How to see / find path and file used to import?

Quoth · 02-12-2020, 07:06 AM

I want to find the original file on disc that I imported to Calibre. Does Calibre store this anywhere, or do I have do detective work based on the import date (which is on Calibre), however the file might not have been imported the same day as copied, created or downloaded to disc. All three options have been used. Also the file might not have a name containing the actual title shown in Calibre. How also do I know which of RTF, MOBI, AZW3, PDF, LRF, EPUB was the import?

Actually usually the created locally files are imported as DOCX, so almost all DOCX are originals and usually I know where they live. Probably more 50 books / documents. I might be a bit hazy about DOCX file locations that were created by import of RTF, DOC, HTML or copied & pasted direct from web sites (perhaps a reformatted composite of many sites on a topic).

kovidgoyal · 02-12-2020, 07:53 AM

no calibre keeps no records of where files are imported from.

Quoth · 02-12-2020, 08:32 AM

Thanks, I suspected that was the case, because many people even delete the source! I never do as extra backups and unchanged versions are good. Also only a few people might have loads of files without the title in them in some manner.

stumped · 02-12-2020, 10:52 AM

there's a sort of cheat, if you want to ensure that calibre keeps an original. Do a conversion to same format in calibre before doing anything else to the file, so that a title.original_whatever file is created, then be careful not to delete that. It's not an approved use of original format, K says somewhere that it is not meant to be relied upon as a backup, but it may help. Also, not sure if you can do that with .docx, it works for AZW and EPUB which are the formats I use.
otherwise you need to create a column or use a comments field or a tag

PeterT · 02-12-2020, 01:43 PM

See this plugin https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=278559

Quoth · 02-12-2020, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumped

there's a sort of cheat, if you want to ensure that calibre keeps an original. Do a conversion to same format in calibre before doing anything else to the file, so that a title.original_whatever file is created, then be careful not to delete that.

I know about that. I was specifically curious as to exactly what file from where I had imported in a particular case.
An exported/saved DOCX seems the same as the one imported, in any case I know where most DOCX live and they are ALL actually exports of Libreoffice ODT, because Calibre converts DOCX best of ODT, DOC and DOCX.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=278559 will help for future imports, thanks PeterT and Terisa de Morgan.

hobnail · 02-12-2020, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumped

there's a sort of cheat, if you want to ensure that calibre keeps an original. Do a conversion to same format in calibre before doing anything else to the file, so that a title.original_whatever file is created, then be careful not to delete that. It's not an approved use of original format, K says somewhere that it is not meant to be relied upon as a backup, but it may help. Also, not sure if you can do that with .docx, it works for AZW and EPUB which are the formats I use.
otherwise you need to create a column or use a comments field or a tag

He's talking about the original file name outside of Calibre. For example, if I download War and Peace from project Gutenberg I get the file pg2600.epub on my hard drive. Dragging that into calibre produces the file War and Peace - graf Leo Tolstoy.epub inside Calibre's library directory. Nothing in Calibre says anything about pg2600.epub.

Quoth · 02-12-2020, 03:29 PM

Yes.

ownedbycats · 02-13-2020, 01:31 PM

If you know the original file extension, you can try using Everything to filter for all files of that type and see if you can track it down.

Or if you don't mind installing a 30-day trial, the professional version of Agent Ransack can search through various files (including ePub, but not mobi or azw3) so you can try searching for a text string.

Quoth · 02-13-2020, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

If you know the original file extension, you can try using Everything to filter for all files of that type and see if you can track it down.

That's for Windows. Also XP built in search worked absolutely fine with indexing disabled. The Windows 7 not quite as good and mysteriously Win10 by default wants Internet Access simply to do stuff on your own discs. Though even Windows 10 doesn't need either of those programs.

Since it was originally either a .mobi or a .epub, knowing the extension is useless.

I gave up on Windows over two years ago, after nearly 30 years. Doing IT support, selling and training. My Laptop runs Linux Mint, Mate Desktop and a customised theme. It also has a search.

