book name is reduced to book number when downloading to android

[polarwind]

Not sure where this topic belongs, so I just post it here. I edited all metadata in Calibre on my Windows PC. Name is showing correct. I use Calibre Companion so that FBreader can connect to the content server. I can browse the network library. In FBreader I see the series by name. In the series I can see all books by name.

But once downloaded to my android, and browsing my local library on my device, I notice that author is unknown, titel has become a number, serie is none.

Are the meta tags in Calibre only for internal use? Are they only added in the database, without adding them to the documents meta tags?

How can I make sure that FBreader, ComicRack or any other reader gets the correct information after I updated the meta tags in Calibre?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by polarwind

Not sure where this topic belongs, so I just post it here. I edited all metadata in Calibre on my Windows PC. Name is showing correct. I use Calibre Companion so that FBreader can connect to the content server. I can browse the network library. In FBreader I see the series by name. In the series I can see all books by name.

But once downloaded to my android, and browsing my local library on my device, I notice that author is unknown, titel has become a number, serie is none.

Are the meta tags in Calibre only for internal use? Are they only added in the database, without adding them to the documents meta tags?

How can I make sure that FBreader, ComicRack or any other reader gets the correct information after I updated the meta tags in Calibre?

Are you asking a question about how to get FBReader et al to see correct metadata stored inside a book? That requires that metadata actually be stored inside a book. How you do that will depend on what formats you are using, how you are downloading them, and whether the books are DRM infested. Provide more details on exactly what you are doing.

Are you asking a question about how to use Calibre Companion (CC)? If so, we should move this thread to the CC forum. Note that CC never touches the contents of a book. Also note that the calibre metadata in CC's library (not in the book) is updated from the calibre database (not from the book) whenever you connect as a wireless device.

[polarwind]

Thanks for the reply. From what you write, and if I understand correctly, I must assume that Calibre does NOT store the edited meta tags in an xml file in the media file. In this case it are all CBR files. This means that other Comic Readers won't see the changes at all.

If indeed Calibre is storing the new meta tags in it's own database, only for internal use, then there is no point in updating/correcting the meta data this way. unless I am totally misunderstanding the way this works.

the general idea was to correct the meta data (in case the maker from the CBR files was sloppy or incorrect). I have done this before with editing meta data in an pdf file of a non-DMR protected file. So, if I upload a new book in Calibre and see that the publisher, or series are missing, I want to edit this to correct if possible. Next step is to let FBreader connect to the network database, push the download button in FBreader, and see the same meta tags there once the document is downloaded to the device.

Again, if editing the meta tags in Calibre is not vissible for other readers, then what is the point? I have spend 2 days on researching and verifying tags. Glad I had all the correct information, it now seems that the device ebook readers don't see any of these changes.

From what I understand a CBR has no meta tags by definition. (https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/CBR_and_CBZ). Normally a CBR or CBZ file does not have metadata. There are no text files and the images are viewed in alphabetical order. While there is no standard for metadata there are several methods to store comic book metadata in comic book archives.

wouldn't it be more logical for Calibre to store the edited meta tags in xml? any other suggestons on how I could let other readers use new data entered in calibre?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by polarwind

Thanks for the reply. From what you write, and if I understand correctly, I must assume that Calibre does NOT store the edited meta tags in an xml file in the media file. In this case it are all CBR files. This means that other Comic Readers won't see the changes at all.

Calibre stores metadata in some book types at various times that depend on the book type: when converted, when exported, when "polished", etc. In addition, some plugins can store metadata inside a book. One that might interest you is [Metadata Writer Plugin] Embed Comic Metadata

If indeed Calibre is storing the new meta tags in it's own database, only for internal use, then there is no point in updating/correcting the meta data this way. unless I am totally misunderstanding the way this works.

To be sure, calibre stores metadata in its own database. What else can it do? However, as noted above, calibre also stores metadata in some book types. In addition, apps like CC and COPS access the calibre database.

the general idea was to correct the meta data (in case the maker from the CBR files was sloppy or incorrect). I have done this before with editing meta data in an pdf file of a non-DMR protected file. So, if I upload a new book in Calibre and see that the publisher, or series are missing, I want to edit this to correct if possible. Next step is to let FBreader connect to the network database, push the download button in FBreader, and see the same meta tags there once the document is downloaded to the device.

Calibre can natively embed metadata in PDF, EPUB, and many other types. You need to add that "embed" step (however it is done for the type in question) to your workflow. In some cases the process is automatic, such as downloading EPUBs using the calibre content server.

wouldn't it be more logical for Calibre to store the edited meta tags in xml? any other suggestons on how I could let other readers use new data entered in calibre?

No. Calibre must store metadata in the book *in the form that book requires*. In some cases this is XML. In many other cases it is not. For example, EPUB wants the metadata in an OPF file.

Note that your problems are being caused by your insistence that the reader app see the metadata. If you use CC as the library organizer as well as the book downloader then the problem goes away. That is how most people use CC.

[polarwind]

Thank you for the link to the "Embed Comic Metadata" plugin. I think this is the closed I will get to what I want. I managed to embed the data,checked this by opening the CBZ file with WinRar. Comments are in the file . Great, next step:

I tried to use CC for library management and downloading, but CC has no CBR support. The download button is not activated when the document is CBR. That is why I tested FBReader. Download will work there.

However, please note that both FBReader and CC show the correct bookname and series when browsing the library to this point. Since CC does not support CBR/CBZ downloads, I did the download in FBReader. When looking at the book description/book info, it still was missing the correct info in FBReader.

So next I opened the CBR in ComicRack on Android. Here the manually entered meta tags and comments are visible. The comments are not using any html tags though, but it is better then nothing.

This leaves me with one challenge: ComicRack does not offer download from the Calibre network library. Or am I wrong? Because if so, I need to use FBReader for downloading CBZ, and ComicRack for reading.

Could this go any simpler ??

[chaley]

CC supports CBZ and CBR just fine. You just need to tell it that it is allowed to download these formats. See the CC FAQ How do I choose which formats calibre sends and where the books are stored?

[polarwind]

Thx, that was the missing link for my Android devices.