Quote:
Originally Posted by danwatto
Hi All,Some of my books use Lastname, Firstname, and others are Firstname Lastname.
The sorting is not a problem because I let it automatically set Author_sort.
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As previous posters have pointed out there is no "the right way" of doing this.
I personally prefer Firstname Lastname. Looks more natural, and you get to use the best of both worlds.
There is reason why some people prefer Lastname, Firstname
When you sort on the "Authors column" and you have it stored in F L format, it will sort using Author_sort and that might be confusing. I solve this problem by adding a custom column, "Column built with other columns" and as a template I select {authors}. I display this custom column next to the default Authors column, as a very narrow one, solely for the purpose of sorting the Authors in plain alphabetical order.
You can rebuild the Authors column from mixed L, F and F L notation to the "proper" F L notation using "edit metadata in bulk", "Search and replace"
search field: Authors
Search mode: Regular exporessions
Search for: ([^,]*), (.*)
Replace with: \2 \1
Explanation of the Regular Expression
( begin the first group
[^,] any character but a colon
* repeating as many times as possible
, followed by colon and space
( begin second group
. any character
* repeating as many times as possible
) end of second group
Explanation of the Replacement expression:
\2 second group
space
\1 first group
After doing this replace you might want to set the Author_sort to the proper value of L, F.
To do so uncover the tag browser at the left, right click on "Authors" heading, select "Manage authors" and click on "recalculate all Author sort values".
Please note:
DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!
Before playing with renaming of large number of books using the Regular expressions MAKE BACKUP of your library.
You have been warned (TM)!