Relative Paths in Comments

[Hudaman]

Hi all,
I am using the portable Calibre and adding pictures in the Comments area.
Is there a way to use relative paths?

Thank you

[theducks]

Any valid URI should be permitted.

[Hudaman]

Thanks
I have been searching and trying different ways I am used to write relative paths and can't get it to work. I am not sure where to start the relative path from.
Is it it where the calibre exe file is?
Right now I click and browse on the wanted picture then adjust the path to relative.
I will search some more.
Thank you

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Hudaman

Hi all,
I am using the portable Calibre and adding pictures in the Comments area.
Is there a way to use relative paths?

Thank you

if you mean a 'file:\\\blah blah' URI, then I have a vague recollection that they have to be absolute.

FWIW : an alternative might be to put the images in a multi-page TIFF file and store as a format file, then the pictures are where they 'belong' - in the library. I use Irfanview to create and view the TIFFs. If you do this, you will need to apply the following Tweak:



This works much better for me than putting them in a Comments like column, which is what I did before I switched to using multipage TIFFs.

BR

[deback]

(1) A relative file path points to a file relative to the current page.

In this example, the file path points to a file in the images folder located at the root of the current web:

Example:

<img src="/images/picture.jpg" alt="Mountain">


(2) An absolute file path is the full URL to an internet file:

Example:

<img src="https://www.w3schools.com/images/picture.jpg" alt="Mountain">


(3) A file URI takes the form of file://host/path.

Examples:

file://localhost/c:/WINDOWS/clock.avi
file:///c:/WINDOWS/clock.avi

[Hudaman]

Thanks for the answers.
I think I will try the Tiff way.
I have tried setting a path within my window environment called %extras% pointing to the folder with the pics but that did not work either.
Too bad as it is the only thing missing to make Calibre fully portable I think.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Hudaman

Thanks for the answers.
I think I will try the Tiff way.
I have tried setting a path within my window environment called %extras% pointing to the folder with the pics but that did not work either.
Too bad as it is the only thing missing to make Calibre fully portable I think.

Fully Portable???

Environment variables are PER SYSTEM (OK, you could add a SET blahblah to the Calibre portable .bat), but that assumes the pix are really on the portable device, as well)
a 'portable' program, does not assume anything about the system (or locations), other than the OS. Portable Calibre requires that the Library be a Child of the program (batch) so it knows where all its pieces are.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by theducks

Fully Portable???

Environment variables are PER SYSTEM (OK, you could add a SET blahblah to the Calibre portable .bat), but that assumes the pix are really on the portable device, as well)
a 'portable' program, does not assume anything about the system (or locations), other than the OS. Portable Calibre requires that the Library be a Child of the program (batch) so it knows where all its pieces are.

Well you can always store the "extras" folder inside the Calibre Portable folder as well.

[BetterRed]

IMO - if relative paths were permitted (and I don't think they are), then the logical place to anchor them would be the library folder in which the database containing the long-text column with the URIs are contained. In which case they'd be portable by definition, because the portable version mandates that library folders are contained within the Calibre Portable installation folder.

I know its not going to change, but a better term than 'Portable' would be 'Self-Contained', not just for calibre; for everything. Portability is not the only reason to want self contained installs, isolation from other installs is another common reason.

BR

[Hudaman]

I agree, self contained makes more sense then portable.
My Extras folder is inside my Calibre Library folder.
The full path would be D:\Calibre\Calibre Library\~Extras\picturefile.jpg
I tried %extras%\picturefile.jpg
I set %extras% to D:\Calibre\Calibre Library\~Extras in my windows environment.
Is that supposed to work or am I completely out to lunch?

[BetterRed]

@Hudaman - did you try making ~Extras a sibling of Calibre Library rather than a child, e.g.



Adding arbitrary folders to a calibre library is best avoided, if you do a Library Check they will be reported as Extra Authors.

I'll give Kovid a nudge, asking him to give us a definitive answer on relative paths.

BR

[kovidgoyal]

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...8c3c3db2f27e69

[BetterRed]

Can't get a better answer than that - thanks Kovid

BR

[Hudaman]

Thank you very much kodi,
At the risk of sounding uncult, how do I use that fix? The question should be, what do I do with that code?

Thank you.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Hudaman

At the risk of sounding uncult, how do I use that fix? The question should be, what do I do with that code?

This code will be part of the next calibre release.