Just wondering if it can be done...

[GreywolfofKansas]

I have been using Calibre for quite a while, and thought I was fairly proficient with it, but have been banging my head against a wall trying to figure out how I can take the first letter of a series name, and parse that into a directory path..

What I am attempting to do is, say the series name is Harry Potter, I want it to figure out the series starts with H, then when I run my save option, it references that identifier into the save path.. so it would be something along the lines of:

Save to
{Series_Starts_With_This}/{series} - {author}/{series} {series_index:0>2s} - {title} - {author}

Resulting in H/Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling/Harry Potter 01 - The Sorcerers Stone - J. K. Rowling

I use several additional custom columns which I have removed for the example, in an attempt to at least clear up what I want the output template to be like... As I said, I'm not sure if it can be done, was just something I have been running around in my head. Thanks.

[theducks]

This also takes care of when No series

program:test(field('series'),strcat(
substr(field('series'), 0, 1),template("-series/{series:subitems(0,1)||/}{series:subitems(1,2)||/}{series_index:0>2s}-{title}_{authors}")
),template("00noseries/{author_sort[0]}_authors/{author_sort}/{title}-{authors}")
)

(Original Credit to chaley)

[GreywolfofKansas]

I appreciate the help, theducks. it is indeed separating the directory to the first letter of the series name, but apparently I should have left one of my fields (or more) there as reference. I separate my folders based on Genre (#booktype). After that is where the individual letter directory would fall. I am trying to put the {#booktype} before the

program:test(field('series'),strcat(substr(field(' series'), 0, 1),template("

section, but it's giving garbage strings as a result.

[GreywolfofKansas]

Though your suggestion does indeed create the directory with the first letter of the series, I'm still having an issue, and I think that was of my own fault for not giving my save template layout so you could see how mine is structured.

{#booktype}/{#tier_parent}/{#multiauthoredseries}/{series} - {author}/{series} {series_index:0>2s} - {title} - {author}

Where #booktype is where I sort by Genre....
Then #tier_parent is where I show whether a book is part of a set of series that tie into each other

Then #multiauthoredseries combines a series together that has multiple authors contributing to it.. Once those three directory structures are established, that is where I need the series title to get the first letter to create the separate alphabetical sort directory. I know, wayyy too complicated, but it's how I organize my multitude of books..

an example of my directory would be:

e:\Output\Paranormal_Fantasy Romance\S\Silver Springs Collection - Multi-Authored\

and from there you would see all the series - author lists

It was just a time saver that I was trying to accomplish automatically upon saving was all.. Thanks for your time.