Search and Replace Tag/Author Delimiters

darkbeanies · 08-21-2011, 06:50 AM

Hello, I already asked this in my other thread, I know it's naughty but I thought maybe no one would read it in the other thread and I'd really, really like to be able to do this.

So, my authors are currently delimited by semicolons, like "Bill Brewer; Jan Stewer; Peter Guerney". I can search and replace semicolon with ampersand in calibre, and calibre then recognises these as separate authors. However, I cannot get search and replace to put the semicolons back again, because it will not let me replace the ampersand (represented by ":::" in the search and replace function.

Does anyone know if there is a regular expression or something for the delimiters?

Manichean · 08-21-2011, 07:14 AM

Why would you want to delimit authors by a semicolon in the first place? The delimiter for author fields is '&'.

darkbeanies · 08-21-2011, 07:26 AM

BoooHooooo!

Because Windows uses semicolons.....

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!

I do have a workaround lined up if this is not possible. A huge bash script to replace all the delimiters with semicolons.

This would be very painful though...

DoctorOhh · 08-21-2011, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbeanies

BoooHooooo!

Because Windows uses semicolons.....

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!

I do have a workaround lined up if this is not possible. A huge bash script to replace all the delimiters with semicolons.

This would be very painful though...

Why?

I'm confused, in what app does Windows need semicolons? Calibre uses the '&' as the delimiter for author fields in Windows, Linux and OSX.

darkbeanies · 08-21-2011, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwanthny

I'm confused, in what app does Windows need semicolons?

(Much Sobbing)

Windows Explorer.

Not internet explorer.

The file manager. The windows library system. The entire operating system.

(More sobbing)

DoctorOhh · 08-21-2011, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbeanies

The file manager. The windows library system. The entire operating system.

I think you might be wrong.

I just saved a multiple author book to disk and this was the result in Windows Explorer.

Code:

\lahaye, tim & jenkins, jerry b_\left behind-02.00-tribulation force-tim lahaye & jerry b. jenkins.epub

I don't see a problem with Windows using & in the path.

What are you trying to do?

darkbeanies · 08-21-2011, 08:17 AM

But is the author

"lahaye, tim & jenkins, jerry"

Like, one freak with an ampersand in their name

Or

"lahaye, tim"

and

"jenkins, jerry"

Two people with no ampersand in their names?

Also, what about tags? Is the tag "medieval, science, welding" a single tag containing all three, or three separate fields?

Just to clarify - Are you talking about a folder called "lahaye, tim & jenkins, jerry"?

With a book inside?

I am not talking about this. There is no problem calling a folder "blah&blah&blah&blah"

I am refering to the details view in windows explorer, which allows you to use columns such as author, tags, title etc. If you attempt to filter ampersand/comma delimited fields, they appear as a single field, unless they are delimited by the semicolon.

Manichean · 08-21-2011, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbeanies

I am refering to the details view in windows explorer, which allows you to use columns such as author, tags, title etc. If you attempt to filter ampersand/comma delimited fields, they appear as a single field, unless they are delimited by the semicolon.

I'm very confused. What on earth are you talking about? I only get the normal fields in details view (file name, date, size, type).

darkbeanies · 08-21-2011, 09:00 AM

Sigh. I get title, tags, author too.

Imagine I have a folder. Filled with pdfs.

Switch on details view. Right click on the fields at the top. Add a column, say "authors". Can you do this? I can in windows 7. You can add a lot of extra columns.

Right, so your authors are all blank, right? That's because you don't have an ifilter for pdf documents. Or epub, or whatever.

Right, I personally get every authors name, every tag, in the details view.

However, my tags are in a bit of a mess. The best way to organize tags is in calibre. Calibre does not recognize the semi colon. I need to change the semicolon to ampersand (for authors) or a comma (for tags).

Then, once i have organised all my tags/authors, i need to put the semicolon back, because windows explorer uses semicolons...

Please, just assume I'm right...

