Bulk Set metadata from file info

[Le_noir]

Hi folks; long time user of Calibre, first-time poster. I've been importing, and expect to import many more, works that benefit from the "Set the metadata for the book from the selected format" option in the upper/right corner of the Edit Metadata box. Because of the number of works, I wanted to find a way to have those option applied to a group of works in bulk, or at a minimum upon initial import.

Since the "Edit Metadata in bulk" option does provide a similar functionality for covers via "Change cover/Set from ebook file", I have hopes that my searches of this forum and the Calibre docs have simply not hit the right option; perhaps it's in a plugin I've missed or a command-line tool? For example, since not all of these works have ISBN numbers in the text, use of the "Extract ISBN" plugin has been iffy at best over a large set of works, whereas the Set metadata option is 90%+ reliable, and thus preferred by me.

If worse comes to worse, I'd be happy to write and give back to the community a plugin if there's interest, but first I wanted to see if I'm just missing functionality.

Thanks for reading!

[theducks]

Look at the bottom of The Bulk Metadata edit window.

See that Tick box (*Change Cover area) 'Set from ebook files'

You are correct in that there is No equivalent for The Metadata.
It is a Manual Entry form after all

[Le_noir]

Originally Posted by theducks

Look at the bottom of The Bulk Metadata edit window.

See that Tick box (*Change Cover area) 'Set from ebook files'

I was only using that as an example of what I'm trying to do, since you can update Covers from the books via both the individual and bulk dialogs, as I strove to indicate in my post. I promise I'm not ignorant of the implications of what I wrote.

Indeed, my confusion stems from the fact that I can do Covers but not Metadata in bulk, but both individually, thus:

Originally Posted by theducks

You are correct in that there is No equivalent for The Metadata.
It is a Manual Entry form after all

Then I'm confused, or perhaps being confusing. Please bear with me? Let me walk through my thoughts in a bit more detail:

You can update both cover and metadata as one-click actions in the Edit metadata->Edit metadata individually dialog (in the upper-right corner, as I noted). This is how I've been doing it to-date, and I know it works. If you doubt my actions, I can write them out in detail, so there's no further confusion.

So why can you update only covers via the Bulk dialog? And if you can get metadata updated directly from your books (as opposed to using the various Amazon/etc. searches) in a Bulk process, how does one do so?

Hopefully that helps clarify my questions.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Le_noir

I was only using that as an example of what I'm trying to do, since you can update Covers from the books via both the individual and bulk dialogs, as I strove to indicate in my post. I promise I'm not ignorant of the implications of what I wrote.

Indeed, my confusion stems from the fact that I can do Covers but not Metadata in bulk, but both individually, thus:

Then I'm confused, or perhaps being confusing. Please bear with me? Let me walk through my thoughts in a bit more detail:

You can update both cover and metadata as one-click actions in the Edit metadata->Edit metadata individually dialog (in the upper-right corner, as I noted). This is how I've been doing it to-date, and I know it works. If you doubt my actions, I can write them out in detail, so there's no further confusion.

So why can you update only covers via the Bulk dialog? And if you can get metadata updated directly from your books (as opposed to using the various Amazon/etc. searches) in a Bulk process, how does one do so?

Hopefully that helps clarify my questions.

Usually you are further along than needing metadata from the file (that should be done as part of the Import).

If you had not noticed (Individual metaedit: blue I) it is All or nothing, no field selection. It even overwrites/overrides tag Case

[Le_noir]

Originally Posted by theducks

Usually you are further along than needing metadata from the file (that should be done as part of the Import).

In these cases, it clearly is not occurring, and I've done both individual and entire dir imports with the same basic effect.

In this case, I'm using the DeDRM plugin(s) to import these files, which leaves the books titled with the Amazon ID the files are named with and no other metadata save the date I imported it on. Not terribly useful, thus the need for the bulk pull of the metadata, and the inability to rely on ISBNs. If people think that's the core issue, I can direct this to the comments page on that plugin for feedback.

I am aware it's an all-or-nothing update; as my only other option at the moment is near-nothing, I judge it an acceptable risk.

[theducks]

How many books are you talking about?

Sort/filter on a field that is currently blank <fieldname>:false
start at the top: Single metadata edit:
Select the format if more than 1 (I believe it will work without selecting if only 1):

Click the blue i : Use the Next button:
Repeat

[Le_noir]

Originally Posted by theducks

How many books are you talking about?

Enough, and with more coming in regularly, that I wish to do the process in bulk.

I'm not certain of your point with the steps, as I've noted in each comment I'm already doing those steps to pull the metadata from the book format into Calibre. What I was asking is that, since those steps are somewhat tedious when applied to a large selection of works, I'd like to do in bulk, similar to how covers can be done.

If you, or someone reading this forum, knows how to bulk update the metadata, thanks! If not, I'll direct the question elsewhere, as it might mean I have to write a plugin or similar tool, and I'm OK with that. I just thought that, before doing coding, I'd check to see if I was missing functionality.

[kovidgoyal]

The dedrm plugin does not prevent reading metadata from files. Indeed the DRM or otherwise status of files is irrelevant to reading metadata, since metadata is not DRMed (apart from covers). You probably have read metadata from filenames instead of file contents enabled in Preferences->Adding books or you have disabled the mobi metadata reader plugin in preferences->plugins.

[Le_noir]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

You probably have read metadata from filenames instead of file contents enabled in Preferences->Adding books

That was it -- I just tested against a known file, and it pulled the metadata successful. I'll likely just dump and re-import the files I still need the info from.

Thanks for the help, that was exactly what I needed to know (and in fairness, should have remembered from when I changed those options for another set of imported works about a year ago!)

[JSWolf]

The best way to update the metadata is once you have it edited in Calibre for ePub eBooks, use the Modify ePub plugin. This will allow you to update the covers and metadata without a conversion being done. It works very well.