Sort Problem (not sorting newest to oldest)

Ron. · 08-13-2011, 05:16 AM

I like to sort my books newest to oldest, lately it seems if I edit the metadata of a book it's sort order will be lost. It can be the last book I added but once I edit the metadata it drops way down the list. any idea what might be causing this ?

DoctorOhh · 08-13-2011, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron.

I like to sort my books newest to oldest, lately it seems if I edit the metadata of a book it's sort order will be lost. It can be the last book I added but once I edit the metadata it drops way down the list. any idea what might be causing this ?

I'm going to guess you added the book from a folder that had an existing calibre created metadata.opf file from someone else's library. I believe this file contains when this other person added the book to their library. Adding the book to your library uses the date that is in the opf file for the date added to the library. This is by design for folks that use the save to disk feature to archive their books.

Ron. · 08-13-2011, 06:33 AM

Is it possible to tell Calibre to ignore that data when importing a book ?

kiwidude · 08-13-2011, 06:39 AM

Not possible to turn it off that I am aware of, definitely something I would like to have an option for. Particularly when I share my books with my parents Calibre library - my Dad imports them, but unless he goes down the route of "adding a tag for new books" then removing it in batches etc unfortunately it is impossible for him to see the newest books that I have just sent him. Which is a real pain.

The only workaround I have found for this (when I remember) is in the source library to do a bulk edit before I export/copy to library on the books, and set the date field to Today. However I don't always remember.

I can understand for people restoring their Calibre system after corruption from the opf files why they would want date preserved. However in the other use cases (moving books between libraries as you process them, or sharing your books with another user for import into their library) it is highly undesirable to have "date added" left at it's source value imho.

Ron. · 08-13-2011, 06:47 AM

I guess in the preferences/adding books you can uncheck (Read Metadata from file contents rather then filename) but it would be nice to be able to select what fields you want to import/ignore vs all or nothing

kiwidude · 08-13-2011, 06:49 AM

@Ron - no, unchecking that preference will not help you, that is to do with reading metadata from the file itself, not from the opf file. They are two very different things.

DoctorOhh · 08-13-2011, 06:53 AM

You can delete those files prior to import.

Ron. · 08-13-2011, 06:56 AM

but isn't the calibre timestamp in the opf file in the epub/mobi ?

DoctorOhh · 08-13-2011, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron.

but isn't the calibre timestamp in the opf file in the epub/mobi ?

I don't think so, try one and find out.

Ron. · 08-13-2011, 07:01 AM

it's there, the question though does calibre use that info when you add a book, or of it uses the date of the time you added it.

Ron. · 08-13-2011, 07:06 AM

I notice (calibre_id) in the opf file, wouldn't sorting by id solve the whole problem ? can I add a column for id to use to sort by that will use that data ?

DoctorOhh · 08-13-2011, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron.

it's there, the question though does calibre use that info when you add a book, or of it uses the date of the time you added it.

I just looked and the only date in the epub was the published date, in my case it looked like this:

<dc:date>2003-11-04T05:00:00+00:00</dc:date>

Ron. · 08-13-2011, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwanthny

I just looked and the only date in the epub was the published date, in my case it looked like this:

<dc:date>2003-11-04T05:00:00+00:00</dc:date>

mine has (calibre:timestamp) inside the opf in the epub, maybe the book you looked at was not converted/created with calibre ?

DoctorOhh · 08-13-2011, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron.

mine has (calibre:timestamp) inside the opf in the epub, maybe the book you looked at was not converted/created with calibre ?

You are correct but there is no uuid. I think you should actually try importing one and see what happens.

Ron. · 08-13-2011, 07:32 AM

I think being able to sort by (calibre_id) is the best option, but it seems you can't add a column and have it read data from the opf.

08-13-2011, 05:16 AM	#1
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	Sort Problem (not sorting newest to oldest) I like to sort my books newest to oldest, lately it seems if I edit the metadata of a book it's sort order will be lost. It can be the last book I added but once I edit the metadata it drops way down the list. any idea what might be causing this ?

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08-13-2011, 06:33 AM	#3
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	Is it possible to tell Calibre to ignore that data when importing a book ?

08-13-2011, 06:39 AM	#4
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,723 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	Not possible to turn it off that I am aware of, definitely something I would like to have an option for. Particularly when I share my books with my parents Calibre library - my Dad imports them, but unless he goes down the route of "adding a tag for new books" then removing it in batches etc unfortunately it is impossible for him to see the newest books that I have just sent him. Which is a real pain. The only workaround I have found for this (when I remember) is in the source library to do a bulk edit before I export/copy to library on the books, and set the date field to Today. However I don't always remember. I can understand for people restoring their Calibre system after corruption from the opf files why they would want date preserved. However in the other use cases (moving books between libraries as you process them, or sharing your books with another user for import into their library) it is highly undesirable to have "date added" left at it's source value imho.

08-13-2011, 06:47 AM	#5
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	I guess in the preferences/adding books you can uncheck (Read Metadata from file contents rather then filename) but it would be nice to be able to select what fields you want to import/ignore vs all or nothing

08-13-2011, 06:49 AM	#6
kiwidude Calibre Plugins Developer Posts: 4,723 Karma: 2197770 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Oasis	@Ron - no, unchecking that preference will not help you, that is to do with reading metadata from the file itself, not from the opf file. They are two very different things.

08-13-2011, 06:53 AM	#7
DoctorOhh US Navy, Retired Posts: 9,892 Karma: 13806776 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: North Carolina Device: Icarus Illumina XL HD, Kindle PaperWhite SE 11th Gen	You can delete those files prior to import.

08-13-2011, 06:56 AM	#8
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	but isn't the calibre timestamp in the opf file in the epub/mobi ?

08-13-2011, 07:01 AM	#10
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	it's there, the question though does calibre use that info when you add a book, or of it uses the date of the time you added it.

08-13-2011, 07:06 AM	#11
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	I notice (calibre_id) in the opf file, wouldn't sorting by id solve the whole problem ? can I add a column for id to use to sort by that will use that data ?

08-13-2011, 07:32 AM	#15
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	I think being able to sort by (calibre_id) is the best option, but it seems you can't add a column and have it read data from the opf.

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