Best practice for sharing Calibre library with Dropbox

carljohn · 03-23-2020, 06:13 AM

I have previously used Calibre with the library stored in Dropbox and shared to a bunch of Linux computers and an Android phone.

However recently I have started using Windows 10 and at first it seemed that there's no problem with using Calibre and Dropbox as before.

It turns out that in some cases if a book has several authors and a longish name, e.g. this one, Calibre will import the pdf just fine -- but when I try to open the book (I typically use SumatraPDF on Windows) I just get an error stating the book has no available formats. Opening the containing folder shows that the pdf is there and everything is intact.

I suspect that this has to do with the folder/filename templates, i.e. the complete path to the file is too long for Windows.

How have you dealt with these issues before? Are there any guidelines for how to configure the filename templates so that the paths don't get too long?

Sirtel · 03-23-2020, 09:26 AM

More likely that your library database is out of sync with your library files. That can happen very easily when you keep your library in a cloud.

The golden rule re Calibre and Dropbox is: pause the syncing while Calibre is open and never have either Dropbox or Calibre running on two computers at the same time. If you keep Dropbox constantly syncing in the background, you'll end up with a corrupted library in no time.

I keep my Calibre library in Dropbox too and use it on 2 Windows 10 PCs. I do things in the following order:

Run Dropbox and let it sync
Pause Dropbox
Open Calibre, do what's needed there
Close Calibre
Resume Dropbox and let it sync
Close Dropbox

Now when I go to my other PC, I do the same steps there. Still, conflicted copies do creep in and I run the Library Maintenance regularly, to remove those.

All in all, it's a lot of bother and it's very easy to mess up your library, even if you're cautious. Back-up copies of the library are a must, and best not to keep all of those in a cloud, but some on external drives, for example. And don't forget to update your backups regularly.

carljohn · 03-27-2020, 02:26 AM

Thanks Sirtel, indeed it looks this was a syncing issue afterall. Apparently this never happened on Linux as it somehow manages simultaneous file access just fine but became a problem once I started using Windows.

03-23-2020, 06:13 AM	#1
carljohn Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2020 Device: none	Best practice for sharing Calibre library with Dropbox I have previously used Calibre with the library stored in Dropbox and shared to a bunch of Linux computers and an Android phone. However recently I have started using Windows 10 and at first it seemed that there's no problem with using Calibre and Dropbox as before. It turns out that in some cases if a book has several authors and a longish name, e.g. this one, Calibre will import the pdf just fine -- but when I try to open the book (I typically use SumatraPDF on Windows) I just get an error stating the book has no available formats. Opening the containing folder shows that the pdf is there and everything is intact. I suspect that this has to do with the folder/filename templates, i.e. the complete path to the file is too long for Windows. How have you dealt with these issues before? Are there any guidelines for how to configure the filename templates so that the paths don't get too long?

03-23-2020, 09:26 AM	#2
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,366 Karma: 238915017 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	More likely that your library database is out of sync with your library files. That can happen very easily when you keep your library in a cloud. The golden rule re Calibre and Dropbox is: pause the syncing while Calibre is open and never have either Dropbox or Calibre running on two computers at the same time. If you keep Dropbox constantly syncing in the background, you'll end up with a corrupted library in no time. I keep my Calibre library in Dropbox too and use it on 2 Windows 10 PCs. I do things in the following order: Run Dropbox and let it sync Pause Dropbox Open Calibre, do what's needed there Close Calibre Resume Dropbox and let it sync Close Dropbox Now when I go to my other PC, I do the same steps there. Still, conflicted copies do creep in and I run the Library Maintenance regularly, to remove those. All in all, it's a lot of bother and it's very easy to mess up your library, even if you're cautious. Back-up copies of the library are a must, and best not to keep all of those in a cloud, but some on external drives, for example. And don't forget to update your backups regularly.

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03-27-2020, 02:26 AM	#3
carljohn Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2020 Device: none	Thanks Sirtel, indeed it looks this was a syncing issue afterall. Apparently this never happened on Linux as it somehow manages simultaneous file access just fine but became a problem once I started using Windows.

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