Directory structure

[praky]

I know that my original directory structure in calibre isn't preserved. But this is very inconvenient. There might be the case that sorting books according to author is good and will take some time to get used to. But still there should be a choice for a user to decide himself. You need to understand me here, calibre kicks ass but what if i decide to switch to some other software in the future , then i wont like the calibre's directory structure to drive to my ebook.


Suppose i have some matlab books, i would rather like them in a matlab folder not sorted according to author. How can sent this message to developer?

[Manichean]

You can't change the way Calibre saves the books internally. You're actually not even supposed to care. Try to view the library as a database that you need to use the GUI or CLI tools to access. There's a more complete explanation here.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by praky

I know that my original directory structure in calibre isn't preserved. But this is very inconvenient.

Since this is calibre's database it can't be inconvenient it just is. This area is off limits to users.

Originally Posted by praky

There might be the case that sorting books according to author is good and will take some time to get used to. But still there should be a choice for a user to decide himself.

You have complete freedom of choice. You can sort your books within the calibre library GUI view 9 ways from Sunday. Also the user can decide exactly how they would like to export their books. The Save to disk feature gives you complete flexibility to create whatever folder / file name structure you want outside of calibre's database.

Originally Posted by praky

You need to understand me here, calibre kicks ass but what if i decide to switch to some other software in the future , then i wont like the calibre's directory structure to drive to my ebook.

Calibre gives the user total control on how to export the books, Go crazy.

Originally Posted by praky

Suppose i have some matlab books, i would rather like them in a matlab folder not sorted according to author.

Calibre is a program that doesn't care how you want to sort your books in your world but within the confines of the calibre database / folder structure it will sort them in a way consistent with its needs. This file structure is the cost of doing business, it might be best if you just don't look under the hood. Nothing to see here, please move along.

Originally Posted by praky

How can sent this message to developer?

The developer is aware of folks not being able to deal with seeing the inner workings of calibre. The best advice I can give you is don't look.

[darknessangel]

Kovidgoyal will one day either a) have a heart attack after the 1000000000th person asks for this or b) give up and code the feature XD

[Worldwalker]

I doubt if Kovid is going to completely change how calibre works and regress it from being a book manager to a mere file manager because people mistakenly believe that it is, in fact, a file manager.

It isn't. It's not supposed to be. It also isn't a meeting scheduler, a RTS game, or an IM client. That's not what it's for. Calibre is a library and book manager, and it does that very, very well. What it happens to do with its internal database (currently, though not necessarily permanently, implemented with files) is its own business. There are no user-serviceable parts inside.

I know that my original directory structure in calibre isn't preserved.

Actually, it is. Nothing happens to it. It's right where you left it.

Calibre, as part of its book and library management function, copies the files for the books it's organizing into its internal library and does its own thing with them. Note copies. Nothing happens to your original directory structure, and unless you decide to delete those files yourself, nothing ever will.

There might be the case that sorting books according to author is good and will take some time to get used to. But still there should be a choice for a user to decide himself.

Calibre is an ebook manager, not a file manager. It sorts books by author, title, series, publisher, or anything else you can imagine, and various combinations and subsets of those. It doesn't matter to the user what calibre is doing with the files under the hood -- it's not a file manager. It's a book and library manager. If you want your books sorted by type (fiction), genre within type (fantasy), series within genre (Free Bards), and author within series (Mercedes Lackey), calibre will do that without blinking. Another click and it will pull up all the Mercedes Lackey books for you, or all the books that are fiction but not SF or fantasy, or all the non-fiction related to tanks, or whatever else you've got your books tagged for. That's what calibre is all about.

The key is, you have to use calibre, not ignore calibre and try to use its internal files instead. That's what it's for.

If you just want to use calibre to convert formats, though I can't quite see why one would, then once you've converted your files to whatever you want, export them ("save to disk" in the menus) to wherever you need them to be, and they'll be right there, in whatever format you wanted, and you can organize them however you want.

You need to understand me here, calibre kicks ass but what if i decide to switch to some other software in the future , then i wont like the calibre's directory structure to drive to my ebook.

If you decide to switch to some other software in the future, you've still got your original files right in their original places. Or if you've deleted those, or done conversions that you want to keep, you can just export the files from calibre to wherever you want them, however you want them.

Suppose i have some matlab books, i would rather like them in a matlab folder not sorted according to author.

Is there some reason you can't use the original files? Or export 'em?

How can sent this message to developer?

Aside from the fact the English in that sentence makes my head hurt, Kovid (who, by the way, is very active on this board and reads all the posts -- he's just not going to respond to the ones like this) is not going to turn calibre from a book manager back into a file manager. You have a file manager. It came with your computer. If that's what you need, why run calibre? That's not what calibre is for. Trying to say it should be a file manager is like saying Windows Explorer should be a hex editor, and manage discs according to blocks and sectors, not files. It doesn't; it abstracts all of that and deals with files. Likewise, calibre abstracts the whole file layer and deals with books. A book is not a file, even though a book is made up of files, any more than a file is a series of disc blocks, even though it is made up of blocks.

In summary: Calibre leaves your original files exactly where they were, organized exactly as you had them, when it makes copies for its internal use. Those copies are locked in a disused lavatory marked "beware of the leopard" and should not be tinkered with. If you need to do something with/to the files that make up a book, do so with your originals (which are still right where they were), or export that book, in whatever format you need and to wherever you want it, from calibre. Pretend that its internal files are in a format totally inaccessible to you, because for all intents and purposes they might as well be. And read my .sig.

