Many empty folders after changes

gustophersmob · 10-31-2024, 08:56 AM

Hi!

I'm sure this has been asked and answered, but I'm struggling to find a post asking this exact question.

I switched from Kindle to Kobo which finally was my impetus to go through and update/organize my Calibre library. I had several instances of the same author having different folders due to the name being formatted differently i.e., "Tolkien, J. R. R.," "JRR Tolkien," J.R.R. Tolkien," etc. After changing the author name in Calibre and getting everything on a standardized format, I now have many empty folders from the old name formats. In the above example, I standardized on "J. R. R. Tolkien" which contains all the files for each book and now all the folders with other variations are empty.

My assumption is that it is not good to manually delete the folders. Do I use the library management tool? If so, does the library management tool consider just an empty folder an issue that it would flag?

Thanks!

ownedbycats · 10-31-2024, 11:33 AM

Run a Check Library and it'll go through and find them and give you an option to clean them up.

Calibre should be removing the empty folders, so you might also want to figure out why not. Security software interfering for example, also don't put libraries in cloud storage or on an NAS.

chaley · 10-31-2024, 11:38 AM

Also make sure your calibre library isn't on a NAS or a synced system such as Dropbox or OneDrive. If it is then you might discover by running Check Library that you have many more problems than extra folders, for example missing books.

gustophersmob · 10-31-2024, 12:36 PM

Thanks, I'll try that!

Its not on a NAS or cloud storage, so any idea where I should start checking why Calibre is not removing the empty folders on its own?

Edit to add: I don't think there's any security software interference, I don't have any special antivirus package or anything. I'm on a Mac, if that makes a difference.

chaley · 10-31-2024, 01:27 PM

Moderator Notice
Moved to its own thread

chaley · 10-31-2024, 01:29 PM

I know nothing of Macs, so speculating: could Apple's time machine interfere with deleting the folders? It is a form of file sync software. Macs also have other files that come and go, such as resource files. If they are still there when calibre goes to delete the folder then might calibre fail?

gustophersmob · 10-31-2024, 01:56 PM

Hmm, good thought. I honestly don't remember if I have time machine enabled. I'm at work, but will check when I get home.

If it is just a Mac issue, then hopefully using Check Library + a clean up resolves it and I can just go through that process periodically.

More later once I'm home and can try it out.

gustophersmob · 10-31-2024, 07:15 PM

OK, so I got home and played around a bit.

First, I do not have Time Machine turned on, so that shouldn't be effecting anything.

Second, I ran the library check and it found the empty folders and I used the "deletable" option to remove them.

I also had a couple duplicate formats, but more interesting, I had hundreds of "invalid titles" and one "invalid author", all of which were .DS_Store.

A quick internet search says that MacOS adds the hidden .DS_Store file to directories to preserve finder layout and other settings. This makes me wonder if the hidden file was added to all the unused author folders which somehow prevented Calibre from automatically deleting them after I redid the naming? Unfortunately, I deleted the empty folders before I dug into the .DS_Store issue.

I tried adding the .DS_Store to "extensions to ignore" field, but that didn't work, the check library tool still found all the .DS_Store files. I then added it to "names to ignore" and that successfully ignores it. After that I got a clean check.

gustophersmob · 10-31-2024, 07:27 PM

Playing around some more:

I just ran an experiment. I renamed an author to something random, opened that new directory in finder, and then renamed it back to leave the new folder empty. Doing this, Calibre doesn't delete the empty folder and it shows as having .DS_Store file when I run the check.

If I create the random name folder, and then rename it back to the original without opening the directory in finder, Calibre automatically deletes the empty folder.

So, it appears that this issue is due to MacOS creating a hidden .DS_Store file in these directories. I'm guessing this somehow prevent Calibre from deleting them.

ownedbycats · 10-31-2024, 07:54 PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.DS_Store - it stores folder view options and such. Similar to thumbs.db storing image thumbnails on Windows.

JSWolf · 11-01-2024, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.DS_Store - it stores folder view options and such. Similar to thumbs.db storing image thumbnails on Windows.

Is there a way on MacOS to turn off .DS_Store?

gustophersmob · 11-01-2024, 06:10 AM

Not that I’m aware of from my admittedly brief search. It seems the OS relies on it to maintain view settings.

kovidgoyal · 11-01-2024, 06:52 AM

calibre ignores .DS_store and thumbs.db (the windows equivalent) when removing books dont recall if it does it while renaming authors though, perhaps not, will have to check.

mbovenka · 11-01-2024, 06:54 AM

You can disable them for network shares and removable drives. I'm not sure you can for fixed internal drives.

kovidgoyal · 11-01-2024, 07:23 AM

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...a7689abed63219

10-31-2024, 08:56 AM	#1
gustophersmob Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2024 Device: Kindle PW2, Kobo Clara BW	Many empty folders after changes Hi! I'm sure this has been asked and answered, but I'm struggling to find a post asking this exact question. I switched from Kindle to Kobo which finally was my impetus to go through and update/organize my Calibre library. I had several instances of the same author having different folders due to the name being formatted differently i.e., "Tolkien, J. R. R.," "JRR Tolkien," J.R.R. Tolkien," etc. After changing the author name in Calibre and getting everything on a standardized format, I now have many empty folders from the old name formats. In the above example, I standardized on "J. R. R. Tolkien" which contains all the files for each book and now all the folders with other variations are empty. My assumption is that it is not good to manually delete the folders. Do I use the library management tool? If so, does the library management tool consider just an empty folder an issue that it would flag? Thanks!

