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smallhagrid · 07-29-2013, 10:17 PM

I am not a coder of any sort.
I am grateful to those who ARE coders for the hard work they do which is very much beyond my abilities.

I am just a boring old guy who likes very much to read fiction.

After trying a number of devices I figured out what is best for me, and:
In the realm of content ALL that matters to me is the story; I don't give a hoot about covers, TOC, nuttin but the story, thanks.

As a result I am finally also facing the conversion of ALOT of ebooks from an assortment of file formats to simple, plain TXT files.
(I thought I might use EPUB files, but even that was an excessive idea for me.)

A while back I asked about conversions in this posting:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=196946
(Actually I've asked a few times altogether, each a little bit differently...)

And much to my chagrin was basically told it was Calibre, or bust.
I got cold sweats, turned bright green and could not sleep for days after hearing that - so I contented myself with reading what was already ready for my use and forgot about the entire subject for months...until now...(urp).

I have long hoped that somehow, someone would create an alternative to that which frightens me so badly - but apparently this is just not to be and Calibre remains the dominant force even after so much time has passed.

So I'm facing my doom because I want to read that which must first be converted.

And here it goes...:

There were around 600 titles in Palm format which were of zero use to me as-is, so I re-visited that thread (mentioned above) to be reminded of what it suggested.
Then I created a separate partition for the anticipated mess, got Calibre Portable ready - and added the books.
That part went OK - but after that...well...
The tirade begins below here, so be warned=>

The source was 50 folders named by author containing different amounts of titles in each.
ALL were known, titled works and there were ZERO sub-folders for each author.

The results ?!?

1.
Hours of waiting and watching a dominated PC because even with loads of RAM and multiple CPU cores Calibre was ALL that could be running during conversion. The cores were all mostly 100% used the whole time.

2.
EVERYTHING was renamed and relocated, and VERY badly.

3.
The horrid thing rearranged what had been very neatly sorted by author in the original 50 folders into a huge mess of around 300 folders with insane naming - some author's names, some kludged up titles, some numbers only, and worst of all=> the dreaded UNKNOWN folder.

4.
Somehow the UNKNOWN folder had in it another 300+ subfolders, also insanely named.

5.
Each of the aforemention folders in this mess had AT LEAST another sub-folder within it before the files could be gotten to.

6.
A goodly number of files failed to convert, error messages resulting - which kept me having to respond every few minutes for all this time.

All said and done - it will now take me DAYS and DAYS to clean up this horrid mess and to put it back into any sort of sane order by author so that they may actually be found and used in my reader.

I am reminded of being told to 'just use Calibre to convert, remove the files, done' idea and my response is...:

JUST !?!?!?!

Just.... WHAT !?!?!?!

This is a nightmare of epic proportions - and assuredly makes me wish to avoid having this happening for the larger collection I will want converted at some point in the future.

I imagine a situation of equal absurdity, thusly:

**************************
It is a lovely sunny day, and 2 friends want to go cruise around a bit and maybe go dancing later.
The car is quite dirty though.

One says: I hadn't planned to wash the car today doggone it !!
The other says: Hey, how about the nifty new spot on Main st. that is a dance club with a carwash - and the wash is included in the cover ???
OK then, sounds great, let's go there.

Off they go and it's really nifty, there's a drive-up where you pay the cover, give the car to a valet, and go right into the club (after being warned that if you drink too much they get to keep your keys overnight).

Great place, great music, great dancing, and hours later it's time to go home.
So off they now go to collect the keys from the attendant and into the well-lit parking lot.

And there's the car - shining nicely...but something seems a bit odd about it...?

Upon closer inspection there is a lump on the roof that looks suspiciously like the gas pedal; all the glass seems to be solidly black and it's impossible to see inside the car...and then they open it up, and...oh my.

Somehow the seats are upside-down and backwards - stuck to the roof, the brake pedal is someplace in where the back of it used to be, and the steering wheel is finally found inside the trunk, where, somehow, there is now a spare tire that is...
Square ?!?

Angry to a huge degree they line up at the attendant's shack who is shrugging and cringing at all the yelling by the angry mob, muttering that something must have gone wrong, he guesses - and would y'all like to use the phone to get a tow truck ??

Assuming the car can be fixed AT ALL=> it will take a month or more and cost more than it's worth (at least) to fix it, so that's going to create a huge hardship.

And -=IF=- that car EVER gets fixed, after sitting in that garage's lot so long, it's going to need another washing doggone it !!!
**************************

My view of this process:

At the start of this there was ZERO mess, but alot of files that were useless to me as they were.

After using this wonderful, FREE tool there is now a mess beyond belief and some usable files.

There needs to be an easier, better way to batch convert files that one already has (And that have no DRM); maybe Mr. Goyal can 'just' add a setting to his work that allows importing & converting without ANY renaming and no rearrangement at all ?!?

In the simplest terms - all the above is why I do truly and sincerely despise using Calibre; it seems alot like trading in a nagging headache - to instead have a massive bleeding ulcer.
Not good.

That's my 5 cents, and I am sorry if it ruffles any feathers.

I simply believe that it needed to be said, and so here it is.

