Originally Posted by irmar
I said, let's try these options one by one. Open the epub with a zip program. OK.
I right clicked, chose "Open with" and then went to Winrar. It opened its window where it showed various things inside the epub. "iTunesMetadata.plist", "mimetype", as well as two folders, OPS and META-INF.
I right-clicked "iTunesMetadata.plist" and it showed me some metadata. I found the artist (it obviously means the author), the title and some other incomprehensible things. I tried to write on that document, but it wasn't possible to change anything.
I selected everything and told Winrar to extract. It made a folder, with all those things inside.
The META-INF folder only had container.xml. I opened that one with Dreamweaver, and it had some lines of code, nothing specific. Not even the name of the book or author.
The OPS folder had another folder inside it, called images, in which there was only one image,
epubbooks-logo.png
Nothing to do with metadata.
So the iTunesMetadata.plist is the only one containing metadata, but it couldn't be opened. I probably need iTunes to open that one? Since I don't have it and don't want to have it (Apple has been pestering me for years to install it even when I have never asked for it!), I tried opening it with Calibre but that didn't work. Hmmm....
So I didn't succeed with the first solution. Maybe I didn't understand the directions, they were aimed at somebody more experienced in this than I am.
Now for the second option. Edit with Calibre.
I opened Calibre and added my book, then clicked on "Edit metadata", choosing "Individually". I saw the author and title. The author was named twice:
Author(s): George Eliot
Author string: Eliot,George.
Now I tried the same thing with an ebook which had the filename all messy:
"Alvin Maker 2 - Red Prophet - Card_ Orson Scott.epub"
I opened it with Calibre, and went to Edit Metadata.
Here I found chaos.
Author: Card, Orson Scott
Author string: Scott, Card, Orson
Now in this case, on the first line they have the name by Surname, Name 1 and 2 (as it should be on the string line) and on the second line, just a complete mess, like if the program didn't know which was the first name, which the middle and which one the last name.
I tried another one:
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens.epub
I found everything in order.
First line Charles Dickens
Second line Dickens, Charles.
So, although it wasn't so in the filename, inside Calibre it was alright.
I tried to change the filename to
Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities.epub
and re-added it to Calibre. Again it was ok. No changes whatsoever.
So, a bit laboriously, I got my answer. Actually, what you already told me: If the file is well made, and has its metadata, it doesn't matter if the filename is put in the right order, because the Opus doesn't it find it from there but from the metadata.
All this calls for another question. To know whether the metadata is there (and is correct), should I open one by one with Winrar? Or load each and every one of them in Calibre?
The answer is NO. I mean, even if I should, I am not prepared to do it. I'd rather change all the filenames, just in case!
The opus will create a few files, with thumbnail, metadata, position. You will need to delete these to refresh
Delete these where? When I have the Opus connected to my computer and I can view/modify its folders, right?
Well, my idea was to delete all of the content of the folders and put them back, properly renamed and re-arranged.
Of course, it will take a while to complete the job. Maybe I'll do it gradually. SIGH!
But still I'm thankful that I have an Opus and not a Kindle, and at least I'm able to tamper with things.
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