Folder naming frustrations...

[nepentanova]

Hi. i have a book with the author name Alan Kazdin, author sort is Kazdin, Alan.

FIle naming template is {author_sort}/{title}/{title} - {authors}

For some reason this book is filed under Alan Kazdin, not Kazdin, Alan.

I have changed the author and author sort to just 'Kazdin' and the folder name changes, however, when I then change author name to A Kazdin, and author sort to Kazdin, A the folder name goes to A Kazdin.

Any idea what could be happening?

PS, just tried something else. If i change author to Kazdin, author sort to aaaaaa, the folder name changes to Kazdin, despite the author sort being aaaaaa.

[BetterRed]

What folder are you referring too?


If you are referring to the author sub-folders within the library folder, you need to read this ==>> Want to change folder structure or file names in the Calibre library?.

And this thread might further clarify ==>> Save to Disk Template

BR

[nepentanova]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

What folder are you referring too?


If you are referring to the author sub-folders within the library folder, you need to read this ==>> Want to change folder structure or file names in the Calibre library?.

And this thread might further clarify ==>> Save to Disk Template

BR

Hi better red,

After some trial and error, I have since discovered that Calibre uses author to define the folder name, not author sort.
Seems a strange choice to me. I also think that the comment in the first link "You shouldn't even be in there" when talking about the folder structure is a little naive / impractical. There are a some valid reasons why you may want to navigate to your ebook files through the files structure outside of calibre, but what do i know...

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by nepentanova

Hi better red,

After some trial and error, I have since discovered that Calibre uses author to define the folder name, not author sort.
Seems a strange choice to me. I also think that the comment in the first link "You shouldn't even be in there" when talking about the folder structure is a little naive / impractical. There are a some valid reasons why you may want to navigate to your ebook files through the files structure outside of calibre, but what do i know...

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

You might want to read the calibre FAQ Why doesn't calibre let me store books in my own directory structure?.

There are good and valid reasons for that structure and while I personally might have done it differently, the resulting structure would be equally unchangeable. If you really want to change the structure, feel free to modify the source code of calibre. Please note that you will also be rewriting the database management, library check and database restore code since they depend on that directory structure matching the database entries.

For the average user, modifying the directory structure is out while adding, removing and modifying files and metadata should be handled through calibre unless you have a true love for unscrambling eggs.

However, I would like to know what you would consider as valid reasons for navigating into the calibre library from outside calibre as I really can't think of any. As an example, looking for extra or missing files? calibre's check library function covers that. Just looking around out of curiosity? Fine, just don't modify anything while you are there. Manually adding or deleting files? See database inconsistency.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by DNSB

You might want to read the calibre FAQ

FYI, there is a link to that FAQ in the sticky. Maybe I should make it a bit more prominent.

BR

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

FYI, there is a link to that FAQ in the sticky. Maybe I should make it a bit more prominent.

Sadly, I suspect that if you used 72 point bolded underlined text, it would still not be read.

[nepentanova]

Originally Posted by DNSB

...
However, I would like to know what you would consider as valid reasons for navigating into the calibre library from outside calibre ...

I read ebooks on multiple devices, Kindle iPad iPhone windows pc etc. My ebooks library is stored on a cloud folder so I can access my books when needed from any device.

I can understand the points raised about not having finders by subject or tag as reach book may fall into multiple tags or subjects. My suggestion / query was purely to use author sort instead of author for those use cases where you are accessing the library outside Calibre.

[nepentanova]

As a workaround, is there a quick method of copying 'author sort' to 'author'?

[jbacelar]

Search and replace

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by nepentanova

I read ebooks on multiple devices, Kindle iPad iPhone windows pc etc. My ebooks library is stored on a cloud folder so I can access my books when needed from any device.

I can understand the points raised about not having finders by subject or tag as reach book may fall into multiple tags or subjects. My suggestion / query was purely to use author sort instead of author for those use cases where you are accessing the library outside Calibre.

My personal choice was keeping the calibre library local and using save to disk to generate a copy for a cloud library. This fit with the recommendation to not access the calibre library outside of calibre and lets you set the save to disk parameters as you prefer.