07-29-2013, 10:17 PM	#1
smallhagrid Hillbilly Posts: 189 Karma: 132498 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Vermont Device: EZReader	Conversion: Woe upon me. I am not a coder of any sort. I am grateful to those who ARE coders for the hard work they do which is very much beyond my abilities. I am just a boring old guy who likes very much to read fiction. After trying a number of devices I figured out what is best for me, and: In the realm of content ALL that matters to me is the story; I don't give a hoot about covers, TOC, nuttin but the story, thanks. As a result I am finally also facing the conversion of ALOT of ebooks from an assortment of file formats to simple, plain TXT files. (I thought I might use EPUB files, but even that was an excessive idea for me.) A while back I asked about conversions in this posting: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=196946 (Actually I've asked a few times altogether, each a little bit differently...) And much to my chagrin was basically told it was Calibre, or bust. I got cold sweats, turned bright green and could not sleep for days after hearing that - so I contented myself with reading what was already ready for my use and forgot about the entire subject for months...until now...(urp). I have long hoped that somehow, someone would create an alternative to that which frightens me so badly - but apparently this is just not to be and Calibre remains the dominant force even after so much time has passed. So I'm facing my doom because I want to read that which must first be converted. And here it goes...: There were around 600 titles in Palm format which were of zero use to me as-is, so I re-visited that thread (mentioned above) to be reminded of what it suggested. Then I created a separate partition for the anticipated mess, got Calibre Portable ready - and added the books. That part went OK - but after that...well... The tirade begins below here, so be warned=> The source was 50 folders named by author containing different amounts of titles in each. ALL were known, titled works and there were ZERO sub-folders for each author. The results ?!? 1. Hours of waiting and watching a dominated PC because even with loads of RAM and multiple CPU cores Calibre was ALL that could be running during conversion. The cores were all mostly 100% used the whole time. 2. EVERYTHING was renamed and relocated, and VERY badly. 3. The horrid thing rearranged what had been very neatly sorted by author in the original 50 folders into a huge mess of around 300 folders with insane naming - some author's names, some kludged up titles, some numbers only, and worst of all=> the dreaded *UNKNOWN* folder. 4. Somehow the *UNKNOWN* folder had in it another 300+ subfolders, also insanely named. 5. Each of the aforemention folders in this mess had AT LEAST another sub-folder within it before the files could be gotten to. 6. A goodly number of files failed to convert, error messages resulting - which kept me having to respond every few minutes for all this time. All said and done - it will now take me DAYS and DAYS to clean up this horrid mess and to put it back into any sort of sane order by author so that they may actually be found and used in my reader. I am reminded of being told to 'just use Calibre to convert, remove the files, done' idea and my response is...: JUST !?!?!?! Just.... WHAT !?!?!?! This is a nightmare of epic proportions - and assuredly makes me wish to avoid having this happening for the larger collection I will want converted at some point in the future. I imagine a situation of equal absurdity, thusly: ************************ It is a lovely sunny day, and 2 friends want to go cruise around a bit and maybe go dancing later. The car is quite dirty though. One says: I hadn't planned to wash the car today doggone it !! The other says: Hey, how about the nifty new spot on Main st. that is a dance club with a carwash - and the wash is included in the cover ??? OK then, sounds great, let's go there. Off they go and it's really nifty, there's a drive-up where you pay the cover, give the car to a valet, and go right into the club (after being warned that if you drink too much they get to keep your keys overnight). Great place, great music, great dancing, and hours later it's time to go home. So off they now go to collect the keys from the attendant and into the well-lit parking lot. And there's the car - shining nicely...but something seems a bit odd about it...? Upon closer inspection there is a lump on the roof that looks suspiciously like the gas pedal; all the glass seems to be solidly black and it's impossible to see inside the car...and then they open it up, and...oh my. Somehow the seats are upside-down and backwards - stuck to the roof, the brake pedal is someplace in where the back of it used to be, and the steering wheel is finally found inside the trunk, where, somehow, there is now a spare tire that is... Square ?!? Angry to a huge degree they line up at the attendant's shack who is shrugging and cringing at all the yelling by the angry mob, muttering that something must have gone wrong, he guesses - and would y'all like to use the phone to get a tow truck ?? Assuming the car can be fixed AT ALL=> it will take a month or more and cost more than it's worth (at least) to fix it, so that's going to create a huge hardship. And -=IF=- that car EVER gets fixed, after sitting in that garage's lot so long, it's going to need another washing doggone it !!! ************************ My view of this process: At the start of this there was ZERO mess, but alot of files that were useless to me as they were. After using this wonderful, FREE tool there is now a mess beyond belief and some usable files. There needs to be an easier, better way to batch convert files that one already has (And that have no DRM); maybe Mr. Goyal can 'just' add a setting to his work that allows importing & converting without ANY renaming and no rearrangement at all ?!? In the simplest terms - all the above is why I do truly and sincerely despise using Calibre; it seems alot like trading in a nagging headache - to instead have a massive bleeding ulcer. Not good. That's my 5 cents, and I am sorry if it ruffles any feathers. I simply believe that it needed to be said, and so here it is. Last edited by smallhagrid; 07-29-2013 at 10:22 PM. Reason: eye kent spill tu gud.