Locking Original book

Nakaleen · 02-12-2011, 08:55 AM

I have a book collection, mainly cbz. I have 3 devices, an Android, Kindle DX and a future Nook. There is times I wish to re-convert the my books to fit a device (eg. a cbz to a epub for a nook, but that can't be used for a Kindle DX because of the screen size etc...)

Is there a way of setting Caliber to use the Kindle DX settings for .mobi files and the Nook (classic) settings for .epub files.

I am asking this because I have been deleting the old files to make new ones for a device. But once or twice I have deleted the original file by mistake.

Is there a way of locking the original files so it can't be deleted, but the other formated files (epub, mobi etc...) of the same book won't be deleted/edited?

chyron8472 · 02-12-2011, 10:03 AM

This would indeed be helpful.

Perhaps "Original" or "Source Copy" or w/e could be displayed in the Edit Metadata window:

Also, if one were to use the "Add new format for this book" option, there was a checkbox (unchecked by default) labeled "Set As Source Copy"

This file could have the Read Only attribute enabled and could either have some variation in the filename or extension in Calibre's ebook db such that one could have, for example, mobi as the source copy for a book but when then converting to mobi, the converted file didn't overwrite the source.

Perhaps there could be check boxes in Preferences->Behavior which were labeled things like "Use source copy as default input"; "Source copy can not be overwritten"; and/or "Backup source copy upon adding new book" to give us more flexibility or control over our ebook library.

Perhaps there could be an option under Library Maintenance on the Choose Library toolbar button labeled "Back up source files"

Just throwing ideas out there. I think it would be helpful to make it more obvious which file is the original one and for said file to be more difficult to accidentally overwrite/delete.

For myself, as I have a Kindle, whenever my source file is a .mobi I always rename it to .azw - for one since Calibre can only convert from azw, but not to azw (since it's technically the same thing as mobi anyway). I also have MOBI set as first in my Kindle 2 Device Interface plugin.

In this way, I know that AZW (when available) is always my source copy and can not be overwritten by Calibre; since I only have .mobi files sent to my Kindle, I know the copy on my Kindle is from Calibre and thus formatted the same as all my other books; and I can convert from Kindle format to Kindle format without creating problems.

What I do may not be so easy for those who use, for example ePub as both their source copy and their desired send-to-device format. This idea of setting a certain file as an original/source would solve certain problems.

kovidgoyal · 02-12-2011, 11:46 AM

It's on the TODO list

chyron8472 · 02-12-2011, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chyron8472

Also, if one were to use the "Add new format for this book" option, there was a checkbox (unchecked by default) labeled "Set As Source Copy"

If this were the case, perhaps there could be some level of code which could check the created/modified dates in the file metadata between the initial source book and the newly-added book which is selected to be the new source via said checkbox, such that if the added book had a more recent created/modified date than the initial source book there would be a popup warning complaining as such and asking for confirmation to continue anyway.

This would help in preventing users from inadvertently declaring newer files as the source book without first knowing that the added file was indeed newer.

Perkin · 02-13-2011, 05:04 AM

@Kovid,

Regarding the 'Original' format, a simple solution might be to have a new filetype *.org|*.orig which you can only convert from, not to.

It'll just need a right-click menu in metadata editor to designate which of the formats to set as 'orig', which will then COPY that format and just rename it *.org|*orig
(If needed for conversion process, you can store in *.opf what format the *orig file is in)

theducks · 02-13-2011, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perkin

@Kovid,

Regarding the 'Original' format, a simple solution might be to have a new filetype *.org|*.orig which you can only convert from, not to.

It'll just need a right-click menu in metadata editor to designate which of the formats to set as 'orig', which will then COPY that format and just rename it *.org|*orig
(If needed for conversion process, you can store in *.opf what format the *orig file is in)

There are details to work out

1) replacing and/or repairing the Original
2)User complaints about the extra space

used up on that cost $0.57/GB

(I still remember $10.00/MB )

Pinecone · 02-13-2011, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

(I still remember $10.00/MB )

Newbie.