Oh, and no, Kovid is not going to change calibre into a file manager (or a meeting scheduler, or a RTS game, or an IM client) because you or anyone else want it to be one. If that's what you want, you've already got one; if you need a book and library manager, that's what calibre is for.

[Archon]

I don't know why people have such a problem with the way Calibre stores its files. Like dwanthny said you have complete freedom as to how to export files if you want to.

Another thing is as I add books to Calibre I don't delete the books from their original format. I had my whole library backed up to bluray before I even started messing with this program when it was new to me. So I don't need to worry about losing anything.

Once I complete adding all my books to Calibre I will back up my library (including the Calibre database) one more time before I become completely dependent on Calibre and delete from my hard drive the original files.

If I decide someday in the future that I want to switch to another program I can export in a particular format or go back the original files that have been backed up. Complete flexibility.

Don't natter over the way Calibre works "under the hood". Just use it for what it does extremely well and don't worry about how it keeps the files organized.

iTunes and iPhoto are the same way. I don't have any control over how they organize the files internally either and don't care as long as I can get the files when I need them, convert them, or export them to transfer elsewhere.

Happy Wednesday
Archon

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Hey, guys, this is probably the troll that has been coming in under various IDs carping about the same thing. Based on the poor English, I have a fair guess who it is but will refrain from saying whom since I have no actual proof.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by darknessangel

Kovidgoyal will one day either a) have a heart attack after the 1000000000th person asks for this or b) give up and code the feature XD

Oh I just use the nifty ignore thread feature in mobile read.

[praky]

You need to understand me here, i registered on this forum just for this.

In today's world, consumer is the king. I have a 10gb collection of ebooks which keeps ever increasing so i dont want calibre to use another 10gb just in case i want to move to another software and want my original directory structure intact. Its illogical and inconvenient.
I am too a coder and probably think that the developer will have to do a rewrite of a major portion of code and algo's to do what i have asked. But let me tell you, sooner or later more ebook managers will come in the software world and then people will choose them over calibre just because of this.
I use as an alternative Alfa ebooks manager. I had to pay for it though but i had no choice.

[praky]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

Calibre is a program that doesn't care how you want to sort your books in your world but within the confines of the calibre database / folder structure it will sort them in a way consistent with its needs. This file structure is the cost of doing business, it might be best if you just don't look under the hood. Nothing to see here, please move along.



The developer is aware of folks not being able to deal with seeing the inner workings of calibre. The best advice I can give you is don't look.

People like you want to remain noobs forever. "Don't Look".. huh
It will be better to keep your mouth shut.

[Sweetpea]

I'm a great proponent to a folder structure. But personally, I wouldn't care how Calibre saves it on disk. If I do find one fault, it is that you can't have a folder-like structure within the application itself (select Author: show books of authoor, then select series: sow books of that series by that author). This goes beyond search or ordering. It is more like filtering.

Once I found out I could save my books in any folder structure I like, using the save templates, I started using Calibre. No matter the way it saves it on disk.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by praky

People like you want to remain noobs forever.

22 years in the US Navy's IT field and another 13 years as an IT manager at a major University means I have kids with more experience then you do.

Originally Posted by praky

"Don't Look".. huh It will be better to keep your mouth shut.

There's a winning argument. Let me see if I can keep my mouth shut. Seems that it is easy to type out this message with my mouth shut, I hope that pleases you.

Originally Posted by praky

You need to understand me here, i registered on this forum just for this.

Congrats for all the work it took to get here.

Originally Posted by praky

In today's world, consumer is the king.

Your Majesty glad you could stop by.

Originally Posted by praky

I have a 10gb collection of ebooks which keeps ever increasing so i dont want calibre to use another 10gb just in case i want to move to another software and want my original directory structure intact. Its illogical and inconvenient.

Having a backup is never illogical or inconvenient.

Originally Posted by praky

I am too a coder and probably think that the developer will have to do a rewrite of a major portion of code and algo's to do what i have asked.

You might just be right about this.

Originally Posted by praky

But let me tell you, sooner or later more ebook managers will come in the software world and then people will choose them over calibre just because of this.

That's the way the world turns. If someone makes something better then people will buy it. Why do you care?

Originally Posted by praky

I use as an alternative Alfa ebooks manager. I had to pay for it though but i had no choice.

There is always a choice, I think your time might be better spent going on the Alfa ebooks manager company forum and praising them for their product or asking that they bend their product to your needs.

But for Pete's sake stop creating a new account every couple of weeks just to rephrase your argument, we get it. At some point in the future calibre may or may not change, but I would stop losing sleep over it if I were you and move on already.

[praky]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

There is always a choice, I think your time might be better spent going on the Alfa ebooks manager company forum and praising them for their product or asking that they bend their product to your needs.

But for Pete's sake stop creating a new account every couple of weeks just to rephrase your argument, we get it. At some point in the future calibre may or may not change, but I would stop losing sleep over it if I were you and move on already.

Oh, grandpa, did i hurt your feelings.. ?
I bought windows 7 doesn't mean that i don't want to get UBUNTU better or should i go to windows forums and ask them to make it like ubuntu.

Or is it too hard to suggest a feature which i think will be good for software without people crapping on me?

[praky]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Hey, guys, this is probably the troll that has been coming in under various IDs carping about the same thing. Based on the poor English, I have a fair guess who it is but will refrain from saying whom since I have no actual proof.

sorry to disappoint you sir, but i am not that troll.

[praky]

Thanks a lot for your replies and patience.

I thought that maybe other users would welcome this feature. I didn't know you people are so close-minded about other's ideas. Maybe, it is only me who is having this problem.

@mods : thread may be closed when they feel like doing so. Issue resolved.