Export help needed please

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 05:44 AM

Hello all.

I want to export my books from calibre into a csv file to import into Bookpedia.

I've read the manual and I believe that I need to run this command in Terminal (I am on a Mac running 10.6.6):

calibredb export [options] ids

Being a novice, I thought I would try:

calibredb list -h

But all I get is calibredb: command not found.

Do I need to use Terminal to navigate to a particular folder to run this command? If so, which folder?

Assuming that I get this going, can someone PLEASE tell me what to type so that the CSV file is written to a folder on my desktop, say, Test?

Or take stop wasting everyone's time, can someone point me to any article that explains how to do this? I searched in this forum but nothing came up.

Thanks in advance.

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 05:52 AM

Problem solved. I selected the books I wanted for testing purposes, then went to 'Convert Books' > Create catalog and chose CSV.

Hope this helps someone else. Many thanks to the developers of this fantastic program!

theducks · 01-28-2011, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kakkalla

Hello all.

I want to export my books from calibre into a csv file to import into Bookpedia.

I've read the manual and I believe that I need to run this command in Terminal (I am on a Mac running 10.6.6):

calibredb export [options] ids

Being a novice, I thought I would try:

calibredb list -h

But all I get is calibredb: command not found.

Do I need to use Terminal to navigate to a particular folder to run this command? If so, which folder?

Assuming that I get this going, can someone PLEASE tell me what to type so that the CSV file is written to a folder on my desktop, say, Test?

Or take stop wasting everyone's time, can someone point me to any article that explains how to do this? I searched in this forum but nothing came up.

Thanks in advance.

I am puzzled by the 'Command Not found'? (I am not a MAC person)
There is a Catalog specific calibredb command

> calibredb catalog --help
Usage:
calibredb.exe catalog /path/to/destination.(CSV|EPUB|MOBI|XML ...) [options]

Export a catalog in format specified by path/to/destination extension.
Options control how entries are displayed in the generated catalog ouput.

You must specify a catalog output file of the form 'path/to/destination.extension'
[/CODE]
Anyway, I am glad you got a working solution..

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 07:15 AM

Thanks for the reply. I just tried it again:

calibredb catalog --help and got the same error.

I navigated to the Preferences>calibre folder in my home directory and typed:

calibredb catalog --help

and still got: calibredb: command not found.

GRiker · 01-28-2011, 07:18 AM

Preferences|Advanced|Miscellaneous|Install command line tools

G

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 07:40 AM

Thank you SO much. It now works.

So if I had a folder on my desktop called Test, can I type the following into terminal so that I get one csv file with authors name(s), title, pubdate, series, series_index, formats, timestamp (in that order):

kakkalla:~ kakkalla$ calibredb catalog /Users/kakkalla/Desktop/Test. (CSV) --authors --title --pubdate --series --series_index --formats --timestamp

Thanks again.

theducks · 01-28-2011, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kakkalla

Thank you SO much. It now works.

So if I had a folder on my desktop called Test, can I type the following into terminal so that I get one csv file with authors name(s), title, pubdate, series, series_index, formats, timestamp (in that order):

kakkalla:~ kakkalla$ calibredb catalog /Users/kakkalla/Desktop/Test. (CSV) --authors --title --pubdate --series --series_index --formats --timestamp

Thanks again.

I don't know about the rest (on a MAC), but don't put ( ) around CSV or any space between the dot and CSV

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 07:53 AM

I get an error saying that no such option: --authors

Yet in the manual, this is one of the options under fields.

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 07:59 AM

I type:
calibredb catalog /Users/kakkalla/Desktop/Test/file.CSV authors,title

terminal seems to be doing something but nothing appears in the folder called Test.

GRiker · 01-28-2011, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kakkalla

I type:
calibredb catalog /Users/kakkalla/Desktop/Test/file.CSV authors,title

terminal seems to be doing something but nothing appears in the folder called Test.

Type calibredb catalog test.csv --help to review the command line switches. For --fields, you will see:

Code:

The fields to output when cataloging books in the database.  
Should be a comma-separated list of fields.
Available fields: all, title, author_sort, authors, comments, 
cover, formats, id, isbn, ondevice, pubdate, publisher, rating, 
series_index, series, size, tags, timestamp, uuid, 
plus user-created custom fields.

For example, --fields=authors,title,tags etc.

G

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 08:08 AM

I got some output! Yay!

I typed: calibredb catalog /Users/pkr/Desktop/Test/file.csv [authors, title]

and got a file called file.csv. My mistake before was using capitals for CSV.

However, even though I specified only authors and title, the csv contains all the metadata, i.e. author_sort, authors etc.

What is wrong with the syntax?

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 08:08 AM

Thank you. I'll try that.

DoctorOhh · 01-28-2011, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kakkalla

Thank you. I'll try that.

I'm curious, why doesn't the output you got in post 2 using the GUI meet your needs? It allows you to select what fields you want during the creation process of the csv file.

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 08:13 AM

YES! That did it.

Thanks for all your help. As I said before, being a newbie makes life difficult. I did read that in the manual but I never would have guessed that I had to use the format you gave me:

--fields=authors,title

In my humble opinion, I think the manual should provide an example of usage to help newcomers.

I am going to keep playing around with this until I get it right. Then I will post my experiences in the forums for Bookpedia. Is it OK to give you credit for all your help? Can I refer people to this post? Is it allowed?