I can get you a screenshot if you'd like. It will be a couple of hours, though.

darkbeanies · 08-21-2011, 11:07 AM

And here is a solution for the Tags...works for pdfs in current directory. Very slow and painful.

#!/bin/bash

#DarkbeaniesMegaDeliminationScript

ls *.pdf > ~/test1
cat ~/test1 | sed 's/^/"/' | sed 's/$/"/' > ~/test2
sed 's/^/exiftool -Keywords /' ~/test2 > ~/test3
chmod +x test3
./test3 > ~/test4
cat ~/test4 | sed 's/\<Keywords\>//g' > ~/test5
cat ~/test5 | sed "s/://g" > ~/test6
cat ~/test6 | sed 's/^[ \t]*//' > ~/test7
cat ~/test7 | sed 's/[ \t]*$//' > ~/test8
cat ~/test8 | sed 's/, /\;\ /g' > ~/test9
cat ~/test9 | sed 's/^/"/' | sed 's/$/"/' > ~/test10
awk 'NR==FNR{a[FNR]=$0;next} {print a[FNR],$0}' ~/test10 ~/test2 > ~/test11
sed 's/^/exiftool -Keywords=/' ~/test11 > ~/test12
chmod +x ~/test12
./test12

Apparently works for author too. Just replace "Keywords" with "author", and the comma with an ampersand I guess...

darkbeanies · 08-21-2011, 12:21 PM

Look ,here's my details view:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...tailsview.jpg/

and here's my library:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/835/libraryx.jpg/

Good, eh?

DoctorOhh · 08-21-2011, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbeanies

Right, I personally get every authors name, every tag, in the details view.

However, my tags are in a bit of a mess. The best way to organize tags is in calibre. Calibre does not recognize the semi colon. I need to change the semicolon to ampersand (for authors) or a comma (for tags).

Then, once i have organised all my tags/authors, i need to put the semicolon back, because windows explorer uses semicolons...

What you are doing is interesting, but seems limited to PDFs and doesn't apply to ePubs since Windows explorer doesn't read the metadata from those files.

Good Luck with your solution.

darkbeanies · 08-21-2011, 10:43 PM

Yep. I myself am limited to pdfs. I could not care less if the epub format never existed.

Also, Windows explorer doesn't read data from pdfs properly either without massive punching and kicking and screaming...

I am sure it would be easy to make an ifilter for epub format, though, as they are just htmls really.

Hmm. Could be wrong about that actually.

On a happy note, all of my authors are now sorted! Hoorah!

DoctorOhh · 08-22-2011, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbeanies

Yep. I myself am limited to pdfs. I could not care less if the epub format never existed.

True, if you are using a regular PC and not using a 5, 6 or 7 inch ereader then PDF would be the way to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbeanies

I am sure it would be easy to make an ifilter for epub format, though, as they are just htmls really.

I'll take your word that it would be easy. However whether using PDFs or ePubs it just seems to be a bunch of extra hoops to jump through. I use calibre to manage my ebooks, personally I don't care how they might look in a file manager?

08-21-2011, 06:50 AM	#1
darkbeanies Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	Search and Replace Tag/Author Delimiters Hello, I already asked this in my other thread, I know it's naughty but I thought maybe no one would read it in the other thread and I'd really, really like to be able to do this. So, my authors are currently delimited by semicolons, like "Bill Brewer; Jan Stewer; Peter Guerney". I can search and replace semicolon with ampersand in calibre, and calibre then recognises these as separate authors. However, I cannot get search and replace to put the semicolons back again, because it will not let me replace the ampersand (represented by ":::" in the search and replace function. Does anyone know if there is a regular expression or something for the delimiters?