I remember $1000 a MB for hard drives. 5MB hard drive was $5000.

First hard drive I owned, was a whopping 105 MB, but drive prices had dropped significantly by then.

And why are you 57 cents per GB? At NewEgg right now, 2TB drive on sale for $79.99. So just under 4 (yes FOUR) cents per GB.

MrPLD · 02-13-2011, 08:07 AM

I remember my first drive was a Seagate ST-225 (or was that 255?), 20MB... nice $1700 price tag at the time

02-12-2011, 08:55 AM	#1
Nakaleen Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 78 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Ballarat, Australia Device: Kobo Touch / Kindle DX (damaged screen)	Locking Original book I have a book collection, mainly cbz. I have 3 devices, an Android, Kindle DX and a future Nook. There is times I wish to re-convert the my books to fit a device (eg. a cbz to a epub for a nook, but that can't be used for a Kindle DX because of the screen size etc...) Is there a way of setting Caliber to use the Kindle DX settings for .mobi files and the Nook (classic) settings for .epub files. I am asking this because I have been deleting the old files to make new ones for a device. But once or twice I have deleted the original file by mistake. Is there a way of locking the original files so it can't be deleted, but the other formated files (epub, mobi etc...) of the same book won't be deleted/edited?

02-12-2011, 10:03 AM	#2
chyron8472 Groupie Posts: 180 Karma: 558490 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kindle 5, Amazon Fire 5th Gen, Moto Z Play Droid	This would indeed be helpful. Perhaps "Original" or "Source Copy" or w/e could be displayed in the Edit Metadata window: Also, if one were to use the "Add new format for this book" option, there was a checkbox (unchecked by default) labeled "Set As Source Copy" This file could have the Read Only attribute enabled and could either have some variation in the filename or extension in Calibre's ebook db such that one could have, for example, mobi as the source copy for a book but when then converting to mobi, the converted file didn't overwrite the source. Perhaps there could be check boxes in Preferences->Behavior which were labeled things like "Use source copy as default input"; "Source copy can not be overwritten"; and/or "Backup source copy upon adding new book" to give us more flexibility or control over our ebook library. Perhaps there could be an option under Library Maintenance on the Choose Library toolbar button labeled "Back up source files" Just throwing ideas out there. I think it would be helpful to make it more obvious which file is the original one and for said file to be more difficult to accidentally overwrite/delete. For myself, as I have a Kindle, whenever my source file is a .mobi I always rename it to .azw - for one since Calibre can only convert from azw, but not to azw (since it's technically the same thing as mobi anyway). I also have MOBI set as first in my Kindle 2 Device Interface plugin. In this way, I know that AZW (when available) is always my source copy and can not be overwritten by Calibre; since I only have .mobi files sent to my Kindle, I know the copy on my Kindle is from Calibre and thus formatted the same as all my other books; and I can convert from Kindle format to Kindle format without creating problems. What I do may not be so easy for those who use, for example ePub as both their source copy and their desired send-to-device format. This idea of setting a certain file as an original/source would solve certain problems. Last edited by chyron8472; 02-12-2011 at 10:24 AM.

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02-12-2011, 11:46 AM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,253 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	It's on the TODO list

02-13-2011, 05:04 AM	#5
Perkin Guru Posts: 657 Karma: 64171 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Kent, England, Sol 3, ZZ9 plural Z Alpha Device: Sony PRS-300, Kobo Aura HD, iPad (Marvin)	@Kovid, Regarding the 'Original' format, a simple solution might be to have a new filetype .org\|.orig which you can only convert from, not to. It'll just need a right-click menu in metadata editor to designate which of the formats to set as 'orig', which will then COPY that format and just rename it .org\|orig (If needed for conversion process, you can store in .opf what format the orig file is in)

02-13-2011, 08:07 AM	#8
MrPLD Author's pet-geek Posts: 933 Karma: 1040670 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: North Queensland, Australia Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96	I remember my first drive was a Seagate ST-225 (or was that 255?), 20MB... nice $1700 price tag at the time

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