If you browse through this forum, you can find several threads on issues with using cloud storage for a live calibre library. Another one of those not recommended items where it may work for quite a while and then $#@%^ time.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

My personal choice was keeping the calibre library local and using save to disk to generate a copy for a cloud library. This fit with the recommendation to not access the calibre library outside of calibre and lets you set the save to disk parameters as you prefer.

If you browse through this forum, you can find several threads on issues with using cloud storage for a live calibre library. Another one of those not recommended items where it may work for quite a while and then $#@%^ time.

This solution will work if one only wants to read on other devices. But if one wants to edit one's library on another device (say, a Windows tablet), then the only solution will be to keep a live library in the cloud.

There's no good option for such use cases to this day. Keeping your library on a network drive is no better than a cloud solution. The content server might allow metadata editing in the future, but it still won't allow to edit the books themselves, or so I have understood. And it probably won't allow to use the calibre plugins in editing metadata (like "count pages" or "generate cover")

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

T<snip>

. . . but it still won't allow to edit the books themselves, or so I have understood. . .

If you download an editable format from the server to a suitable device then you can edit it in place (e.g. edit a DOCX with WPS on Android).

Then next time you run the GUI on a desktop you can return it to the library by dropping it back into the book details panel and then doing any conversions etc.

You could do similar with EPUB, but you'd probably need to unpack it and edit with a text editor, and repack it before returning it to the library. Unless you have an EPUB editor for your device.

BR

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

If you download an editable format from the server to a suitable device then you can edit it in place (e.g. edit a DOCX with WPS on Android).

Then next time you run the GUI on a desktop you can return it to the library by dropping it back into the book details panel and then doing any conversions etc.

You could do similar with EPUB, but you'd probably need to unpack it and edit with a text editor, and repack it before returning it to the library. Unless you have an EPUB editor for your device.

BR

Yes, of course. But it's a clumsy, roundabout and more time-consuming way, compared to editing books and metadata in the full Calibre program. And as Calibre runs perfectly well not only on desktops and laptops, but also on modern Windows tablets, the need for a multi-access solution has increased. I personally use Dropbox (paid version) and it works well enough, but it's not perfect and one must be very careful to avoid messing up the library.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

This solution will work if one only wants to read on other devices. But if one wants to edit one's library on another device (say, a Windows tablet), then the only solution will be to keep a live library in the cloud.

Are you away from home for that long at a time that you need to edit your library from a second device?

calibre was not designed to be multiuser friendly and I see no compelling reason to attempt to use it in that fashion so my preference is to do all the adding/removing books, editing metadata, editing books, etc. on one device. Preferably with that device docked so I have dual monitors. This also helps to prevent the "I left calibre running on my computer at home, opened calibre on my laptop, did some library cleanup and now the library reports multiple errors. What can I do???" messages.

Originally Posted by Sirtel

There's no good option for such use cases to this day. Keeping your library on a network drive is no better than a cloud solution. The content server might allow metadata editing in the future, but it still won't allow to edit the books themselves, or so I have understood. And it probably won't allow to use the calibre plugins in editing metadata (like "count pages" or "generate cover")

My Kobo purchases and library loans automatically sync to my ereader and I can read my Kobo or Kindle purchases on my iPad or Nexus tablet or, if truly desperate, on my phone. Keeping that in mind, I can't see any circumstances where I was jonesing so badly for a new read that any changes to my library couldn't wait until I got back to my laptop.

I do have a server at home where one of the VMs runs calibre's content server NATted out to the internet and a batch file that allows me to update it's copy of my library when I'm at home. I don't think of this as a source of new books but a handy demo of what calibre can do.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Are you away from home for that long at a time that you need to edit your library from a second device?

No. I just like to work on two devices, alternately: my laptop and my Windows tablet. For me, it's really a question of convenience, not of need. I know that Calibre is not meant for multi-access, but a person can dream. Meanwhile Dropbox does more or less what I want, and of course I take precautions to avoid messing up.