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dailyalice · 11-11-2022, 08:19 AM

If anyone familiar with the different date options in calibre & FanFicFare has the time and inclination to read this over and see if it makes sense and is accurate, I'd very much appreciate it. Want to get this right.

The paragraphs after this one are what I came up with when trying to document/explain the different date column options with calibre & FanFicFare. (I may yet simplify the language. I tend to be wordy.) I go over the calibre default date columns first, then get to FanFicFare. I fear it is clear as mud.

The column with the column header of "Date" and the lookup name of "timestamp" is literally for when you added a work to your calibre library. I find this handy if I want to sort my library based on the items I've added to it most recently. It appears to use the default format of dd MMM yyyy (which would give you dates like 28 Sep 2022).

The column with the column header of "Published" and lookup name of "pubdate" is used for the date a work was published; it appears to only include the month and the year (MMM yyyy); if you want something more specific than that which includes the day of the month, you'll want to create a column for FanFicFare to use. These dates look like "Sep 2022" in calibre.

The column with the column header of "Modified" and "Lookup name" of "last_modified" tells you when you last edited a work or made any changes to it. It also uses the default format of dd MMM yyyy. I just tested this by editing the metadata of a work to remove a single tag; now the "Modified" date is for today's date.

These calibre standard columns cover Date (you added a work to your library), Published (month/year a work was published/posted), and Modified (when you last made changes to a work either by hand or using FanFicFare). Date and Modified use the format dd MMM yyyy; Published uses MMM yyyy.

What about FanFicFare? The items which can be put into columns with a date column type are: Published, Updated, & Created. If you create custom columns to use with this data, you can format the dates however you like.

"Published" is the publication date, which actually does include the month, day, & year info (as opposed to calibre's Published column which just has month & year).

"Updated" is when a work was last updated (by the author on the archive from which you downloaded it) and it also includes day, month, year.

"Created" is usually labeled "Packaged" by FanFicFare (this is defined in personal.ini & can be changed) and is the date (& time) when you downloaded a work (using FanFicFare).

And there's also the special column "FFF Updated" which covers "the last time FanFicFare updated or checked for updates" which is different from when you last edited anything having to do with a work or when a work was updated.

11-11-2022, 08:19 AM	#7726
dailyalice Geek of All Trades Posts: 55 Karma: 100878 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: Kindle Oasis (3rd gen)	date columns If anyone familiar with the different date options in calibre & FanFicFare has the time and inclination to read this over and see if it makes sense and is accurate, I'd very much appreciate it. Want to get this right. The paragraphs after this one are what I came up with when trying to document/explain the different date column options with calibre & FanFicFare. (I may yet simplify the language. I tend to be wordy.) I go over the calibre default date columns first, then get to FanFicFare. I fear it is clear as mud. The column with the column header of "Date" and the lookup name of "timestamp" is literally for when you added a work to your calibre library. I find this handy if I want to sort my library based on the items I've added to it most recently. It appears to use the default format of dd MMM yyyy (which would give you dates like 28 Sep 2022). The column with the column header of "Published" and lookup name of "pubdate" is used for the date a work was published; it appears to only include the month and the year (MMM yyyy); if you want something more specific than that which includes the day of the month, you'll want to create a column for FanFicFare to use. These dates look like "Sep 2022" in calibre. The column with the column header of "Modified" and "Lookup name" of "last_modified" tells you when you last edited a work or made any changes to it. It also uses the default format of dd MMM yyyy. I just tested this by editing the metadata of a work to remove a single tag; now the "Modified" date is for today's date. These calibre standard columns cover Date (you added a work to your library), Published (month/year a work was published/posted), and Modified (when you last made changes to a work either by hand or using FanFicFare). Date and Modified use the format dd MMM yyyy; Published uses MMM yyyy. What about FanFicFare? The items which can be put into columns with a date column type are: Published, Updated, & Created. If you create custom columns to use with this data, you can format the dates however you like. "Published" is the publication date, which actually does include the month, day, & year info (as opposed to calibre's Published column which just has month & year). "Updated" is when a work was last updated (by the author on the archive from which you downloaded it) and it also includes day, month, year. "Created" is usually labeled "Packaged" by FanFicFare (this is defined in personal.ini & can be changed) and is the date (& time) when you downloaded a work (using FanFicFare). And there's also the special column "FFF Updated" which covers "the last time FanFicFare updated or checked for updates" which is different from when you last edited anything having to do with a work or when a work was updated.