Add books reading metadata not filename

[Codetoad13]

I am trying to add several books with it getting the metadata from the file name but it keeps getting it from the book itself. I have the preference unchecked to do that.

Anything else I am missing?

Randy

[BetterRed]

What do you have in the Regular expression

For me the settings in the attachment get the author & title from the filename and the cover from the book - which is what I want.

BR

[theducks]

Note the Tick: Read from file contents (not filename)
That pattern is ignored in this case

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

Note the Tick: Read from file contents (not filename)
That pattern is ignored in this case

Yes that's what I thought too. Now that you've made me take a closer look I think have stumbled on a way to make it 'do both'.

If the file contains no metadata apart from a cover and you add the book via the Windows Send To feature using that template, it will take the author and title from the file name and the cover from the book.

So far its worked for me on 2,878 files named '<author> - <title>.zip' that I have added to Calibre via the Windows Send To. The library I am working on is a comic book archive that intend giving to someone as a present, so the zips only have images. If I don't have the box ticked then calibre does not extract the first image as the cover.

I just tested the Windows Send To method on an RTF with no metadata and a PDF with no metadata - in both instances it took the author and title from the file name and in the case of the PDF the 1st page came up as the cover, the RTF had no image so it got no cover.

For my reference and journal libraries I also have the box ticked with the same regex, for those items (which are mainly PDF's) I don't use the Windows Send To, the books are added via the auto add feature - in that case the metadata is taken from the book and if there isn't any, then author and/or title are Unknown.

The feature I'm exploiting is obviously this one ==>> the calibre command. I maybe using it in an unanticipated manner (ie via Send To) that results in this serendipitous (for me) behaviour.

@Codetoad13 - sorry to give you a bum steer, but maybe I've given you a clue.

Calibre is full is surprises - most of them pleasant.

BR

[theducks]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Y

Calibre is full is surprises - most of them pleasant.

BR

I seriously doubt any one user has done more than scrape the surface of all the features or various ways to use Calibre.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

I seriously doubt any one user has done more than scrape the surface of all the features or various ways to use Calibre.

Even the author sometimes forgets some of the features within his own creation

BTW you can exploit Send To to create a book from almost any file type.

Say you have Gone with Wind - Margaret Mitchell.avi and Gone with Wind - Margaret Mitchell.epub We know that can create the entry in your library by dropping the epub onto the book list, but then you have to use the Add file to selected books to get the movie into the book folder - which a bit of a PITA.

However, if you add the movie via Send to then it will create the entry in your library with the avi in the book folder, then you drop the epub into Book Details, then use the Set metadata from... on the EPUB and your done. Be handy to have Set metadata... available when you right click on the EPUB in Book details. It would avoid having going into Edit Metadata, which is my calibre bête noire.

I say some file types, because it doesn't work on some .exe's

BR

[Codetoad13]

Thanks I figured out the problem. My file names had a space before the extension. That was causing the problem.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Codetoad13

Thanks I figured out the problem. My file names had a space before the extension. That was causing the problem.

Very odd!
This was in the Filesystem or inside a Zip?