Thank you so much again. Your help is greatly appreciated.

I tried it, but I got jibberish in Bookpedia. I thought I might give this a go. Also, an attempt to keep learning about this wonderful program.

kakkalla · 01-28-2011, 08:48 AM

I'm almost there.

I type /Users/kakkalla/Desktop/Test/file.csv --fields=authors,title,pubdate,series,series_index,f ormat,comments,cover
and everything works well.

The only problem now is that the comments metadata has all the tags, for example:

<div><p class="description">SUMMARY:</p><p class="description">The house guests at Styles seemed perfectly pleasant to Captain Hastings - there was his own daughter Judith, an inoffensive ornithologist called Norton, dashing Mr Allerton, brittle Miss Cole, Doctor Franklin and his fragile wife Barbara, Nurse Craven, Colonel Luttrell and his charming wife Daisy, and the charismatic Boyd-Carrington. So Hastings was shocked when Poirot declared that one of them was a five-times murderer. True, that ageing detective was crippled with arthritis, but had his deductive instincts finally deserted him?</p></div>

Any way I can eliminate these from the catalog export?

Thank you.

01-28-2011, 05:44 AM	#1
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	Export help needed please Hello all. I want to export my books from calibre into a csv file to import into Bookpedia. I've read the manual and I believe that I need to run this command in Terminal (I am on a Mac running 10.6.6): calibredb export [options] ids Being a novice, I thought I would try: calibredb list -h But all I get is calibredb: command not found. Do I need to use Terminal to navigate to a particular folder to run this command? If so, which folder? Assuming that I get this going, can someone PLEASE tell me what to type so that the CSV file is written to a folder on my desktop, say, Test? Or take stop wasting everyone's time, can someone point me to any article that explains how to do this? I searched in this forum but nothing came up. Thanks in advance.

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01-28-2011, 05:52 AM	#2
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	Problem solved. I selected the books I wanted for testing purposes, then went to 'Convert Books' > Create catalog and chose CSV. Hope this helps someone else. Many thanks to the developers of this fantastic program!

01-28-2011, 07:15 AM	#4
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	Thanks for the reply. I just tried it again: calibredb catalog --help and got the same error. I navigated to the Preferences>calibre folder in my home directory and typed: calibredb catalog --help and still got: calibredb: command not found.

01-28-2011, 07:18 AM	#5
GRiker Comparer of the Ephemeris Posts: 1,496 Karma: 424697 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: iPad	Preferences\|Advanced\|Miscellaneous\|Install command line tools G

01-28-2011, 07:40 AM	#6
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	Thank you SO much. It now works. So if I had a folder on my desktop called Test, can I type the following into terminal so that I get one csv file with authors name(s), title, pubdate, series, series_index, formats, timestamp (in that order): kakkalla:~ kakkalla$ calibredb catalog /Users/kakkalla/Desktop/Test. (CSV) --authors --title --pubdate --series --series_index --formats --timestamp Thanks again.

01-28-2011, 07:53 AM	#8
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	I get an error saying that no such option: --authors Yet in the manual, this is one of the options under fields.

01-28-2011, 07:59 AM	#9
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	I type: calibredb catalog /Users/kakkalla/Desktop/Test/file.CSV authors,title terminal seems to be doing something but nothing appears in the folder called Test.

01-28-2011, 08:08 AM	#11
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	I got some output! Yay! I typed: calibredb catalog /Users/pkr/Desktop/Test/file.csv [authors, title] and got a file called file.csv. My mistake before was using capitals for CSV. However, even though I specified only authors and title, the csv contains all the metadata, i.e. author_sort, authors etc. What is wrong with the syntax?

01-28-2011, 08:13 AM	#14
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	YES! That did it. Thanks for all your help. As I said before, being a newbie makes life difficult. I did read that in the manual but I never would have guessed that I had to use the format you gave me: --fields=authors,title In my humble opinion, I think the manual should provide an example of usage to help newcomers. I am going to keep playing around with this until I get it right. Then I will post my experiences in the forums for Bookpedia. Is it OK to give you credit for all your help? Can I refer people to this post? Is it allowed? Thank you so much again. Your help is greatly appreciated. I tried it, but I got jibberish in Bookpedia. I thought I might give this a go. Also, an attempt to keep learning about this wonderful program.

01-28-2011, 08:48 AM	#15
kakkalla Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 194 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Melbourne Device: iPad	I'm almost there. I type /Users/kakkalla/Desktop/Test/file.csv --fields=authors,title,pubdate,series,series_index,f ormat,comments,cover and everything works well. The only problem now is that the comments metadata has all the tags, for example: <div><p class="description">SUMMARY:</p><p class="description">The house guests at Styles seemed perfectly pleasant to Captain Hastings - there was his own daughter Judith, an inoffensive ornithologist called Norton, dashing Mr Allerton, brittle Miss Cole, Doctor Franklin and his fragile wife Barbara, Nurse Craven, Colonel Luttrell and his charming wife Daisy, and the charismatic Boyd-Carrington. So Hastings was shocked when Poirot declared that one of them was a five-times murderer. True, that ageing detective was crippled with arthritis, but had his deductive instincts finally deserted him?</p></div> Any way I can eliminate these from the catalog export? Thank you.