Calibre uses directory of books as structure

stonehat · 07-18-2011, 04:20 PM

I would like to use Calibre, it seems to be a great program that does a lot of things I need, but I am not willing to create a duplicate of all my ebooks just to put them in Calibre's system.

In the FAQ, I read "The whole point of calibre's library management features is that they provide a search and sort based interface for locating books that is much more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection.".

Am I to understand that the directory structure forms the book database, rather than storing the information in a real, seperate database ? This seems a little strange.
If it is not possible to move away from using the directories as a database, would it not be possible for Calibre to only store links to the actual ebook files, obviating the need for copying the files themselves ?

TIA.

chaley · 07-18-2011, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonehat

I would like to use Calibre, it seems to be a great program that does a lot of things I need, but I am not willing to create a duplicate of all my ebooks just to put them in Calibre's system.

In the FAQ, I read "The whole point of calibre's library management features is that they provide a search and sort based interface for locating books that is much more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection.".

Am I to understand that the directory structure forms the book database, rather than storing the information in a real, seperate database ? This seems a little strange.
If it is not possible to move away from using the directories as a database, would it not be possible for Calibre to only store links to the actual ebook files, obviating the need for copying the files themselves ?

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=119175 and http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq....tory-structure give some explanation for why calibre works the way it does. The latter also says "Finally, if you are irrevocably wedded to the filesystem, feel free to patch your local copy of calibre to use whatever storage scheme you like. But, do not bother me with requests to change the directory structure, they will be ignored." I think that answers your question.

stonehat · 07-18-2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaley

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=119175 and http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq....tory-structure give some explanation for why calibre works the way it does. The latter also says "Finally, if you are irrevocably wedded to the filesystem, feel free to patch your local copy of calibre to use whatever storage scheme you like. But, do not bother me with requests to change the directory structure, they will be ignored." I think that answers your question.

The authors of both of those explanations seem incapable of contemplating the use of a database to store ( ebook meta ) data instead of using a wierd directory structure in a file system - the rest of the world thinks differently.

And, sheesh, if that is an indication of the way Calibre people take on new ( to them ) ideas, I will stay well away !

user_none · 07-18-2011, 06:20 PM

This is not a new idea. It has been around for years and is brought up about once a month. Typically it's brought up in a fashion not nearly as nice as you did. That said there has not been a convincing enough argument to change the current directory structure.

kovidgoyal · 07-18-2011, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonehat

The authors of both of those explanations seem incapable of contemplating the use of a database to store ( ebook meta ) data instead of using a wierd directory structure in a file system - the rest of the world thinks differently.

Understand what you are speaking about before opening your mouth to bleat.

theducks · 07-18-2011, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonehat

I would like to use Calibre, it seems to be a great program that does a lot of things I need, but I am not willing to create a duplicate of all my ebooks just to put them in Calibre's system.

In the FAQ, I read "The whole point of calibre's library management features is that they provide a search and sort based interface for locating books that is much more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection.".

Am I to understand that the directory structure forms the book database, rather than storing the information in a real, seperate database ? This seems a little strange.
If it is not possible to move away from using the directories as a database, would it not be possible for Calibre to only store links to the actual ebook files, obviating the need for copying the files themselves ?

TIA.

Might be good for 20-100 books... But some users have 20K or more.

Plus
Using your idea: 1 tiny DB burp and books are gone.
BLOBs are not as robust as what we have.

Metadata.db can be totally destroyed and the books are still there.
In addition, Calibre backs up the record with the titles metadata in the same folder.
Calibre can rebuild the DB from this data.

redsky · 07-19-2011, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Understand what you are speaking about before opening your mouth to bleat.

What a charming chap.

darknessangel · 07-19-2011, 07:26 AM

Aaaand here we go again XD... I wonder if Kovidgoyal has a bet about how long he can say no to this request from the users.

user_none · 07-19-2011, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darknessangel

Aaaand here we go again XD... I wonder if Kovidgoyal has a bet about how long he can say no to this request from the users.

It's been said again and again that if someone wants to do the work to create a new backend that allows for this then by all means do so. Kovid has been working on making the DB pluggable to support cases like this. However, Kovid as well as every other calibre developer has no interest in this feature. We will not spend our time working on it.

avantman42 · 07-19-2011, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonehat

The authors of both of those explanations seem incapable of contemplating the use of a database to store ( ebook meta ) data instead of using a wierd directory structure in a file system - the rest of the world thinks differently.

The metadata is stored in a database. To be precise, it's stored in an SQLite database file named metadata.db

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonehat

And, sheesh, if that is an indication of the way Calibre people take on new ( to them ) ideas, I will stay well away !

It's not a new idea. As Manichean said in one of the linked-to threads, "There's been enough of that discussion already, and at best you'll get annoyed reactions by everyone."

ThR · 07-19-2011, 07:35 AM

Calibre stores its contents in a database. A file system IS a database and calibre is using it. Where's the problem?

kovidgoyal · 07-19-2011, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darknessangel

Aaaand here we go again XD... I wonder if Kovidgoyal has a bet about how long he can say no to this request from the users.

No need to bet. I am never going to say yes to something I think is bad for calibre.

Lady Fitzgerald · 07-19-2011, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redsky

What a charming chap.

Actually, Kovid is being quite charming under the circumstances. Every month or few, we have someone who comes to this forum to complain about calibre not using the user's folder/filename tree and reject any explainations from the FAQs, the developers, and other users. We even have one person who comes back to the forum for the sole purpose of compaining about it. After a while, the attacks become tiresome.

Lady Fitzgerald · 07-19-2011, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonehat

And, sheesh, if that is an indication of the way Calibre people take on new ( to them ) ideas, I will stay well away !

As explained already, there is nothing new about this. As far as staying well away goes, thank you.

theducks · 07-19-2011, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

As explained already, there is nothing new about this. As far as staying well away goes, thank you.

07-18-2011, 04:20 PM	#1
stonehat Re-Iliadist Posts: 23 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: none	Calibre uses directory of books as structure I would like to use Calibre, it seems to be a great program that does a lot of things I need, but I am not willing to create a duplicate of all my ebooks just to put them in Calibre's system. In the FAQ, I read "The whole point of calibre's library management features is that they provide a search and sort based interface for locating books that is much more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection.". Am I to understand that the directory structure forms the book database, rather than storing the information in a real, seperate database ? This seems a little strange. If it is not possible to move away from using the directories as a database, would it not be possible for Calibre to only store links to the actual ebook files, obviating the need for copying the files themselves ? TIA.

07-19-2011, 07:35 AM	#11
ThR Tatütatuter Posts: 390 Karma: 3148 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Germany, Baden, Karlsruhe Device: Aura H2O, Glo HD, Paperwhite, PRS-950	Calibre stores its contents in a database. A file system IS a database and calibre is using it. Where's the problem? Last edited by ThR; 07-19-2011 at 07:45 AM.

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07-18-2011, 06:20 PM	#4
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,487 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	This is not a new idea. It has been around for years and is brought up about once a month. Typically it's brought up in a fashion not nearly as nice as you did. That said there has not been a convincing enough argument to change the current directory structure.

07-19-2011, 07:26 AM	#8
darknessangel Addict Posts: 297 Karma: 1018140 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: PRS-505, iPad	Aaaand here we go again XD... I wonder if Kovidgoyal has a bet about how long he can say no to this request from the users.