Is it possible to have dataset templates in calibre ?

[AIberto]

Hello to all members and readers and especially to Kovid for creating calibre and updating it so frequently

I'm wondering if there is any way to have "dataset templates" in Calibre (not to be confused with the template language):

I also use Calibre for archiving periodicals which have no ISBN and no possibility to retrieve data for the defined dataset (Name, Author, Publisher, etc. to only name a few) automatically, so I have to enter them always manually!

So each time I want to archive new periodicals I have to add all data manually with most of them are always the same (i.e. Publisher and my defined fields like type or area of Publication).

It would be great if there were any way to automate the population of these fields in a way of having templates for it: If one adds a new periodical Calibre could ask which template to use.

Another way could be to copy a selection of fields of an existing dataset entry to an new one.

Is there a way to do this (which I haven't found so far) and if not is there any chance of implementing it ?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by AIberto

Hello to all members and readers and especially to Kovid for creating calibre and updating it so frequently

I'm wondering if there is any way to have "dataset templates" in Calibre (not to be confused with the template language):

I also use Calibre for archiving periodicals which have no ISBN and no possibility to retrieve data for the defined dataset (Name, Author, Publisher, etc. to only name a few) automatically, so I have to enter them always manually!

So each time I want to archive new periodicals I have to add all data manually with most of them are always the same (i.e. Publisher and my defined fields like type or area of Publication).

It would be great if there were any way to automate the population of these fields in a way of having templates for it: If one adds a new periodical Calibre could ask which template to use.

Another way could be to copy a selection of fields of an existing dataset entry to an new one.

Is there a way to do this (which I haven't found so far) and if not is there any chance of implementing it ?

You would be amazed what can be done (populating a custom field) with the Bulk Metadata Edit Search and replace form.

set the search mode to REGEX

[AIberto]

Hello theducks,

I'm not sure if I understand you.

Can you give me an example for the following (very simplyfied) situation please:

If I add an magazine with the name "PC World*" fill in the field "Area" of this new entry with "Computer" and the field "Publisher" with "PC World Publisher".

Thanks

[theducks]

Originally Posted by AIberto

Hello theducks,

I'm not sure if I understand you.

Can you give me an example for the following (very simplyfied) situation please:

If I add an magazine with the name "PC World*" fill in the field "Area" of this new entry with "Computer" and the field "Publisher" with "PC World Publisher".

Thanks

Insufficient data

You can't 'guess' the data from thin air.
A specific Recipe can create metadata (Tags).

You can create a tag to apply:

Search ublisher:"=PC World Publisher"
Select all: Add Tags: Computer <== Note I used the Tags to set the one or more topics. You don't need a special field.

[BetterRed]

@AIberto - if you're adding back issues, try adding them in batches for a single periodical (ie all the PC Worlds, all the Bytes etc) then you can select everything in a batch and use Bulk Edit to set common fields.

FWIW

I have a separate Journals Library, where the Author Name is the Periodical name (eg Foreign Policy) and the Title identifies the issue, most often its the date of publication eg 2010-11-18, some have an issue number, some have Season eg Winter 2011 - which I 'normalize' to 2011-Q3

When adding new issues I limit the Library list to the periodical in question and enter the metadata directly into the library list cells - then I can see what I have previously entered for that periodical. Since I started doing that for periodicals I now do it for everything, so that I rarely use the single book edit metadata - when I have a metadata source I hit 'W' on the selected book(s) in the Library list.

BR

[AIberto]

Originally Posted by theducks

Insufficient data You can't 'guess' the data from thin air.

In my example I set data on the added filename starting with "PC World*"

Originally Posted by BetterRed

When adding new issues I limit the Library list to the periodical in question and enter the metadata directly into the library list cells

That's the way I do it now but I have to add about a dozen fields for each magazine record and I am looking for a way to not do it manually each time a new magazine is added.

Maybe there is little missunderstanding here: It's not about batch operations (which Calibre handles fine), it's about the following workflow:

Each week I have "x" new magazines to add which have all different titles and I want to quickly add the record fields of each magazine with the appropriate data - but automatically instead of manually typing in each record field.

Best would be a way to define a template for a magazine and add all fields automatically if I add a new magazine (with drag and drop) in Calibre based on the filename of it (with wildcards allowed, see my example above).

Second best would be a way to have these templates and to assign a newly added magazine manually to it.

Thinking of it there could be a third (quick) solution: Is it possible to duplicate a complete record with all fields in Calibre ? That would also do the trick!

[itimpi]

The easiest way I can think of would be to:
- Create an empty book record with the desired metadata fields
- Save the metadata.opf file for the empty book record - this will have all the fields you entered.
- When adding a new magazine, first drag-and-drop the relevant .opf file to create a new book record in the Calibre database.
- Drag-and-drop the related magazine to that record to attach the ebook file
- Do any final metadata editing for the entry just added.

[Adoby]

One possibility (Not tested) could be to place the new periodical in a folder with a matching opf-file, and then add the publication. Depending on how you add the publication, the metadata in the opf-file will be used. You would still have to edit the actual issue number.

It should be possible to even automate some of this using scripts that identify (from the name) what type of publication it is and select the right opf-file and copy it. The script could also add the book to a calibre library. For instance a small "incoming" library where you then add the correct issue number and move the publication to the real calibre library.

Depending on how the publications are named it could even be possible to add the publication with complete metadata fully automatically.

However, the effort to make this work most likely exceed a few years of manually fixing the metadata, unless we talk about a lot of publications.

Edit: Almost what itimpi said... :X

[BetterRed]

Variation on itimpi & Adoby suggestions

Put the journal templates into a separate physical library (as empty books - ie no format files), to create a new item copy the template for the relevant Journal from the template library (right click journal template, select Copy to library->'journal library')

Then switch to the 'journal library' and fill in the blanks, and copy the format file to the book perhaps by drag/drop onto book details panel.

Just tested it, works fine - you may need a means to identify the 'copied' templates in your 'journal library', in my case a search on - title:"Unknown" - does the trick.

BR

PS the Template library will need to be a clone of your journal library - you do that when you create the library

[AIberto]

Originally Posted by itimpi

The easiest way I can think of would be to:
- Create an empty book record with the desired metadata fields
- Save the metadata.opf file for the empty book record - this will have all the fields you entered.
- When adding a new magazine, first drag-and-drop the relevant .opf file to create a new book record in the Calibre database.
- Drag-and-drop the related magazine to that record to attach the ebook file
- Do any final metadata editing for the entry just added.

itimpi, Adoby and BetterRed

That does it

Drag and drop of the .opf-template works best for me but I need to have the correct date (of entering the template/magazine) so after creating and renaming the template I deleted the line

<meta content="{date and time of template creation}" name="calibre:timestamp"/>

in the .opf and hoped that calibre will fill in the correct date and time if this meta-info is missing - which it fortunately does (well coded Kovid)

One small thing remains but is a bit off-topic to my initial post: If I - after creating the new record - drag the pdf to the detail window on the right is there any chance to have the cover created automatically ?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by AIberto

One small thing remains but is a bit off-topic to my initial post: If I - after creating the new record - drag the pdf to the detail window on the right is there any chance to have the cover created automatically ?

Best way to find out would be to make a change request at https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre

Perhaps the 'standard' cover extraction should happen when any format is dropped onto an empty book with no cover - not just PDF's.

It can be done manually via Edit Metadata - in single mode click the shiny brown book after selecting a format, in bulk - search "cover:False", select all, Edit, Change cover->Set from book file

BR