08-21-2011, 08:17 AM	#7
darkbeanies Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	But is the author "lahaye, tim & jenkins, jerry" Like, one freak with an ampersand in their name Or "lahaye, tim" and "jenkins, jerry" Two people with no ampersand in their names? Also, what about tags? Is the tag "medieval, science, welding" a single tag containing all three, or three separate fields? Just to clarify - Are you talking about a folder called "lahaye, tim & jenkins, jerry"? With a book inside? I am not talking about this. There is no problem calling a folder "blah&blah&blah&blah" I am refering to the details view in windows explorer, which allows you to use columns such as author, tags, title etc. If you attempt to filter ampersand/comma delimited fields, they appear as a single field, unless they are delimited by the semicolon. Last edited by darkbeanies; 08-21-2011 at 08:41 AM.

08-21-2011, 09:00 AM	#9
darkbeanies Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	Sigh. I get title, tags, author too. Imagine I have a folder. Filled with pdfs. Switch on details view. Right click on the fields at the top. Add a column, say "authors". Can you do this? I can in windows 7. You can add a lot of extra columns. Right, so your authors are all blank, right? That's because you don't have an ifilter for pdf documents. Or epub, or whatever. Right, I personally get every authors name, every tag, in the details view. However, my tags are in a bit of a mess. The best way to organize tags is in calibre. Calibre does not recognize the semi colon. I need to change the semicolon to ampersand (for authors) or a comma (for tags). Then, once i have organised all my tags/authors, i need to put the semicolon back, because windows explorer uses semicolons... Please, just assume I'm right... I can get you a screenshot if you'd like. It will be a couple of hours, though. Last edited by darkbeanies; 08-21-2011 at 09:02 AM.

08-21-2011, 11:07 AM	#10
darkbeanies Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	And here is a solution for the Tags...works for pdfs in current directory. Very slow and painful. #!/bin/bash #DarkbeaniesMegaDeliminationScript ls .pdf > ~/test1 cat ~/test1 \| sed 's/^/"/' \| sed 's/$/"/' > ~/test2 sed 's/^/exiftool -Keywords /' ~/test2 > ~/test3 chmod +x test3 ./test3 > ~/test4 cat ~/test4 \| sed 's/\<Keywords\>//g' > ~/test5 cat ~/test5 \| sed "s/://g" > ~/test6 cat ~/test6 \| sed 's/^[ \t]//' > ~/test7 cat ~/test7 \| sed 's/[ \t]$//' > ~/test8 cat ~/test8 \| sed 's/, /\;\ /g' > ~/test9 cat ~/test9 \| sed 's/^/"/' \| sed 's/$/"/' > ~/test10 awk 'NR==FNR{a[FNR]=$0;next} {print a[FNR],$0}' ~/test10 ~/test2 > ~/test11 sed 's/^/exiftool -Keywords=/' ~/test11 > ~/test12 chmod +x ~/test12 ./test12 Apparently works for author too. Just replace "Keywords" with "author", and the comma with an ampersand I guess... Last edited by darkbeanies; 08-21-2011 at 11:16 AM.*

08-21-2011, 10:43 PM	#13
darkbeanies Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	Yep. I myself am limited to pdfs. I could not care less if the epub format never existed. Also, Windows explorer doesn't read data from pdfs properly either without massive punching and kicking and screaming... I am sure it would be easy to make an ifilter for epub format, though, as they are just htmls really. Hmm. Could be wrong about that actually. On a happy note, all of my authors are now sorted! Hoorah! Last edited by darkbeanies; 08-21-2011 at 11:02 PM.

08-21-2011, 07:14 AM	#2
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	Why would you want to delimit authors by a semicolon in the first place? The delimiter for author fields is '&'.

08-21-2011, 07:26 AM	#3
darkbeanies Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	BoooHooooo! Because Windows uses semicolons..... Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!! I do have a workaround lined up if this is not possible. A huge bash script to replace all the delimiters with semicolons. This would be very painful though...

08-21-2011, 12:21 PM	#11
darkbeanies Member Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	Look ,here's my details view: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...tailsview.jpg/ and here's my library: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/835/libraryx.jpg/ Good, eh?

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