Custom Formats?

[woodr2011]

Hi everyone,

I use Calibre to catalog my physical library of printed books, CDs, DVDs, etc. How can I add a custom Format to those entries? I would like it to be in the same Format field as the file formats such as epub, PDF, MOBI, etc. It should be something like HBK (hardback book) or PBK (paperback book), etc. Please advise!! Thanks so much! ---Ryan

[BetterRed]

@woodr2011- create an empty file with the extension you want eg Bleak House - Charles Dickens.hbk and drag drop to the book list

BR

[eschwartz]

calibre can store up to one file of any extension type -- doesn't have to be a known/real extension.

As BetterRed says, create a blank file with the extension you want, add it as a format and you will see it show up in Book Details.
That should be sufficient to track which books you have a paper copy of.

[woodr2011]

Thank you both for your replies. I had tried this previously, but the "Format" column still calls the file TXT rather than HBK. My Format column's template code is: {:'approximate_formats()'}. Does this require a tweak?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by woodr2011

Thank you both for your replies. I had tried this previously, but the "Format" column still calls the file TXT rather than HBK. My Format column's template code is: {:'approximate_formats()'}. Does this require a tweak?

Works for me.

This template


gives this result


when the file "foo.hbk" is added as a format.

[woodr2011]

You created an empty file in Notepad with the name "foo.hbk"? In my case, Calibre isn't recognizing it as anything other than a TXT file, regardless of whatever suffix I give it in the file name. I must be missing a step?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by woodr2011

You created an empty file in Notepad with the name "foo.hbk"? In my case, Calibre isn't recognizing it as anything other than a TXT file, regardless of whatever suffix I give it in the file name. I must be missing a step?

I didn't use Notepad, but one can. In Notepad, in order to use an arbitrary extension you must change the "Save as type" box to be "All Files".

[woodr2011]

Hi Chaley - It finally worked! Thank you so much! Which program did you use for the creation of the dummy .HBK file?

Would it be advisable for me to store the arbitrary dummy files somewhere other than in the Calibre program directory?

[chaley]

@woodr2011: I right-clicked on my desktop, chose New, and made a text file, then clicked on its name and changed its name and extension.

[woodr2011]

Should those arbitrary files be stored in the main Calibre directory or elsewhere?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by woodr2011

Should those arbitrary files be stored in the main Calibre directory or elsewhere?

By "arbitrary files" do you mean the .hbk ones? If so, when you add a .hbk file to calibre via drag-and-drop or as a format in edit metadata, calibre makes a copy of the file and saves it in your library. The original file can be stored anywhere or recreated at need.

[BetterRed]

@wood2011 - just for the record

Right click the desktop, select New->Notepad File, that will create a file called "New Text Document.txt", which can be immediately renamed to "Charles Dickens - Bleak House.hbk"

Prerequisite: in order to see the extension, you will need to uncheck Windows Control Panel->File Options->View->Hide extensions for known file types Ψ²

If I had a lot of books to add this way - I would rename the file to "Some One - Some Book.hbk" and keep it at hand for reuse. Then after adding it to my calibre library, I would change the Author and Title in the book list via F2, for the Author at least I would have benefit of calibre's auto completion feature.

BR