I think DOS or Windows 3.11 was the last time I needed a 3rd party disc search tool.

Anyway, I remembered the source and solved the problem. It's an 1877 book on Gutenberg and both the mobi and the epub versions have spurious HTML links. Also some other mad formatting. Brushed up my CSS and fixed it.

Edit:
It was a mobi. An epub is really just a renamed zip file with specific contents, so indeed you can search epub files for a string.
Long ago, in about 2008, I'd rename Gutenberg files to be human readable. I don't now, so that I know if I already downloaded and added the file to Calibre. It was tiring back then reading ebooks on a laptop and awkward in bed, only warm place.

stumped · 02-13-2020, 02:36 PM

Windows 10 can do all that for free, if you let it maintain content indexes.
Even without content indexing it's easy to search all or some of drives for file types, using wild cards and date ranges. E.g. Search c:/users for *.docx, then sort results by date.

The 1909 which I rashly installed, has introduced some search bugs. Different folks report different bugs,mine is that when I type into the search box of file explorer, I don't see any characters, yet they are there invisibly so the search works normally when I press enter. 1090 has also totally broken sleep. If I tell pc to sleep it does not get to where the lights dim, and it sticks there. Only a complete power cycle recovers it. I have chosen to disable sleep on the lower me j to avoid accidents, as none of the googled workarounds would fix it. I don't like hibernate and with 24gb ram and a ssd drive don't want to waste a huge chunk on a hibrenate file at 75% of ram. This is the first windows update that I have seriously considered rolling back. But that's yet another risk. I will wait for an eventual fix.

Quoth · 02-13-2020, 02:44 PM

You have to hold some key combo now for a real shutdown on Win10 or is that an evil rumour?

stumped · 02-13-2020, 02:51 PM

No, so long as you have fast startup disabled in power options then shut down is still shut down.
With fast start on it does a quasi hibernate instead that shaves a few seconds off of start times with a spinning drive,. But is a bad idea if you are swapping or changing hardware.
I have ssd c drive so losing the sleep option is no Biggie, I only used sleep overnight anyway . From power on to being in windows is just a few seconds

pazos · 02-13-2020, 03:03 PM

@FrustratedReader

On linux you can use find to search for books.

This example will look on home folder, recursivelly, for epub files modified at least 30 days ago, but skip the ones modified more than 360 days ago.

Code:

find ~/ -type f -iname "*.epub" -mtime +30 -mtime -360

You can change that to look for "*.mobi", "*.docx" or whatever. You can use -atime instead of -mtime to search for last accesed timestamp instead of last modification.

I hope it works for you.

Quoth · 02-13-2020, 03:18 PM

Thanks.

I do know what directories I use. The problem was the zero correlation between some file names and titles.

The problem isn't searching, the problem was what to search for. I'll look at the suggested plug-in on future imports. I've been using UNIX like OS since about 1986 and doing Linux Servers since 1998. Thankfully I don't do IT for a living any longer, not actually really since 2006 when I went back into communications engineering and electronics.

02-12-2020, 07:06 AM	#1
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,851 Karma: 103895653 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	How to see / find path and file used to import? I want to find the original file on disc that I imported to Calibre. Does Calibre store this anywhere, or do I have do detective work based on the import date (which is on Calibre), however the file might not have been imported the same day as copied, created or downloaded to disc. All three options have been used. Also the file might not have a name containing the actual title shown in Calibre. How also do I know which of RTF, MOBI, AZW3, PDF, LRF, EPUB was the import? Actually usually the created locally files are imported as DOCX, so almost all DOCX are originals and usually I know where they live. Probably more 50 books / documents. I might be a bit hazy about DOCX file locations that were created by import of RTF, DOC, HTML or copied & pasted direct from web sites (perhaps a reformatted composite of many sites on a topic).

