How to Change the Author around

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Spur52

So am I to understand that the tweak I used is to change existing authors. Then when adding a new book I should make the change in the Author Field (copy Author sort to Author) when I update the megadata? I did this and it works fine.

No. The tweak controls how author_sort is calculated from the author field when a book is added to calibre or when the author name is changed. It has nothing to do with existing books unless the author is changed via an edit metadata function or you use one of the buttons in the manage authors dialog.

When you add a new book you should set the author in the style you wish to see it. Enter LN, FN if that is what you want, or enter FN LN if that is what you want.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Spur52

So am I to understand that the tweak I used is to change existing authors.

The tweak is used to copy author field of any new book added to the author_sort field. The steps you followed was to bring the entire library initially into line with what you wanted.

Originally Posted by Spur52

Then when adding a new book I should make the change in the Author Field (copy Author sort to Author) when I update the megadata? I did this and it works fine.

When adding a new book, you just enter what you want (LN, FN) and since you have the copy tweak enabled what you enter will be copied from author to author_sort. After the initial change to your library there should be no reason to touch the copy Author sort to Author button again. But if this methodology works for you then use it.

I don't use the tweak. I would suggest if you're still confused to reread the portion of the manual I linked to earlier, specifically the first section.

If you still need clarification ask again in this thread and hopefully someone else will have a better way of expressing the information you need.

Good Luck.

[itimpi]

The tweak is used when the author field is populated for a new book. Dwanthny mentioned how you can get the author field populated in the format you want by a metadata download so that no manual steps are then required.

[Spur52]

Thanks all for your help. I have a much better understanding of the subject.

[Dopedangel]

To do what the OP wanted to do I would have used a custom column that is populated by the author sort field and hide the author column. That way the author column would be correct and he would still be able to see the authors like he wants to in calibre.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

To do what the OP wanted to do I would have used a custom column that is populated by the author sort field and hide the author column. That way the author column would be correct and he would still be able to see the authors like he wants to in calibre.

What he wanted to do is outlined in the manual and the way he did it is without question the best way to do it. Editing the author column is the easiest way to keep the author_sort column up to date. Hiding it would cause more work.