Author's name changed to "&" between last and first name

arast · 05-01-2019, 01:57 PM

Sometimes with, say a book from Project Gutenberg, I want to convert from EPUB to RTF so that I can edit some of additional paragraphs added. The conversion and Word work fine. When I copy the RTF file back into Calibre the name is changed from say "Jones, John" to "Jones & John". I can use the Edit Metadata function to correct it but that is a pain. This just started happening so I must have made a change to the settings by accident. I've looked at the settings but I can't figure it out. I'm using the most current version of Calibre.

kovidgoyal · 05-01-2019, 02:22 PM

Convert to DOCX rather than RTF and you should be fine. Commas in author names in RTF are assumed to separate multiple authors.

theducks · 05-01-2019, 02:29 PM

You must be using Ln, Fn
preferences: tweaks: ID: authors_split_regex

But I think the real problem is Calibre assumes full author names,
not John and Jim Smith
and not John, Jim <<- possible Ln, Fn or simply Multiple Author splitting (see the REGEX tweek)

arast · 05-01-2019, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Convert to DOCX rather than RTF and you should be fine. Commas in author names in RTF are assumed to separate multiple authors.

This is a recent problem, in the last week or so. I prefer to have titles cataloged by last name (Jones, John) rather then by first name John Jones). I guess I could enter the name as "Jones John", just leaving the comma out. This will get more or less what I want.

arast · 05-01-2019, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

You must be using Ln, Fn
preferences: tweaks: ID: authors_split_regex

But I think the real problem is Calibre assumes full author names,
not John and Jim Smith
and not John, Jim <<- possible Ln, Fn or simply Multiple Author splitting (see the REGEX tweek)

There are no plural authors, just one. The example I used was John Jones. If there are two authors, John Jones and Sam Smith, I prefer to be able to to smith or Jones in the catalog.

Where do I find the Ln-Fn and the tweaks you mentioned. I am not knowledgeable about tweaks?

lumpynose · 05-01-2019, 05:31 PM

Do you not feel comfortable editing the epub in place using calibre's editor? I cringed at the point where you said you convert to RTF in order to add/edit some paragraphs.

arast · 05-01-2019, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lumpynose

Do you not feel comfortable editing the epub in place using calibre's editor? I cringed at the point where you said you convert to RTF in order to add/edit some paragraphs.

Until I started digging into Calibre a bit more today I wasn't really aware of the editing function. The things I do don't need a TOC and converting an EPUB to RTF (or creating something in RTF) then using Word, a program I've used for years, seemed easy.

lumpynose · 05-01-2019, 08:08 PM

That's why I brought it up; I figured you didn't know about its editor. You can ignore the TOC and other things you don't need to fiddle with.

BetterRed · 05-01-2019, 10:52 PM

@arast - leaving the epub editing issue aside - I'm confused

Converting an EPUB to RTF won't change calibre author names, if you then edit the RTF with Word (where it is - i.e. in the book folder) and save it, then once again it won't alter the calibre author names. And if you convert the edited RTF back to EPUB that won't alter the calibre author names either.

The only time calibre will get the metadata from any format file is when a book is added, or if you use the get metadata from selected format feature in metadata edit.

BR

arast · 05-03-2019, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@arast - leaving the epub editing issue aside - I'm confused

Converting an EPUB to RTF won't change calibre author names, if you then edit the RTF with Word (where it is - i.e. in the book folder) and save it, then once again it won't alter the calibre author names. And if you convert the edited RTF back to EPUB that won't alter the calibre author names either.

The only time calibre will get the metadata from any format file is when a book is added, or if you use the get metadata from selected format feature in metadata edit.

BR

I agree with what you say but after editing with Word (I use Word 2003) the metadata shows Jones & John, not Jones, John. After editing and saving, I drag the RTF file from the Calibre library into Calibre. At that time the "&" construction shows. Perhaps it has something to do with Word 2003 and using the current version of Calibre. The workaround is to edit the metadata before using Calibre to convert again. I have to say I think Calibre is a great program and I am amazed at all the things it can do.

BetterRed · 05-04-2019, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arast

I agree with what you say but after editing with Word (I use Word 2003) the metadata shows Jones & John, not Jones, John. After editing and saving, I drag the RTF file from the Calibre library into Calibre.

Why do you do that drag drop, if you edited the RTF in the calibre book folder in Word and then saved to the same place in Word there is no need drag and drop it into calibre - it's already there.

BR

arast · 05-04-2019, 10:10 PM

I remembered that my problem was recent. To try something I uninstalled the current Calibre version and installed 3.35 from a few months ago. The problem went away. I know I don't use 10% of the features in Calibre but so far it does all I want (for my knowledge level). Thanks to all who gave me suggestions.

05-01-2019, 01:57 PM	#1
arast Texas Reader Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: San Antonio Device: Kindle app on iPad	Author's name changed to "&" between last and first name Sometimes with, say a book from Project Gutenberg, I want to convert from EPUB to RTF so that I can edit some of additional paragraphs added. The conversion and Word work fine. When I copy the RTF file back into Calibre the name is changed from say "Jones, John" to "Jones & John". I can use the Edit Metadata function to correct it but that is a pain. This just started happening so I must have made a change to the settings by accident. I've looked at the settings but I can't figure it out. I'm using the most current version of Calibre.

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05-01-2019, 02:22 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Convert to DOCX rather than RTF and you should be fine. Commas in author names in RTF are assumed to separate multiple authors.

05-01-2019, 02:29 PM	#3
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,267 Karma: 61916422 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	You must be using Ln, Fn preferences: tweaks: ID: authors_split_regex But I think the real problem is Calibre assumes full author names, not John and Jim Smith and not John, Jim <<- possible Ln, Fn or simply Multiple Author splitting (see the REGEX tweek)

05-01-2019, 05:31 PM	#6
lumpynose Wizard Posts: 1,086 Karma: 6719822 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Palm Pilot M105	Do you not feel comfortable editing the epub in place using calibre's editor? I cringed at the point where you said you convert to RTF in order to add/edit some paragraphs.

05-01-2019, 08:08 PM	#8
lumpynose Wizard Posts: 1,086 Karma: 6719822 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Palm Pilot M105	That's why I brought it up; I figured you didn't know about its editor. You can ignore the TOC and other things you don't need to fiddle with.

05-01-2019, 10:52 PM	#9
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,018 Karma: 30277294 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@arast - leaving the epub editing issue aside - I'm confused Converting an EPUB to RTF won't change calibre author names, if you then edit the RTF with Word (where it is - i.e. in the book folder) and save it, then once again it won't alter the calibre author names. And if you convert the edited RTF back to EPUB that won't alter the calibre author names either. The only time calibre will get the metadata from any format file is when a book is added, or if you use the get metadata from selected format feature in metadata edit. BR

05-04-2019, 10:10 PM	#12
arast Texas Reader Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: San Antonio Device: Kindle app on iPad	I remembered that my problem was recent. To try something I uninstalled the current Calibre version and installed 3.35 from a few months ago. The problem went away. I know I don't use 10% of the features in Calibre but so far it does all I want (for my knowledge level). Thanks to all who gave me suggestions.