02-13-2020, 03:03 PM	#14
pazos cosiñeiro Posts: 1,406 Karma: 2451781 Join Date: Apr 2014 Device: BQ Cervantes 4	@FrustratedReader On linux you can use find to search for books. This example will look on home folder, recursivelly, for epub files modified at least 30 days ago, but skip the ones modified more than 360 days ago. Code: find ~/ -type f -iname ".epub" -mtime +30 -mtime -360 You can change that to look for ".mobi", "*.docx" or whatever. You can use -atime instead of -mtime to search for last accesed timestamp instead of last modification. I hope it works for you.

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02-12-2020, 07:53 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,271 Karma: 27111060 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	no calibre keeps no records of where files are imported from.

02-12-2020, 08:32 AM	#3
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,851 Karma: 103895653 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Thanks, I suspected that was the case, because many people even delete the source! I never do as extra backups and unchanged versions are good. Also only a few people might have loads of files without the title in them in some manner.

02-12-2020, 10:52 AM	#4
stumped Wizard Posts: 3,305 Karma: 10259306 Join Date: May 2016 Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,	there's a sort of cheat, if you want to ensure that calibre keeps an original. Do a conversion to same format in calibre before doing anything else to the file, so that a title.original_whatever file is created, then be careful not to delete that. It's not an approved use of original format, K says somewhere that it is not meant to be relied upon as a backup, but it may help. Also, not sure if you can do that with .docx, it works for AZW and EPUB which are the formats I use. otherwise you need to create a column or use a comments field or a tag

02-12-2020, 01:43 PM	#5
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,409 Karma: 78880114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	See this plugin https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=278559

02-12-2020, 03:29 PM	#8
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,851 Karma: 103895653 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Yes.

02-13-2020, 01:31 PM	#9
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,850 Karma: 74203799 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	If you know the original file extension, you can try using Everything to filter for all files of that type and see if you can track it down. Or if you don't mind installing a 30-day trial, the professional version of Agent Ransack can search through various files (including ePub, but not mobi or azw3) so you can try searching for a text string.

02-13-2020, 02:36 PM	#11
stumped Wizard Posts: 3,305 Karma: 10259306 Join Date: May 2016 Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,	Windows 10 can do all that for free, if you let it maintain content indexes. Even without content indexing it's easy to search all or some of drives for file types, using wild cards and date ranges. E.g. Search c:/users for *.docx, then sort results by date. The 1909 which I rashly installed, has introduced some search bugs. Different folks report different bugs,mine is that when I type into the search box of file explorer, I don't see any characters, yet they are there invisibly so the search works normally when I press enter. 1090 has also totally broken sleep. If I tell pc to sleep it does not get to where the lights dim, and it sticks there. Only a complete power cycle recovers it. I have chosen to disable sleep on the lower me j to avoid accidents, as none of the googled workarounds would fix it. I don't like hibernate and with 24gb ram and a ssd drive don't want to waste a huge chunk on a hibrenate file at 75% of ram. This is the first windows update that I have seriously considered rolling back. But that's yet another risk. I will wait for an eventual fix.

02-13-2020, 02:44 PM	#12
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,851 Karma: 103895653 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	You have to hold some key combo now for a real shutdown on Win10 or is that an evil rumour?

02-13-2020, 02:51 PM	#13
stumped Wizard Posts: 3,305 Karma: 10259306 Join Date: May 2016 Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,	No, so long as you have fast startup disabled in power options then shut down is still shut down. With fast start on it does a quasi hibernate instead that shaves a few seconds off of start times with a spinning drive,. But is a bad idea if you are swapping or changing hardware. I have ssd c drive so losing the sleep option is no Biggie, I only used sleep overnight anyway . From power on to being in windows is just a few seconds

02-13-2020, 03:18 PM	#15
Quoth Still reading Posts: 13,851 Karma: 103895653 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Thanks. I do know what directories I use. The problem was the zero correlation between some file names and titles. The problem isn't searching, the problem was what to search for. I'll look at the suggested plug-in on future imports. I've been using UNIX like OS since about 1986 and doing Linux Servers since 1998. Thankfully I don't do IT for a living any longer, not actually really since 2006 when I went back into communications engineering and electronics.

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