MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

eboyhan · 06-17-2010, 11:41 PM

@kovid

I have some questions about how metadata is created during the add books process from a kindle. I also have some Q's about what you do with the metadata as viewed in Calibre when a send to device is done back to the kindle. I did some experiments the other day with PDF files that were all members of various collections. I found that what Calibre came up with for title and author was very different from what the kindle had. I changed some of the Calibre-side metadata, and then did a send to device, and those documents which were in collections on the kindle before I add them to Calibre were not in any collections after I sent them back to the KDX.

Before I ask my questions let me describe my understanding of how Calibre gets the metadata it displays. Metadata can come from 3 possible sources: the content of the eBook, the filename of the eBook, or from three places on the internet: ISBNDB.com, google books, and/or Amazon.com. The Fetch-ebook-metadata command (and its GUI equivalent) are used to augment the metadata gotten from inside the eBook, or from the filename (there is an option in Calibre to only create metadata from the filename). There does not appear to be any user control over how the 3 internet sites are used. I took a quick look at the code, and I got the impression that isbndb.com was the primary metadata source, and that amazon was only queried for social networking metadata (I could be wrong -- my Python skills are not of the first water).

So now the questions:
1. Is there anything wrong with the description in the preceding paragraph?
2. When the "only create metadata from filename" is NOT checked, is the filename yet ever used to form title/author metadata in Calibre? If yes, when is the filename used?
3. How do you determine what the title/author metadata for PDF files is during an add books process? Do you have any idea why what Calibre gets seems to be different from what the kindle has?
4. If I make a change to title/author metadata on Calibre how are those changes propagated back to a kindle during a send device?
5. Will the "create metadata only from filename" option have any effect on the filename when a send to device is done?
6. Are there any circumstances upon which a metadata change on Calibre will cause a change in the filename on the kindle?
7. if #6 is yes, is there anyway to prevent a title/author metadata change on Calibre from changing the filename on the kindle? How?
8. You said you will display the collections of kindle books on Calibre. Where are you getting the collections info from? How are you handling books that are members of multiple collections?
9. When you do a send to device, you provide the ability to configure the files/folders in which the document will be placed. You use metadata variables to assist in this configuration. Would it be possible to create a collection metadata variable? Even though you cannot change collections from the kindle side, it would be useful to organize the book files on the kindle side in folders that mirror the collections -- especially if one has hundreds or thousands of books on your kindle along with many collections. I realize there is an issue with multiple-collection books, but being able to specify one to used for a folder name would still be useful.

I have found one subtle bug in 0.7.2. I run Windows XP SP3; when I click on the down arrow next to the preferences menu item, and then select Preferences from the pull down menu, the preferences dialog never appears. If I get impatient and try to force the dialog open with the ctrl+p key (the pulldown menu still being down), Calibre crashes. If I just don't pull down the preferences menu, but just hit the ctrl+p key directly, the dialog opens correctly. If you haven't already seen this, I'll open a ticket.

06-17-2010, 11:41 PM	#24
eboyhan PandaMuse Posts: 104 Karma: 104 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Florida Device: kindle dx, kindle touch SO, kindle fire, kindle fire hd8.9	Metadata Creation Questions @kovid I have some questions about how metadata is created during the add books process from a kindle. I also have some Q's about what you do with the metadata as viewed in Calibre when a send to device is done back to the kindle. I did some experiments the other day with PDF files that were all members of various collections. I found that what Calibre came up with for title and author was very different from what the kindle had. I changed some of the Calibre-side metadata, and then did a send to device, and those documents which were in collections on the kindle before I add them to Calibre were not in any collections after I sent them back to the KDX. Before I ask my questions let me describe my understanding of how Calibre gets the metadata it displays. Metadata can come from 3 possible sources: the content of the eBook, the filename of the eBook, or from three places on the internet: ISBNDB.com, google books, and/or Amazon.com. The Fetch-ebook-metadata command (and its GUI equivalent) are used to augment the metadata gotten from inside the eBook, or from the filename (there is an option in Calibre to only create metadata from the filename). There does not appear to be any user control over how the 3 internet sites are used. I took a quick look at the code, and I got the impression that isbndb.com was the primary metadata source, and that amazon was only queried for social networking metadata (I could be wrong -- my Python skills are not of the first water). So now the questions: 1. Is there anything wrong with the description in the preceding paragraph? 2. When the "only create metadata from filename" is NOT checked, is the filename yet ever used to form title/author metadata in Calibre? If yes, when is the filename used? 3. How do you determine what the title/author metadata for PDF files is during an add books process? Do you have any idea why what Calibre gets seems to be different from what the kindle has? 4. If I make a change to title/author metadata on Calibre how are those changes propagated back to a kindle during a send device? 5. Will the "create metadata only from filename" option have any effect on the filename when a send to device is done? 6. Are there any circumstances upon which a metadata change on Calibre will cause a change in the filename on the kindle? 7. if #6 is yes, is there anyway to prevent a title/author metadata change on Calibre from changing the filename on the kindle? How? 8. You said you will display the collections of kindle books on Calibre. Where are you getting the collections info from? How are you handling books that are members of multiple collections? 9. When you do a send to device, you provide the ability to configure the files/folders in which the document will be placed. You use metadata variables to assist in this configuration. Would it be possible to create a collection metadata variable? Even though you cannot change collections from the kindle side, it would be useful to organize the book files on the kindle side in folders that mirror the collections -- especially if one has hundreds or thousands of books on your kindle along with many collections. I realize there is an issue with multiple-collection books, but being able to specify one to used for a folder name would still be useful. I have found one subtle bug in 0.7.2. I run Windows XP SP3; when I click on the down arrow next to the preferences menu item, and then select Preferences from the pull down menu, the preferences dialog never appears. If I get impatient and try to force the dialog open with the ctrl+p key (the pulldown menu still being down), Calibre crashes. If I just don't pull down the preferences menu, but just hit the ctrl+p key directly, the dialog opens correctly. If you haven't already seen this, I'll open a ticket.