Option for Calibre 6 Full Text Search Index file location?

[WHY]

Thank you for releasing Calibre 6 with the Full-text Search feature. It is very useful and powerful. I was wondering if there will be an option for changing the indexing file location? WH

[kovidgoyal]

No no plans for such an options. why do you want one?

[WHY]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

No no plans for such options. why do you want one?

My index file size is 14GB causing sync issues on OneDrive, where I store my Calibre library. I think there is no need to sync the indexing file.

[kovidgoyal]

You should be able to exclude a file from syncing in onedrive. And please read https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...rked-drive-nas

[WHY]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

You should be able to exclude a file from syncing in onedrive. And please read https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...rked-drive-nas

Yes, I tried, but, unfortunately, onedrive can only exclude folders but not a specific file.

[kovidgoyal]

You could use a symlink in that case, though how well it works on windows i have no idea.

[WHY]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

You could use a symlink in that case, though how well it works on windows i have no idea.

Thank you. That is why I thought of an option for changing the index file location

[JSWolf]

This is why you should not store your library on any cloud storage. It will eventually break something.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

You could use a symlink in that case, though how well it works on windows i have no idea.

Symlinks are fine on the Windows/NTFS platform, I've used them since NT4 was in beta in 1995.

I have a couple of chunky libraries on a sluggish external HDD with metadata.db symlinks that reference <chunky-library-name>/metadata.db files on an SSD. Doesn't make much difference in performance**, but it seemed a good idea at the time - which was almost a decade ago. I would be surprised if the same couldn't be done for the full-text-search.db file - I'll give it a try.

Before I discovered calibre I built a very primitive home-grown equivalent that used symlinks by the truckload - it worked fine, but it was very intolerant of user errors

Many people confuse NTFS Symlinks with Windows shortcuts (.lnk files), but they're different beasts entirely.

BR

** because the db is memory resident when calibre is running.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Symlinks are fine on the Windows/NTFS platform, I've used them since NT4 was in beta in 1995.

Personally, I prefer directory junction points (mklink /j) — functionally the same thing, but on a different level that is more invisible to applications, though whether this will cause issues with cloud storage I'm not sure.

I've had video games that really, really, really don't like symlinks and start crashing or doing weird crap.

[BetterRed]

Junction points are a poor cousin to symlinks and my experience (admittedly on XP) is when they break they can create an almighty mess.

What is a Junction?

1. A junction point can only be a link to a local volume path. Symbolic links are a local and remote path. For example, a symbolic link can link to the network share \\hope\files.
2. A junction point is designed for local directories, but a symbolic link can be used for directories, files, and shares.
3. A symbolic link resolves to the local machine. For example, you create a symbolic link to c:\hope on your computer. If someone accesses that link from a remote machine, c:\hope os opened on that remote machine, not yours.

BR

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

. . .
I have a couple of chunky libraries on a sluggish external HDD with metadata.db symlinks that reference <chunky-library-name>/metadata.db files on an SSD. Doesn't make much difference in performance**, but it seemed a good idea at the time - which was almost a decade ago. I would be surprised if the same couldn't be done for the full-text-search.db file

I'll give it a try.

See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...46&postcount=1

BR

[klin4960]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

No no plans for such an options. why do you want one?

I have some 5000 books in my Calibre Library and when I tried to index them with Calibre 6, it ran out of space on my C; drive and had to abort the indexing.

I have only 12Gig available on my C: drive but 260+ gig on my D:drive.

I have already moved all my documents, downloads, music, pictures etc to D: drive and cannot make more space.

Thank you.

[kovidgoyal]

So move your calibre library to D: as well.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by klin4960

I have some 5000 books in my Calibre Library and when I tried to index them with Calibre 6, it ran out of space on my C; drive and had to abort the indexing.

I have only 12Gig available on my C: drive but 260+ gig on my D:drive.

I have already moved all my documents, downloads, music, pictures etc to D: drive and cannot make more space.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

So move your calibre library to D: as well.

↑ ↑ ↑ ✔

@klin4960 - in my experience calibre is not a disk performance dependent application, most of its functionality uses the library database which is loaded into memory when a library is opened. Providing you are using a 'modern' file system such as NTFS, Ext 4, HFS+, APFS etc, you probably won't notice any difference if you move your library to an HDD.

BR