Renaming files and directories in the database

Jellby · 12-31-2014, 05:20 AM

I have copied a calibre database which has some strange (to me) way of naming files:

Directory- and filenames have non-ASCII characters, which causes problems when copying the library between filesystems.
Some book files are named with title and author, as I expected, others are simply the database number.

Is there a way to make calibre rename all files and directories? Note that I do not want to specify a custom name or namescheme, I just want calibre to choose its own, but do it consistently. I can obtain something similar by creating a new library and copying the books there, but I'd like to avoid that.

itimpi · 12-31-2014, 05:27 AM

Neither of the points you mention should be possible in a properly formed Calibre library! I cannot think of any way that you could get Calibre itself to fix the issues.

burnafterreading · 12-31-2014, 05:35 AM

it might be faster to just create a blank library and import a whackload of epubs. i think Calibre is meant to be friendly in how it shows files in it's GUI, but not necessarily in the actual file structure.

it bugged me so much that for each book, i ended up doing a "Save to disk" in my preferred filename format. and then delete from Calibre's library. :P seems dumb, but Calibre does have great clean-up tools.

kovidgoyal · 12-31-2014, 05:35 AM

Neither of those are possible unless they were created outside of calibre.

Your best bet is to re-add the problem files manually, if there are a few of them or create a brand new library and add books recursively, one per folder from the old library.

Jellby · 12-31-2014, 05:38 AM

Yeah, it looks like it was converted to calibre format with some other tool.

Jellby · 12-31-2014, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Your best bet is to re-add the problem files manually, if there are a few of them or create a brand new library and add books recursively, one per folder from the old library.

Is there any way I could also keep the old id numbers (which have gaps)?

kovidgoyal · 12-31-2014, 05:45 AM

No .

Jellby · 12-31-2014, 05:57 AM

OK, If I modify the title, calibre will rename the book files and directories, maybe I can devise some bulk renaming (after a backup).

mehetabelo · 01-03-2015, 03:20 PM

Hmm. If the books are already named correctly, and the problem was some conversion from something else, there may (I haven't tried it, but occurred to me this may work) be a 'fix'. The Quality Check plugin has a feature under 'Fix' that is called 'Check and Rename Book Paths'. Based on the naming scheme, I'm guessing this could do some fixing of your problem.
If I was too late, sorry, just saw this today.

12-31-2014, 05:20 AM	#1
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,544 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Renaming files and directories in the database I have copied a calibre database which has some strange (to me) way of naming files: Directory- and filenames have non-ASCII characters, which causes problems when copying the library between filesystems. Some book files are named with title and author, as I expected, others are simply the database number. Is there a way to make calibre rename all files and directories? Note that I do not want to specify a custom name or namescheme, I just want calibre to choose its own, but do it consistently. I can obtain something similar by creating a new library and copying the books there, but I'd like to avoid that. Last edited by Jellby; 12-31-2014 at 05:24 AM.

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12-31-2014, 05:27 AM	#2
itimpi Wizard Posts: 4,553 Karma: 950151 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-950, iphone/ipad (Marvin/iBooks/QuickReader)	Neither of the points you mention should be possible in a properly formed Calibre library! I cannot think of any way that you could get Calibre itself to fix the issues.

12-31-2014, 05:35 AM	#3
burnafterreading Groupie Posts: 192 Karma: 1237440 Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Ottawa, Canada Device: Kobo Glo, Arc7HD/10HD, smartphones	it might be faster to just create a blank library and import a whackload of epubs. i think Calibre is meant to be friendly in how it shows files in it's GUI, but not necessarily in the actual file structure. it bugged me so much that for each book, i ended up doing a "Save to disk" in my preferred filename format. and then delete from Calibre's library. :P seems dumb, but Calibre does have great clean-up tools.

12-31-2014, 05:35 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,251 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Neither of those are possible unless they were created outside of calibre. Your best bet is to re-add the problem files manually, if there are a few of them or create a brand new library and add books recursively, one per folder from the old library.

12-31-2014, 05:38 AM	#5
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,544 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Yeah, it looks like it was converted to calibre format with some other tool.

12-31-2014, 05:45 AM	#7
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,251 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	No .

12-31-2014, 05:57 AM	#8
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,544 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	OK, If I modify the title, calibre will rename the book files and directories, maybe I can devise some bulk renaming (after a backup).

01-03-2015, 03:20 PM	#9
mehetabelo e-Bibliophile Posts: 60 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: California Device: Paperwhite 1-3, Kobo AuraHD, Boox Afterglow2	Hmm. If the books are already named correctly, and the problem was some conversion from something else, there may (I haven't tried it, but occurred to me this may work) be a 'fix'. The Quality Check plugin has a feature under 'Fix' that is called 'Check and Rename Book Paths'. Based on the naming scheme, I'm guessing this could do some fixing of your problem. If I was too late, sorry, just saw this today.

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