Trying to create a catalog with a different series

[Rellwood]

I want to create a "series Universe" catalog. I want the books by Karen Chance to be listed with the "Series Universe" along with their regular series.

My goal is to have a list of books in the order of the series universe as a read/sort. I could just make a regular list, but I want the descriptions and other things in it so that I can see if I want to read the book. Also, I want the regular series titles so I know which books are in that series. Don't get me started on the novellas and short stories split off from various Anthologies.

Any suggestions?

I want two series. I can't tag the books because there are series indexes.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Rellwood

I want to create a "series Universe" catalog. I want the books by Karen Chance to be listed with the "Series Universe" along with their regular series.

My goal is to have a list of books in the order of the series universe as a read/sort. I could just make a regular list, but I want the descriptions and other things in it so that I can see if I want to read the book. Also, I want the regular series titles so I know which books are in that series. Don't get me started on the novellas and short stories split off from various Anthologies.

Any suggestions?

I want two series. I can't tag the books because there are series indexes.

Use a custom column for the series name and use the series column for the series universe. Next get a Kobo o you can have the custom series column as your subtitle.

[chaley]

Given you want both series and series universe to have indexes, be sure to use the custom column type "Text column for keeping series-like information" for the additional one.

[Rellwood]

Lol...The need for a KOBO grows....

Yeah, I have the series and series universes beng the 'series" types of columns.
I was just hoping I could get the Calibre Catalogs to use the series universe as a field.

SO, for instance you have "Cassandra Palmer", and "Dorina" and "whatever-the-heck-that-other-series-character-is-called" and then the "Cassandra Palmer Universe" which would blend the three.

[Rellwood]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Use a custom column for the series name and use the series column for the series universe. Next get a Kobo o you can have the custom series column as your subtitle.

I don't have enough books that have a series universe. Plus, it's going to fuck with my ADHD to remember this, and whenever I update metadata the series is going into the series column and not the series universe column.

[chaley]

I admit I don't understand exactly what you want to do. It sounds like you want two series, but you already have two series. You say you don't want a "Series Universe" column. This seems to say you want a third series-like column that is a combination of series universe and reading order, but I'm not sure.

Given what I think you want, a third series-like column, then I think you can mostly solve the problem using catalog creation's ability to select which column to use for "Genre". Something like this:

• Create the new series universe custom series column. This is where you put the series universe and the associated index (reading order?).
• Create a new custom tags-like column to contain the names in the series universe custom column that catalog creation can use as a genre.
• Use Action Chains to fill in the new custom tags-like column from the series universe series column. This is straightforward, using Action Chains Single Foeld Edit and a template to get the name from the series universe series.
• Create the catalog.

The above doesn't give you the series universe reading order. If you really want to see it then you could add the information to the comments section. This requires yet another custom column to format the series name and value into an appropriate text string.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Rellwood

Lol...The need for a KOBO grows....

Yeah, I have the series and series universes beng the 'series" types of columns.
I was just hoping I could get the Calibre Catalogs to use the series universe as a field.

SO, for instance you have "Cassandra Palmer", and "Dorina" and "whatever-the-heck-that-other-series-character-is-called" and then the "Cassandra Palmer Universe" which would blend the three.

Cannot you include that column when you define fields to include the catalog? My catalog includes second and third series.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Cannot you include that column when you define fields to include the catalog?

As far as I can tell the only options to include fields in an EPUB catalog are:

• Which field is used for Genre section (Genres index). Only text-type fields are acceptable. Composite columns are not acceptable.
• "extra description notes": text included next to the cover thumbnail. Series-type columns are not acceptable. This is per-book, not indexed.
• "merge with comments": This puts the value of the column before or after the comments in the catalog. Again, only text-type columns are acceptable, including multiple-valued columns and composites. Series-type columns aren't acceptable. This is per-book, not indexed.

If I am reading this right, there is no option to include a series-type column anywhere. The only exception is "series", which is a base-level section.

If you want a column to be indexed then the only options are one of the built-in sections such as "tags" or a text-type custom column named in the "Genres" section. Series-type columns can't be used so there is no way to involve the series_index in the section.

