Exported book names prefixed with forward slash

[Tech Guy]

I use Calibre with Linux (Ubuntu, and Mint). Often, my books end up with a forward slash as the first letter of the book's name - not in the metadata, but in exported books.

I get books from the library in a couple of ways, both of which exhibit this symptom. I connect to the content server from my Android reader, Moon+ Reader, or I export books to a USB-attached Kindle reader.

This can cause a problem if I want to find information on the book from the app, as the book will not be found unless I am able to edit the name to delete the forward slash.

FWIW, I have a duplicate library on Dropbox that i use to connect from my Android devices using Calibre Companion, and it doesn't seem to have this problem.

Has anyone had this problem? If so, did you solve it?

EDIT: I found the source of this problem (see post at end). It was caused by having installed, then uninstalled the DeDRM plugin.

[kovidgoyal]

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. Since the forward slash is a path separator, how can it be part of a filename? Can you post a couple of examples of exactly what you are seeing?

[Tech Guy]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. Since the forward slash is a path separator, how can it be part of a filename? Can you post a couple of examples of exactly what you are seeing?

Well, for example, on my Kindle. I click on the list of my books, and there is a list of books looking like this:

/The Devil of Nanking
Mo Hayder
.................................... 1%

/Book by Book
Michael Dirda
.............. 0%

Music Theory: From Beginner to Expert
Nicolas Carter
......... 0%

The first two were transferred from Calibre to the Kindle via USB. The 3rd was an Amazon freebie.

I've seen the same results using my Android app Moon+ Reader, for some but not all books transferred via the content server.

If I search for info on one of these books, it says it couldn't find the book (unless I can erase the leading backslash).

I hope this is clear.

[kovidgoyal]

Those names come from the metadata, not filenames. So either the metadata is already like that in calibre, or you have a metadata plugboard setup in Preferences->Metadata plugboards that is doing that.

[Tech Guy]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Those names come from the metadata, not filenames. So either the metadata is already like that in calibre, or you have a metadata plugboard setup in Preferences->Metadata plugboards that is doing that.

Thanks, I realize it's something from metadata, but it doesn't show that way in the library's metadata, and I have no added plugins, just the standard ones.

The standard format I use is epub. When I transferred a book to the Kindle, it created a mobi format. I opened both of those formats in calibre, and checked the metadata using the info icon, and there was no slash. But on the Kindle, it has a slash.

I just started up the content server, and downloaded a book to my phone. I noticed it showed up in the file manager with a leading underscore, but in Moon+ reader, it had a leading slash.

Next, I went into Calibre, and chose "Test Server", which connects to the library using a browser (Firefox). I clicked on a book, and got the book information page. I then clicked on "Get", and it shows an open dialog, with the name of the file showing a leading underscore. However, looking at the actual files on my hard disk, there is no leading underscore for any filenames.

So, it seems to be something to do with the content server, and whatever is used for transferring files to the Kindle. Are they related?

[theducks]

My suggestion is to rename your Calibre configuration folder, then start Calibre, which will recreate it with 'factory settings'

Note: Underscores are SUBSTITUTED when a OS meaningful character is encountered in the filename (like / or wildcards)
could you have // (escaped /) in a template? a single /, is make a folder level

Preference (Add/Send) settings only affect First use
You need to make REVISIONS down im Preferences PLugins
OR (simpler)
With the device connected: Right click the Device Icon: Configure

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Tech Guy

I use Calibre with Linux (Ubuntu, and Mint). Often, my books end up with a forward slash as the first letter of the book's name - not in the metadata, but in exported books.
...
Has anyone had this problem? If so, did you solve it?

I have been using Calibre on Mint Linux for years and exported thousands of books. I haven't seen such problem.

Please explain where the forward slash '/' is. Is it in the filename or in Metadata of an exported book?
How do you 'export' the book. Do you use "save to disk" function? Do you use "send to device"?

Please check template in the "Saving books to disk". This is an example of working template for filenames:

{author_sort:.1}/{authors}/{series:|# |}/{series_index:0>3s|| - }{title} - {authors}/{series_index:0>3s|| - }{title} - {authors}

Please check Metadata plugboards if you do not have some template set up here.

If that doesn't work, can you upload an example of such file for me to check and send me PM with the address? I will try to import the file into my instance of Calibre and see whether I can reproduce the problem with your book.


It is possible to create filename beginning with a forward slash or containing other funky characters on Linux. Not even difficult. It is just very strongly discouraged - so very few Unix/Linux manuals write about how to do it.

[Tech Guy]

Originally Posted by theducks

My suggestion is to rename your Calibre configuration folder, then start Calibre, which will recreate it with 'factory settings'

Note: Underscores are SUBSTITUTED when a OS meaningful character is encountered in the filename (like / or wildcards)
could you have // (escaped /) in a template? a single /, is make a folder level

Preference (Add/Send) settings only affect First use
You need to make REVISIONS down im Preferences PLugins
OR (simpler)
With the device connected: Right click the Device Icon: Configure

I have not changed settings at all, nor do I have any added plugins or templates. The problem was there in my old Ubuntu Distro for a while, although I didn't have a Kindle at the time. I recently had Ubuntu borked during an upgrade, so I installed Linux Mint, and installed Calibre without any saved settings.

