bulk removal of numbers from a title

[taratears]

Is it possible to bulk remove all numbers from a selection of titles? Thank You.

[PastTense]

I don't know, but would like to add an additional question: how do you remove a 4 number (year) date in parenthesis--both the year and the parenthesis--again from the title?

Thanks.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by taratears

Is it possible to bulk remove all numbers from a selection of titles? Thank You.

Originally Posted by PastTense

I don't know, but would like to add an additional question: how do you remove a 4 number (year) date in parenthesis--both the year and the parenthesis--again from the title?

Thanks.

Both can be done in the Bulk Metadata Edit->Search and replace tab - you'll need to use the Search mode Regular Expression setting.

Please heed the warning you see there about how easy it is to break things. There's also a link there to a tutorial on using regular expressions.

BR

[DaltonST]

@taratears:

Your library seems to have ISBN-10s and ISBN-13s in the Title, and likely other serious quality issues. They shouldn't be deleted without first moving them to the ISBN field after calculating their check-sum and ensuring they are valid. Regardless, they should be removed from the Title, of course. Ditto for other trash like "(2015)", the Publisher's name, the Author, the Series, Tags, user IDs, etc. that should be relocated to where they belong or purged entirely.

If you multiply the number of books you have to clean times the average number of minutes each that it will consume, you will get a number. My number was in the 1,000s of hours (not minutes).

That is why I developed Q&S at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...48#post2940048 . For myself. Life is too short.

Q&S requires Calibre 2.05+.

If you are stuck on Calibre 1.48, it would be well worth the effort to compare the number you calculated above with the number of hours it would take you to convert your Windows XP PC to dual-boot with a Linux derivation such as Ubuntu or Mint (the latter is more user-friendly in its interface than the former), since Calibre 2.05+ runs on them.

Everyone on XP who truly needs a current version of Calibre has a choice. The rational determination of the proper option to choose should include a cost-benefit analysis.

I hope your "number" is small. Best of luck.



DaltonST

[taratears]

I know how to use search and replace, but they are not all the same number, meaning it seems I must do it one at a time, which defeats the purpose of doing it in bulk. Mostly they are series order numbers that are in the title field, with the series named already being removed.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by taratears

I know how to use search and replace, but they are not all the same number, meaning it seems I must do it one at a time, which defeats the purpose of doing it in bulk. Mostly they are series order numbers that are in the title field, with the series named already being removed.

@taratears - you'll need to use a regular expression (re), which allow you do pattern matching. You need to select Regular Expression in Search Mode in Bulk Edit Search and Replace.

Here is the re doco that's applicable to calibre ==>> 7.2. re — Regular expression operations

Suggest you invest a bit of time becoming familiar with re - at least to the point where you have a notion of what it is, how to frame a question, and comprehend (vaguely mayhap) an answer. There's lots of 'stuff' on the 'net on regular expressions

Hint - \d+$

Please heed the warnings and use the test area

BR

[taratears]

Thank you, very much.