I maintain a separate 'library' for Authors, in this library each author has a single 'book title' place holder containing a cover.jpg and a metadata.opf file. All the data is in the database.
I use the
calibre:// URL scheme to link items in the Authors library to items in the Books Library and vice-versa. This is done via the Link field in Manage Authors -- specifically:
In the Authors library the Author Link field contains a link of the form:
Code:
calibre://search/_hex_-<books-library>?eq=<blah blah book>
When the Author Name in the Authors Details panel is clicked the list of books by that Author in the Books library will show.
In the Books library the Author Link field contains a link of the form:
Code:
calibre://show-book/_hex_-<authors-library>/NNNN)
When the Author Name in the Books Details panel is clicked the record of the Author in the Authors library will show.
The calibre:// links can be obtained from calibre itself, the user does have to formulate them.
Prior to Kovid's provision of the calibre:// URL scheme I used various methods, some of which are described
here.
For me at least what I've been able to do using the calibre URL scheme is far superior to the other schemes I came up with.
BR