You can get a highly-expanded index of custom series information by creating a tags-like column where each tag is "series name":"series index". This can't be a composite column so would require building by hand or using Action Chains to populate it from some series column. To ensure proper order the series index must be formatted with leading zeros. The downside is that each member of the series will appear in the index, not just the series name. One could add these values as a tag using Action Chains, leaving the Genre column available for something else.

[Terisa de morgan]

Ah, yes, I was thinking about csv catalog, that allows much more options. Sorry.

[Rellwood]

Ok, so let me see if I can explain this better. I read on a Kindle. Kindle sorts series "their' way, so if I want to read a book in series order it has to have been purchased at Amazon and it needs to be in the series. I generally put books in collections by Author or by Series if there are multi-sources for the series.

I want to create an epub I can tuck in the collections so that I don't have to wonder which book is next in a series - and which book to read next if I want to read in Series order or Series UNIVERSE order.

For Example - Karen Chance

She wrote two main series and is adding a third - all within the same time-line and universe. So, if I want to read her entire universe in order I would have to go between the three series in a particular order - hence the need for a third "Series Universe" in teh EPUB Catalog. Series 1 (Cassie Palmer), Series 2 (Dorina Basarab) and Series 3 (Can't remember the name) are all easily listed, but if I want to create a new series "Series Universe" which is comprised of all three series but in a specific order - this is impossible.

Goal - somehow show the reading order of a "series universe". This makes it easier for me to know which is next rather than keeping a paper copy of the series or going online and hunting for the order. Having a small catalog with just those few books (around 30 books) will be easier. Just open the catalog, locate the series Universe section - which book is next?

[chaley]

The following might work for you.

• Create a series-like column "#universe", "Reading Order".
• Fill in the new column as you wish. The series name is the universe, the series index is the order to read the universe.
• Search "#universe:true"
• Select all
• Create a CSV catalog with #universe, #universe_index, and any other metadata you wish. Put the columns in the order you want them in the eventual EPUB.
• Open the .csv in LibreOffice (what I have)
• Sort by #universe, #universe_index, whatever
• Save as HTML
• Import the HTML as a book in Calibre.
• Convert to EPUB.

This produces a simple EPUB with the books in reading list order. Example using test data:

[Katja_hbg]

If an epub looking same as csv is sufficient for you, you may find this easier - perhaps.

Follow the steps mentioned by Chaley. But instead opening the csv, assure the catalog is created in addition in calibre (select this in the dialog). Goto the path where you stored the csv (not calibre bibliothek) and rename "csv" into "txt". After that, open the metadata of the catalog.csv in Calibre, look for "+" additing format, find the renamed txt file. Now you can convert from txt to epub.

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by Rellwood

...
Goal - somehow show the reading order of a "series universe". This makes it easier for me to know which is next rather than keeping a paper copy of the series or going online and hunting for the order. Having a small catalog with just those few books (around 30 books) will be easier. Just open the catalog, locate the series Universe section - which book is next?

I did hacked calibre catalog to allow me to customize it my way. Those are the changes I remember making:

- Let me to use a custom cover: 'config_dir\resources\catalog\CatalogCover.jpg';
- Embed the 'config_dir\resources\catalog\calibreSymbols.otf' font so I can use half stars in my custom rating column;
- Let me to use any custom column in 'template.xhtml' and 'stylesheet.css';
- Use 'title' and 'author' instead of 'title_sort' and 'author_sort' (I might seem weird to most people, but that's how I like it)
- Colorized (green/red) bool symbols;
- Change 'Titles/Authors/Series beginning with %s' to just '%s' in the index;

Now, on top of that, I made a [VERY] dirty and quick fix so you can you use a '#series' custom column instead of the regular 'series' column. I don't have the time now to undo my other changes, but this might help you with your problem. The name '#series' and '#series_index' is hardcoded, but you can just search and replace with your actual custom column name.

To use it, you must run calibre from source and replace the existing files with the ones supplied. This is the folder where the files will be in the source code: \calibre\src\calibre\library\catalogs.

Remember to keep a copy of the files, since any update to your calibre source code (from github) will discard the changes, and you will have to patch it again. Luckly in this case, the Catalog is not currently mantained by anyone, so it rarely changes.

I hope this helps.

[thiago.eec]

Ok, this is a clean version, only applying the changes you asked for.