Can I export all the .zip files?

[abrogard]

I have many .zip files in one of my libraries. They are the result of saving webpages and I find them unreliable, difficult to work with, annoying. But I don't want to just throw them all away because in fact quite a lot of them have stuff in legible form that I do want to keep.
It's terribly annoying whilst plowing through indexing to have to keep stopping and opening these things and checking what they are and if they're good.
So I just had a great idea: put them all in a library of their own!
Which I can hassle with at some future date if I want.
But so far my searching hasn't come up with if or not I can do that?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by abrogard

I have many .zip files in one of my libraries. They are the result of saving webpages and I find them unreliable, difficult to work with, annoying. But I don't want to just throw them all away because in fact quite a lot of them have stuff in legible form that I do want to keep.
It's terribly annoying whilst plowing through indexing to have to keep stopping and opening these things and checking what they are and if they're good.
So I just had a great idea: put them all in a library of their own!
Which I can hassle with at some future date if I want.
But so far my searching hasn't come up with if or not I can do that?

AFAIK there's nothing specific.

The Copy books to library tools is an obvious starting point, copies the entire book folder, i.e. you can't cherry pick files. So after copying you would have to delete things in the new and existing libraries

But I wouldn't use Copy books…. I would move the zips I wanted to put aside into 'data' folders within the existing book folders. They won't get indexed in there, and if you want one then it's at your finger tips.

Use the Metadata edit->Manage data files tool to add the zip file to the data folder from the Book folder (you'll have to browse to it), then remove the zip file from the book with Remove->Remove files of a specific format from selected books.

That may be 'scriptable' with the Actions Chain plugin, ask there if you're interested.

If you wanted to raise an enhancement request to add a feature to the Manage data folders tool to move files from the book folder to its data sub-folder and vice-versa and look after database integrity you'd have a 'me too' from me

BR

[abrogard]

Thanks for that. I'm not sure I totally comprehend. But I've been having thoughts myself, how about this:

I think maybe I could put 'zip' as the author?

Then they would all be put into that author's folder in the calibre folder?

Then I could copy that to elsewhere? And I'd have all the zips. And I think calibre would read that folder and bring them back into a new calibre library when I want?

so I could delete the original calibre copies then and there i am with a zip free library and a 'nothing but zips' library. two of them. what i want.

It would be great if we had a reserved character or word to prepend that would cause the books to be put into this special folder meant for this purpose. a working 'temp' folder.

And then we could prepend any author name with this reserved char or word and that would cause the books to be put in that folder just so's we could copy them out of it.

A partner function could remove that char or word.

So I could sort on 'zip' - I get about 1000 files currently when I do that - and bulk edit 'author' to (say) " !* temp *! old author string " and they'd get filed in a 'temp' author name folder for me. Bit of clumsy demo to try show what I mean. Actually we'd only need the escape char or word. Perhaps that one I invented there: " !* " Any author string starting with that would cause immediate allocation to this 'temp' folder.
So an original string 'old author' could become ' !* old author ' ( with or without the space ) and that would do it.

I'd go for a mod like that. Would you?

[mbovenka]

I'd do something like this:
1) create a new library
2) in the old library, search for 'format:zip'
3) select the result
4) copy to new library

Now you can do a 'remove all formats except' -> zip in the new library and 'remove all formats' -> zip in the old one.

Done.

[abrogard]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

I'd do something like this:
1) create a new library
2) in the old library, search for 'format:zip'
3) select the result
4) copy to new library

Now you can do a 'remove all formats except' -> zip in the new library and 'remove all formats' -> zip in the old one.

Done.

well that's perfect. I just didn't know you can copy to new library just like that. That's because I didn't look, did I?
As usual I speak before I think.
I'm ashamed. My fault. Sorry.
All too easy. Thanks for putting me straight and I'll try to operate a bit better in the future.

[BetterRed]

If you can wrangle them into a single folder e.g .zips you could keep that folder within the Library folder via this feature



I'm OCD about keeping things as close as possible to where I think they ought be. If they are inside the library folder then they will get backed up with it.

On Windows/NTFS, the only significance of the '.' at the front of the folder names is to gather them at top of list. IIRC on Linux/Ext and/or MacOS/APFS it has greater significance.

BR

[abrogard]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

If you can wrangle them into a single folder e.g .zips you could keep that folder within the Library folder via this feature

Attachment 213866

I'm OCD about keeping things as close as possible to where I think they ought be. If they are inside the library folder then they will get backed up with it.

On Windows/NTFS, the only significance of the '.' at the front of the folder names is to gather them at top of list. IIRC on Linux/Ext and/or MacOS/APFS it has greater significance.

BR

that's interesting. thanks for that.

[theducks]

'Use the Tag Browser Luke '

Click: Formats: Zip; Select All; Right click on those; Copy to Library

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by theducks

'Use the Tag Browser Luke '

Click: Formats: Zip; Select All; Right click on those; Copy to Library

Yeah, that's another way of doing it. I don't use the tag browser much.