However, I did check through some settings, and have come up with new info in my future post, if that helps.

[Tech Guy]

Originally Posted by kacir

I have been using Calibre on Mint Linux for years and exported thousands of books. I haven't seen such problem.

Please explain where the forward slash '/' is. Is it in the filename or in Metadata of an exported book?
How do you 'export' the book. Do you use "save to disk" function? Do you use "send to device"?

Please check template in the "Saving books to disk". This is an example of working template for filenames:

{author_sort:.1}/{authors}/{series:|# |}/{series_index:0>3s|| - }{title} - {authors}/{series_index:0>3s|| - }{title} - {authors}

Please check Metadata plugboards if you do not have some template set up here.

If that doesn't work, can you upload an example of such file for me to check and send me PM with the address? I will try to import the file into my instance of Calibre and see whether I can reproduce the problem with your book.


It is possible to create filename beginning with a forward slash or containing other funky characters on Linux. Not even difficult. It is just very strongly discouraged - so very few Unix/Linux manuals write about how to do it.

Thanks, but many of your questions were answered in my post. I have a completely vanilla setup, recently installed. The problem was in Ubuntu, but I recently installed Mint, and it's still there. I have more information in my next post.

[gbm]

Originally Posted by Tech Guy

Thanks, but many of your questions were answered in my post. I have a completely vanilla setup, recently installed. The problem was in Ubuntu, but I recently installed Mint, and it's still there. I have more information in my next post.

What version of calibre are you using? Did you install from http://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux or use the Ubuntu Distro?.

bernie

[Tech Guy]

I started the content server from the preferences, and used the "test server" button to experiment within Firefox.

I found that when I click on the "Get" button in Firefox, I can see the name of the file that will be downloaded. They mostly have a leading underscore, mostly being an interesting word here.

What I finally found was that the files that are part of a series do not have the mangled filename, and they are prefixed by the series name followed by an underscore. The name used by the server is not the same as the filename in the library, nor is it the same as the metadata filename. This made it hard to figure out.

So, the filename as presented by the content server is: "series_Title - Author Name_nnnn.xxx", with nnnn being the number assigned by Calibre. Apparently, if there is no series, it is generating "_Title - Author Name_nnn.xxx", without detecting that the series name is blank.

I added a series ("X") to a book that had the leading forward slash on my Kindle, and the result was "X/Title - Author Name". So, that is the source of the forward slash.

I'm a bit surprised that only my installations do this, but I attribute this to bad luck and trouble, which is my middle name. Or names, I guess. :-(

[Tech Guy]

Originally Posted by gbm

What version of calibre are you using? Did you install from http://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux or use the Ubuntu Distro?.

bernie

I use the one from calibre-ebook.com. My bash history remembers the command, so it's easy.

[Tech Guy]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Those names come from the metadata, not filenames. So either the metadata is already like that in calibre, or you have a metadata plugboard setup in Preferences->Metadata plugboards that is doing that.

Thanks. I found that it's coming from code that uses the metadata, creating the name from valid metadata in such a way as to make it unusable for functions that use the file name.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Tech Guy

I started the content server from the preferences, and used the "test server" button to experiment within Firefox.

I found that when I click on the "Get" button in Firefox, I can see the name of the file that will be downloaded. They mostly have a leading underscore, mostly being an interesting word here.

I have tried to reproduce the problem with the newest Calibre installed on Mint Linux Quiana, KDE version.
Everything works the way it is supposed to.

Are you sure you have no Metadata Plugboard set up for device called "Content server"?

If I put '/' string here it gets included in the downloaded file name (or replaced with an undescore in case of Firefox)

It is possible to put together a template language example that would insert '/' into the beginning of the "Title" field for books with non-existing series using template language as described here:
https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/template_lang.html

Go to Options, Metadata Plugboard
Add a new plugboard:
Format: any format
Device: content_server
Source template: {series:ifempty(/)|| - }{series_index:0>3s|| - }{title} - {authors}
Destination field: title

If your plugboard is empty and Calibre still behaves the way you describe, try to create a new one plugboard as described above, set
Source template: {title}
and observe results.


The Calibre is AMAZING. I keep discovering unbelievable features. I never had the need to have a closer look at the advanced features of the Template language and the plugboards until today. And I am blown away. *Again*.
Thank you Kovid.

[Tech Guy]

Originally Posted by kacir

I have tried to reproduce the problem with the newest Calibre installed on Mint Linux Quiana, KDE version.
Everything works the way it is supposed to.

Are you sure you have no Metadata Plugboard set up for device called "Content server"?

...

As I said, I have a completely stock installation of the latest Calibre, with no plugins and no modifications. I have an empty page for Metadata Plugboards. I am using Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon.

So, are you saying you set up the content server, and tested the "get'' function for a book that is not part of a series, and the resulting filename did not have anything added? Did you try it with a book that is part of a series? I'm wondering if it added the series name to the beginning of the book name, as mine does. Personally, I would prefer it not to do that - it seems silly.

I don't want to go in to add a workaround unless I find out that there is no other way, as in the future, it will get lost, and I'll have to figure out what I did to recreate it. I would rather find the code that is causing the problem, and either confirm that it's a bug, or find out why it's doing this.

I really find it pretty hard to believe that I'm the only one with this problem since there is nothing unusual about my installation.