[Old Thread] Why doesn’t calibre let me store books in my own directory structure?

[Worldwalker]

Or of course a "remove all tags" button could be added to Bulk Edit.

*ducks and runs*

[rollercoaster]

Originally Posted by iain_benson

You could prefix all the tags you create with a % (or some other of your choice) character so that yours are all grouped together.

that is a neat trick. the special char would also bring my tags to the top. but it is a hack. there could be an option to show only manually added tags in the tags list/column

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by rollercoaster

but more then that I would like to distinguish tags I add from tags added via metadata lookup. simply because tags I add would be much more accurate to me and would not clutter as it does with online metadata lookup.

I think so because online tags are meant for make it easy for everyone by including all sorts of equivalent tags where as calibre is single user oriented and on a personal level that many tags are just a big pile of junk.

When you grab online metadata turn off downloading tags in the metadata download plugin. I turned them off the day they started downloading. The tags are frequently not relevant to my goals.

[rollercoaster]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

When you grab online metadata turn off downloading tags in the metadata download plugin. I turned them off the day they started downloading. The tags are frequently not relevant to my goals.

yeah but I am already deep in the tag garbage dump with 10K books and probably as many tags. Some are mine. I can turn off for future tags and still get stuck with the ones that are already there. well lets see. I dont want to hijack this thread too long

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by rollercoaster

yeah but I am already deep in the tag garbage dump with 10K books and probably as many tags. Some are mine. I can turn off for future tags and still get stuck with the ones that are already there. well lets see. I dont want to hijack this thread too long

I think a merge tag function might be useful. It's on my list of enhancements I might like to write. I sort of like the multiple tags. I look through them to find interesting stuff in my library.

[Zem]

I just started playing with calibre, and like it a lot (in fact that's why I'm here). I understand the metadata vs. directory structure issues and the advantages of metadata. Unfortunately for some of us, such as me, its not just a question of preference or being unreasonable. In my case there are "legacy" issues--my directory structure is integrated into pre-existing arrangements.

1) Most of my stuff is work and research related. Those books are in directories that I sync between my laptop, desktop, and work computer using a commercial server. So everything going into one "black box" folder means everything gets synced, including personal books. There's a dollar cost there, probably not much, but still . Plus I have "SF" novels stashing on my work computer, which doesn't look good. If there's a workaround, that would be great (maintaining two lots of book directories isn't an option for me--space is at a premium).

2) The other problem is I use a reference manager (zotero) with all the citation info, tags, notes, and URLs to the relevant books. Messing with the directory breaks those links. It's a considerable number. Redoing these to the calibre directory structure is not a dealbreaker, I think, but certainly an inconvenience.

This isn't a criticism of calibre, but simply pointing out that for some of us our attachment to our directory structures has more to it than simply not "seeing the light".

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Zem

If there's a workaround, that would be great (maintaining two lots of book directories isn't an option for me--space is at a premium).

There is no workaround. Calibre was originally designed to keep all books inside its own database. Later, that was changed to take the books out of the database and put them in folders, but Calibre still controls the folder names and the book titles of the copies of the books it manages. That's designed into the system and can't be changed. You must give calibre a copy of each book and it will serve them back to your device or to the disk with any name and any directory structure you want. If you want a different directory structure, you have to keep it separate.

This isn't a criticism of calibre, but simply pointing out that for some of us our attachment to our directory structures has more to it than simply not "seeing the light".

You may have needs that Calibre can't meet. For those who don't understand the advantages of Calibre's design, it's worthwhile explaining them. If you've already "seen the light," but need Calibre to do something that it's not designed to do and can't afford the space for a duplicate set of books that will meet your needs, you probably shouldn't use Calibre.

[Zem]

Originally Posted by Starson17

There is no workaround. .... If you want a different directory structure, you have to keep it separate.

You may have needs that Calibre can't meet. For those who don't understand the advantages of Calibre's design, it's worthwhile explaining them. If you've already "seen the light," but need Calibre to do something that it's not designed to do and can't afford the space for a duplicate set of books that will meet your needs, you probably shouldn't use Calibre.

11 gigs and growing (lots of PDFs). There's no way I'm doubling that . But it is also one of the reasons I am keen on calibre's conversion abilities.

Sometimes things do what they are not designed to do--I use screwdrivers in ways that would probably make your hair stand on end. But obviously it depends on what it is you want it to do, and in this case it does appear having two directories (one for syncing, one for not) is a brick wall.

