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CarstenF · 08-30-2015, 04:41 PM

Dear calibre group,

I've read the manual, but still please allow some questions about downloading metadata for a single book:

1. When I use Goodreads as the single metadata provider, I get a single result that comes with a great comment (and other fields). When I additionally use Amazon as the second metadata provider, I get two results, but none of them is exactly like the one obtained with Goodreads alone. Instead, it looks as if in one result, the comment is somehow composed of the individual comments from Goodread and Amazon. Is that possible, and the intended result? If so, how does this mechanism (generally) work?

2. Whenever I download metadata, all downloaded fields (whose checkbox is set so that they are accounted for) will, when OK is clicked, unconditionally overwrite/replace the previous field values. Is that correct?

3. If the answer to 2. is "yes", doesn't that imply a conflict/problem if I wanted to download e.g. the tags (for newly added books) and to manually edit them at a later time? After all, an accidental re-download would overwrite my hand-edited tags!?

(EDIT: Same problem for the rating column: When I add a new book, it's ok to download the rating along with the other metadata. After I've read a book, I would rather record my personal rating, foregoing the provider's value. Thus, the existing default column seems fine for this, but if I accidentally re-download the metadata, all is lost?)

4. Assuming that the answer to 2. is "yes", if I wanted to add my own, custom comment in addition to the default comment (e.g. a review), a much better approach than adding my comment to the existing default field is to add another, custom, dedicated column, right?

Any help would much be appreciated!

Best regards,
Carsten

08-30-2015, 04:41 PM	#1
CarstenF Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Germany Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Metadata download questions Dear calibre group, I've read the manual, but still please allow some questions about downloading metadata for a single book: 1. When I use Goodreads as the single metadata provider, I get a single result that comes with a great comment (and other fields). When I additionally use Amazon as the second metadata provider, I get two results, but none of them is exactly like the one obtained with Goodreads alone. Instead, it looks as if in one result, the comment is somehow composed of the individual comments from Goodread and Amazon. Is that possible, and the intended result? If so, how does this mechanism (generally) work? 2. Whenever I download metadata, all downloaded fields (whose checkbox is set so that they are accounted for) will, when OK is clicked, unconditionally overwrite/replace the previous field values. Is that correct? 3. If the answer to 2. is "yes", doesn't that imply a conflict/problem if I wanted to download e.g. the tags (for newly added books) and to manually edit them at a later time? After all, an accidental re-download would overwrite my hand-edited tags!? (EDIT: Same problem for the rating column: When I add a new book, it's ok to download the rating along with the other metadata. After I've read a book, I would rather record my personal rating, foregoing the provider's value. Thus, the existing default column seems fine for this, but if I accidentally re-download the metadata, all is lost?) 4. Assuming that the answer to 2. is "yes", if I wanted to add my own, custom comment in addition to the default comment (e.g. a review), a much better approach than adding my comment to the existing default field is to add another, custom, dedicated column, right? Any help would much be appreciated! Best regards, Carsten Last edited by CarstenF; 08-30-2015 at 04:50 PM.