10-31-2024, 12:36 PM	#4
gustophersmob Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2024 Device: Kindle PW2, Kobo Clara BW	Thanks, I'll try that! Its not on a NAS or cloud storage, so any idea where I should start checking why Calibre is not removing the empty folders on its own? Edit to add: I don't think there's any security software interference, I don't have any special antivirus package or anything. I'm on a Mac, if that makes a difference. Last edited by gustophersmob; 10-31-2024 at 12:44 PM.

10-31-2024, 07:27 PM	#9
gustophersmob Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2024 Device: Kindle PW2, Kobo Clara BW	Playing around some more: I just ran an experiment. I renamed an author to something random, opened that new directory in finder, and then renamed it back to leave the new folder empty. Doing this, Calibre doesn't delete the empty folder and it shows as having .DS_Store file when I run the check. If I create the random name folder, and then rename it back to the original without opening the directory in finder, Calibre automatically deletes the empty folder. So, it appears that this issue is due to MacOS creating a hidden .DS_Store file in these directories. I'm guessing this somehow prevent Calibre from deleting them. Last edited by gustophersmob; 10-31-2024 at 07:32 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Empty folders with book names on Kindle	C Alberga	Library Management	1	12-26-2023 05:34 PM
Auto-remove empty .sdr folders from Kindle?	tomsem	Devices	11	06-07-2023 09:12 PM
Import Data sees new empty folders as not empty	mivetters	Library Management	6	12-21-2019 03:18 PM
Simple script for cleaning Calibre office empty folders	phiro	Library Management	9	09-16-2018 04:53 AM
Empty folders when adding books	LucyOne	Calibre	0	07-15-2017 06:27 AM

10-31-2024, 11:33 AM	#2
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,969 Karma: 75337983 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Run a Check Library and it'll go through and find them and give you an option to clean them up. Calibre should be removing the empty folders, so you might also want to figure out why not. Security software interfering for example, also don't put libraries in cloud storage or on an NAS.

10-31-2024, 11:38 AM	#3
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,443 Karma: 8012886 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	Also make sure your calibre library isn't on a NAS or a synced system such as Dropbox or OneDrive. If it is then you might discover by running Check Library that you have many more problems than extra folders, for example missing books.

10-31-2024, 01:27 PM	#5
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,443 Karma: 8012886 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	Moderator Notice Moved to its own thread

10-31-2024, 01:29 PM	#6
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,443 Karma: 8012886 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	I know nothing of Macs, so speculating: could Apple's time machine interfere with deleting the folders? It is a form of file sync software. Macs also have other files that come and go, such as resource files. If they are still there when calibre goes to delete the folder then might calibre fail?

10-31-2024, 01:56 PM	#7
gustophersmob Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2024 Device: Kindle PW2, Kobo Clara BW	Hmm, good thought. I honestly don't remember if I have time machine enabled. I'm at work, but will check when I get home. If it is just a Mac issue, then hopefully using Check Library + a clean up resolves it and I can just go through that process periodically. More later once I'm home and can try it out.

10-31-2024, 07:15 PM	#8
gustophersmob Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2024 Device: Kindle PW2, Kobo Clara BW	OK, so I got home and played around a bit. First, I do not have Time Machine turned on, so that shouldn't be effecting anything. Second, I ran the library check and it found the empty folders and I used the "deletable" option to remove them. I also had a couple duplicate formats, but more interesting, I had hundreds of "invalid titles" and one "invalid author", all of which were .DS_Store. A quick internet search says that MacOS adds the hidden .DS_Store file to directories to preserve finder layout and other settings. This makes me wonder if the hidden file was added to all the unused author folders which somehow prevented Calibre from automatically deleting them after I redid the naming? Unfortunately, I deleted the empty folders before I dug into the .DS_Store issue. I tried adding the .DS_Store to "extensions to ignore" field, but that didn't work, the check library tool still found all the .DS_Store files. I then added it to "names to ignore" and that successfully ignores it. After that I got a clean check.

10-31-2024, 07:54 PM	#10
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,969 Karma: 75337983 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.DS_Store - it stores folder view options and such. Similar to thumbs.db storing image thumbnails on Windows.

11-01-2024, 06:10 AM	#12
gustophersmob Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2024 Device: Kindle PW2, Kobo Clara BW	Not that I’m aware of from my admittedly brief search. It seems the OS relies on it to maintain view settings.

11-01-2024, 06:52 AM	#13
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,344 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	calibre ignores .DS_store and thumbs.db (the windows equivalent) when removing books dont recall if it does it while renaming authors though, perhaps not, will have to check.

11-01-2024, 06:54 AM	#14
mbovenka Wizard Posts: 2,079 Karma: 14079267 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Almere, The Netherlands Device: Kobo Sage	You can disable them for network shares and removable drives. I'm not sure you can for fixed internal drives.

Advert

Advert

11-01-2024, 07:23 AM	#15
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,344 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...a7689abed63219