In sum, after reading your response, playing with calibre, and looking at past threads, a fundamental decision in judging whether calibre is useful for me or not is:

• if "black boxing" a book directory is not a problem, and you have only calibre interacting with that directory, then you will find calibre useful.
• If, however, "black boxing" a directory is a problem, because, for example, you have other programs interacting with that directory (or you have an academic's instinctive dislike of other people moving your books around ), then calibre is probably not for you (at least for that directory).

Personally, I will probably end up using calibre to manage my recreational stuff (novels and whatnot), and leave the academic/research directories intact.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Zem

Personally, I will probably end up using calibre to manage my recreational stuff (novels and whatnot), and leave the academic/research directories intact.

Seems like a reasonable compromise given your situation.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Zem

11 gigs and growing (lots of PDFs). There's no way I'm doubling that . But it is also one of the reasons I am keen on calibre's conversion abilities.

That's a bit less than one U.S. dollar at current HD storage prices. I have single movies that take 5 times that space.

[*]if "black boxing" a book directory is not a problem, and you have only calibre interacting with that directory, then you will find calibre useful. [*]If, however, "black boxing" a directory is a problem, because, for example, you have other programs interacting with that directory (or you have an academic's instinctive dislike of other people moving your books around ), then calibre is probably not for you (at least for that directory).

You have the mindset that the books are in the directory and you might want to directly interact with them. For example, you probably think of the books in Calibre's library folder as having a name.

Calibre, however, was constructed with the premise that the books are in the database and you won't interact with them directly inside the database. Calibre doesn't think of the books as having a "name." They get a name only when you ask for them to be saved to disk or device. The name they get is controlled by you in the preferences. Thus, Calibre feels free to move books around, change the references it uses to locate the book (folder and filenames), etc. What it never, ever, does is change the book title or the author name or the publish date or the ISBN, or any of the other metadata items associated with a book. The metadata is yours, the books are in Calibre's database until you ask for one to be saved to disk/device with your specified name.

Of course, your mindset is quite reasonable, and, in fact, you can access the books directly if you are careful, you just can't do it in ways that conflict with how Calibre is designed.

[TGS]

I am amazed at the patience demonstrated by some of the replies in this thread. Perhaps if the developer sold the application for 200 dollars people would find out what it does before they bought it, and if it didn't do what they want it to do they would go and find something that does. Instead we get it for nothing other than a voluntary contribution and then complain because it's not designed as we want it!

I don't know where Kovid and the people who contribute to Calibre find the time or the motivation, but I'm sure as hell glad they do.

[Sydney's Mom]

Well, I have OCD, and I find Calibre works fine for me. I did have to make my own special tags so that they looked just so, and are in a certain order, but after all of that, it meets my requirements for order.

[Zem]

Originally Posted by Starson17

You have the mindset that the books are in the directory and you might want to directly interact with them. For example, you probably think of the books in Calibre's library folder as having a name.

I think I may not have been clear--it's not so much that *I* interact with the files in the directory (i.e. the books) as much as other computer programs do. For me, certain files get synced by a program based on their directory. Another program, a reference manager, ties its information to the books using hyperlinks. These links would be lost if the directory were rearranged. Computer programs can be very fussy.

The fact that I am not going to put ALL my ebooks in to calibre is not a result of benightedness, but that I would, based on what you have told me, lose a rather specialized functionality that I need for a certain class of books.

Thanks for your help. No one program does everything, and although trying to establish what a program can't do always seems like criticism, it's just trying to figure out if works with one's particular circumstances. Some cars are Porsches and some are Landrovers, and you don't want to get the two confused, especially if you live in the woods.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Zem

I think I may not have been clear-

You were clear. I wasn't. I understood that you had set up an automated interaction between other computer programs and your expected filename/folder name for your books. I was simply trying to explain that Calibre doesn't keep the filenames and folder names of books constant once they are placed in its library. It allows you to define any file name and any folder name you want, but only at the point when you save the book out of the Calibre library database to the destination disk or device.

[wilo108]

i just stopped by to add my name to the list of people who don't use Calibre for this this reason. same reason i don't use iTunes and other software that tries to tell me how i may use my files. it's a shame, because there are some bits of Calibre that are hard to replicate or replace, but there are too many use cases where maintaining my entire collection of ebooks in duplicate is absurd and infeasible.