Why do my "Series" have numbers in brackets?

iRob_M · 11-11-2023, 11:08 AM

Hello all,

I have collected a large number of Star Trek ebooks, and they tend to come with sloppy metadata so I have been trying to clean it up.

My question is about how the Series displays in the column view. All of the books should have simply "Star Trek" as the series, that's what I have entered, but the vast majority have "Star Trek [1]" instead, and about 1/4 have higher numbers, all the way up to "Star Trek [36]".

When I go to edit the metadata there are no brackets, it just says "Star Trek". And I can search and find what I need, so it's not really a problem per se, but I'd like to understand more about why it is assining this arbitrary-looking numbering system.

Anyways, thanks in advance to anyone who can help out.

theducks · 11-11-2023, 12:11 PM

Brackets [##] after the series name in the series column is just a display of {series_index} << the field name that was visually merged. That is fixed.

A value of [1] is the result of setting the Series, but not the Index
BTW if typing in the GUI you do type [#] after the name. Calibre parses that to the proper place in the DB. You can not use anything except digits and a period. Fractional ending in 0 are also not doable (2.50) will always show as 2.5

Manage Series Plugin helps you order (number) selected books

JSWolf · 11-11-2023, 12:56 PM

If you don't want the series numbers because Star Trek overall is a mess with incorrect series numbers, just use the Tags column to put in Star Trek and clear the series column.

theducks · 11-11-2023, 01:19 PM

Or set it to 0 (what I do for books that belong, but are not part of a sequence.

JSWolf · 11-11-2023, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

Or set it to 0 (what I do for books that belong, but are not part of a sequence.

Setting that many eBooks to 0 is not a good idea. It's best to use Tags and create a collection.

Karellen · 11-11-2023, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iRob_M

but I'd like to understand more about why it is assining this arbitrary-looking numbering system.

It's not really arbitrary. The number in the brackets is the order the book appears in the series.

If you look in the Edit Metadata screen below the "Series" field is a "Number" field. This is where the number in brackets comes from.

When properly used, it numbers the books in the series in correct order. eg...

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone = Harry Potter [1]
Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets = Harry Potter [2]
Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban = Harry Potter [3]
etc

As for where your numbering has come from, well that depends on how you added the book to the library, but it's highly probable the numbering has come from the bad metadata in the book when it was added to your library.

Just use the "Manage Series" option to fix the numbering. There are plenty of online lists that will detail the (correct) order of the Star Trek novels. Wikipedia has a comprehensive list.

ownedbycats · 11-11-2023, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Setting that many eBooks to 0 is not a good idea. It's best to use Tags and create a collection.

Uh, why not? I do it all the time, no issue aside from it looking a bit ugly. Plus would make searches/templates/other things that check a book has a series overly complex.

May want to go to Preferences > Tweaks > Auto Increment Series Index. There's some options here for auto-assigning the series number.

rantanplan · 11-12-2023, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karellen

Just use the "Manage Series" option to fix the numbering. There are plenty of online lists that will detail the (correct) order of the Star Trek novels. Wikipedia has a comprehensive list.

Star Trek book series have been restarted and rebooted so often that there really isn’t a correct order tbh.

JSWolf · 11-12-2023, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rantanplan

Star Trek book series have been restarted and rebooted so often that there really isn’t a correct order tbh.

The best order is date published. Otherwise it may be overly complicated.

rantanplan · 11-12-2023, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The best order is date published. Otherwise it may be overly complicated.

Sure, I'd agree. But I don't think anyone will have a complete list for all (canon) TOS books with the correct release date.

Karellen · 11-12-2023, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rantanplan

But I don't think anyone will have a complete list for all (canon) TOS books with the correct release date.

This must come pretty close if not complete...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_novels

ownedbycats · 11-12-2023, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Uh, why not? I do it all the time, no issue aside from it looking a bit ugly. Plus would make searches/templates/other things that check a book has a series overly complex.

Guess I'm not going to get an answer on this.

rantanplan · 11-12-2023, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karellen

This must come pretty close if not complete...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_novels

That seems to be more accurate than what I found on Goodreads, thank you!

rantanplan · 11-12-2023, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Guess I'm not going to get an answer on this.

I have that a lot for my own series, e.g. Star Trek novels. I didn't have any issue so far.

JSWolf · 11-12-2023, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rantanplan

Sure, I'd agree. But I don't think anyone will have a complete list for all (canon) TOS books with the correct release date.

There are no canon Star Trek novels.

I have an Excel spreadsheet that lists all the books in publication order up to and including December 2017. It's attached here.

11-11-2023, 11:08 AM	#1
iRob_M Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2023 Device: Kobo Forma	Why do my "Series" have numbers in brackets? Hello all, I have collected a large number of Star Trek ebooks, and they tend to come with sloppy metadata so I have been trying to clean it up. My question is about how the Series displays in the column view. All of the books should have simply "Star Trek" as the series, that's what I have entered, but the vast majority have "Star Trek [1]" instead, and about 1/4 have higher numbers, all the way up to "Star Trek [36]". When I go to edit the metadata there are no brackets, it just says "Star Trek". And I can search and find what I need, so it's not really a problem per se, but I'd like to understand more about why it is assining this arbitrary-looking numbering system. Anyways, thanks in advance to anyone who can help out.

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11-11-2023, 12:11 PM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,067 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Brackets [##] after the series name in the series column is just a display of {series_index} << the field name that was visually merged. That is fixed. A value of [1] is the result of setting the Series, but not the Index BTW if typing in the GUI you do type [#] after the name. Calibre parses that to the proper place in the DB. You can not use anything except digits and a period. Fractional ending in 0 are also not doable (2.50) will always show as 2.5 Manage Series Plugin helps you order (number) selected books

11-11-2023, 12:56 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,778 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	If you don't want the series numbers because Star Trek overall is a mess with incorrect series numbers, just use the Tags column to put in Star Trek and clear the series column.

11-11-2023, 01:19 PM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,067 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Or set it to 0 (what I do for books that belong, but are not part of a sequence.