Searching for single named authors

Rellwood · 06-23-2025, 06:05 PM

Someone was mentioning this in Reddit about updating to 8.5 and now not being able to search for authors without commas in their names (they like the LN, FN format) and single named authors.

Apparently they used to do a search "not author:,:" to identify these missing comma names along with single named authors.

Apparently this search no longer works for them.

Now I am wondering myself because I have had to literally tag these one named authors to locate them, but how would I be able to search for a single named author. Using plugins to find authors with no comma doesn't work, finding authors with no spaces doesn't work.

Even Chat GPT cant give me a correct search.

theducks · 06-23-2025, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rellwood

Someone was mentioning this in Reddit about updating to 8.5 and now not being able to search for authors without commas in their names (they like the LN, FN format) and single named authors.

Apparently they used to do a search "not author:,:" to identify these missing comma names along with single named authors.

Apparently this search no longer works for them.

Now I am wondering myself because I have had to literally tag these one named authors to locate them, but how would I be able to search for a single named author. Using plugins to find authors with no comma doesn't work, finding authors with no spaces doesn't work.

Even Chat GPT cant give me a correct search.

Quality check plugin has it all down pat.
Once found
It has a FIX: to flip those selected

Rellwood · 06-23-2025, 07:44 PM

Yeah, I know about the quality check but for myself it won't work. All my books are FN LN so there are no commas anyhow. Searching for "no commas" gives me all my books.

theducks · 06-23-2025, 07:52 PM

You mean a Author like: Sunny

enuddleyarbl · 06-23-2025, 11:22 PM

EDIT: Please ignore my comment, below. I was wrong. @DNSB 's and @chaley 's "author_sort" suggestion does seem to work.

OP: I'm using Calibre 8.5 on Windows 10 and

Code:

not :author","

seems to work for me.

DNSB · 06-24-2025, 02:17 AM

I was going to suggest using NOT author_sort:"^," which should search for entries without commas in the author_sort field or NOT author:"^ " which would search for author names without spaces.

chaley · 06-24-2025, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rellwood

Someone was mentioning this in Reddit about updating to 8.5 and now not being able to search for authors without commas in their names (they like the LN, FN format) and single named authors.

Apparently they used to do a search "not author:,:" to identify these missing comma names along with single named authors.

Apparently this search no longer works for them.

This hasn't worked since calibre 5.42 when "normal" searching was changed to ignore punctuation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

I was going to suggest using NOT author_sort:"^," which should search for entries without commas in the author_sort field or NOT author:"^ " which would search for author names without spaces.

These work because it used "character variant" searching (the ^ prefix). See 'Search Kinds' in the calibre manual The Search Interface.

chaley · 06-24-2025, 10:10 AM

I added search and filter "not in" to the "Manage ..." dialogs. Once released (or if you run from source now) you can open Manage Authors, type comma in the filter box, then press 'Filter "not in"'. The list will show all authors not containing a comma. You can find only single name authors by typing a space into the box then pressing 'Filter "not in"'.

The same buttons are in "Manage Tags", etc.

Rellwood · 07-07-2025, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

I was going to suggest using NOT author_sort:"^," which should search for entries without commas in the author_sort field or NOT author:"^ " which would search for author names without spaces.

Yup That did it! Thanks!

chaley · 07-08-2025, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaley

I added search and filter "not in" to the "Manage ..." dialogs. Once released (or if you run from source now) you can open Manage Authors, type comma in the filter box, then press 'Filter "not in"'. The list will show all authors not containing a comma. You can find only single name authors by typing a space into the box then pressing 'Filter "not in"'.

The same buttons are in "Manage Tags", etc.

These changes are in the latest calibre preview.

06-23-2025, 06:05 PM	#1
Rellwood Library Breeder (She/Her) Posts: 1,301 Karma: 1937893 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Fullerton, California Device: Paperwhite 2015 (2), PW 2024 (12 GEN), PW 2023 (11 GEN), Scribe (1st)	Searching for single named authors Someone was mentioning this in Reddit about updating to 8.5 and now not being able to search for authors without commas in their names (they like the LN, FN format) and single named authors. Apparently they used to do a search "not author:,:" to identify these missing comma names along with single named authors. Apparently this search no longer works for them. Now I am wondering myself because I have had to literally tag these one named authors to locate them, but how would I be able to search for a single named author. Using plugins to find authors with no comma doesn't work, finding authors with no spaces doesn't work. Even Chat GPT cant give me a correct search.

06-23-2025, 11:22 PM	#5
enuddleyarbl Guru Posts: 793 Karma: 1538394 Join Date: Sep 2013 Device: Kobo Sage	EDIT: Please ignore my comment, below. I was wrong. @DNSB 's and @chaley 's "author_sort" suggestion does seem to work. OP: I'm using Calibre 8.5 on Windows 10 and Code: not :author"," seems to work for me. Last edited by enuddleyarbl; 06-24-2025 at 08:28 AM.

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06-23-2025, 07:44 PM	#3
Rellwood Library Breeder (She/Her) Posts: 1,301 Karma: 1937893 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Fullerton, California Device: Paperwhite 2015 (2), PW 2024 (12 GEN), PW 2023 (11 GEN), Scribe (1st)	Yeah, I know about the quality check but for myself it won't work. All my books are FN LN so there are no commas anyhow. Searching for "no commas" gives me all my books.

06-23-2025, 07:52 PM	#4
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 mean a Author like: Sunny

06-24-2025, 02:17 AM	#6
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 48,175 Karma: 174315444 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	I was going to suggest using NOT author_sort:"^," which should search for entries without commas in the author_sort field or NOT author:"^ " which would search for author names without spaces.

06-24-2025, 10:10 AM	#8
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,525 Karma: 8065948 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	I added search and filter "not in" to the "Manage ..." dialogs. Once released (or if you run from source now) you can open Manage Authors, type comma in the filter box, then press 'Filter "not in"'. The list will show all authors not containing a comma. You can find only single name authors by typing a space into the box then pressing 'Filter "not in"'. The same buttons are in "Manage Tags", etc.