do that? Can I give the .bat files slightly different names, such as calibre e-Books.bat and calibre songs.bat? Can I put the .bat files somewhere other than the desktop, such as in the libraries themselves (I would put shortcuts in the quick launch tray). Also, will I have to go through all of this everytime I update calibre?

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Not really. Here is where I am stumped:

Put this inside it with notepad:

How do I do that?

Right click the file and choose "Edit" or open Notepad and chose File|Open, then select the bat file to edit.

Can I give the .bat files slightly different names, such as calibre e-Books.bat and calibre songs.bat?

Yes, you can give them any name you want.

Can I put the .bat files somewhere other than the desktop, such as in the libraries themselves (I would put shortcuts in the quick launch tray).

Yes, you can do this, too.

Also, will I have to go through all of this everytime I update calibre?

No. It's only done this once. Calibre updates the program files when you update. Both configurations will use the same set of program files, so a single update will fix them all. Sometimes the program files will change the configuration files and/or the library metadata.db file, but that will happen the first time you run each batch file, so both of your configurations and their libraries will eventually end up updated automatically.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Well, I no longer fear hell for I have managed to get the bat(ty) files set up and working. During the process, I first lost all my books and entires in calibre (fortunately, I had an online backup of the folder and one parked on my desktop that I made before tackling this; I also had the originals but having to restore that way would have been "annoying"), then, after restoring everything, I somehow wound up moving all but three of my books to the songbook library (all three books themselves "evaporated" and one entry in calibre also went south; the one entry and songbook in the songbook library also went south but it was easy to restore). After figuring out which books went away (I had to open each one to find the two books that disappeared and compare line by line the calibre listing against the original files to find the missing entry; very time consuming), I swapped the names of the libraries and restored the missing books and entry from the original files (faster than downloading from online). I then moved the .bat files to the appropriate calibre library folders and dragged shortcuts to the quick launch tray. Then I replaced the icon for the Songbook library with one of an eighth note (I couldn't find one suitable for books).

I still have a couple of questions:

1. Is it necessary for me to use the first .bat file to open calibre in my e-Book library or can I just open calibre using the normal shortcut? It seems to work ok and would have the appropriate icon on the shortcut.

2. Someday, I'm going to have my hard drive partitioned into two drives, one of which will be just for my OS and program files. If the libraries, complete with the .bat files, are moved to the new second partiton (assuming I correct the path in the .bat files), will everything still work when I install calibre in the new first partiton or will I have to start over again?

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Well, I no longer fear hell for I have managed to get the bat(ty) files set up and working. During the process, I first lost all my books

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. It shouldn't have happened - a statement that I'm sure is of no comfort to you whatsoever.

1. Is it necessary for me to use the first .bat file to open calibre in my e-Book library or can I just open calibre using the normal shortcut? It seems to work ok and would have the appropriate icon on the shortcut.

The first bat file says to Calibre ""Use my original config file - it's located here ....." The old link says "start Calibre and use whatever the default config file is." The default will be at the location it's always been at. I suspect both will work fine, but I can't be sure. I suppose it's possible that while running under config2, Calibre might change the default. At worst, you'd find that the old link simply opened the new library. I'd keep both of the new bat files, just in case, but I can't see how it would hurt to use the old link if it works.

2. Someday, I'm going to have my hard drive partitioned into two drives, one of which will be just for my OS and program files.

That's how I'm set up.

If the libraries, complete with the .bat files, are moved to the new second partiton (assuming I correct the path in the .bat files), will everything still work when I install calibre in the new first partiton or will I have to start over again?

You have shortcuts to the bat files. Those will break, since you will be moving the bat files. You'll need to fix the shortcuts. The bat files themselves will work correctly, but when you run them, the configs they start up will point to the old library they were associated with, and that library will have moved. You'll just have to run Preferences once with each and point it to the new library location. From then on it will work. Bottom line - the batch files and configs don't need to be redone, but you'll need to redo things you would have broken even without the dual library setup.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Starson17

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. It shouldn't have happened - a statement that I'm sure is of no comfort to you whatsoever. ...

Don't feel bad; seems to be the story of my life.

Originally Posted by Starson17

The first bat file says to Calibre ""Use my original config file - it's located here ....." The old link says "start Calibre and use whatever the default config file is." The default will be at the location it's always been at. I suspect both will work fine, but I can't be sure. I suppose it's possible that while running under config2, Calibre might change the default. At worst, you'd find that the old link simply opened the new library. I'd keep both of the new bat files, just in case, but I can't see how it would hurt to use the old link if it works.

I wasn't planning on removing the first .bat file. It's safely tucked away in the library where I'm not likely to mess with it. I have the original shortcut parked on my desktop so I'll just move it back to the quick launch. If a problem develops, it will be easy to make a new shortcut to the .bat file.

Originally Posted by Starson17

You'll just have to run Preferences once with each and point it to the new library location.

YIKES! That was where things went horribly wrong! Oh well, I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get there. It will be a while before I fool with it. Thanks for all your help and patience.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

YIKES! That was where things went horribly wrong! Oh well, I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get there. It will be a while before I fool with it. Thanks for all your help and patience.

I'd like to understand what happened. You'd been switching back and forth between your libraries regularly before this, so I don't understand why this caused a problem. It should have just been one final switch, using the identical steps to all the other changes you'd made before

One thought is that one of the batch files pointed to an empty or incorrect folder for the configuration? I'm not sure what Calibre would do in that case. I wouldn't want to put anyone else through all this without knowing what went wrong for you.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Starson17

One thought is that one of the batch files pointed to an empty or incorrect folder for the configuration? I'm not sure what Calibre would do in that case.

If CALIBRE_CONFIG_DIRECTORY points at a non-existent folder, calibre creates that folder and runs the welcome wizard. This is a rather convenient way to create new configurations for existing libraries.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Starson17

I'd like to understand what happened. You'd been switching back and forth between your libraries regularly before this, so I don't understand why this caused a problem. It should have just been one final switch, using the identical steps to all the other changes you'd made before

One thought is that one of the batch files pointed to an empty or incorrect folder for the configuration? I'm not sure what Calibre would do in that case. I wouldn't want to put anyone else through all this without knowing what went wrong for you.

Well, you have already seen what a dunce I am when it comes to computers so I don't know what to tell you. I doubt it was the batch files since I made no changes to them after creating them. I have no idea why the files disappeared. The weirdest part was when I pointed to the songbook folder and all my files were transferred there. I fixed that by swapping folder names. Next time, I'm going to create new folders to get things working, then replace them with the loaded ones (same file names).

[JvdW]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Well, you have already seen what a dunce I am when it comes to computers so I don't know what to tell you.

If you don't mind someone watching you when you do it next time there are programs which allow remote help. I might be willing todo that.

Regards,

Joop