How to save a specific text - no metadata - from a book in a custom column

cseb · 07-16-2022, 05:18 PM

I have hundreds of books wich in a specific page have their original titles with a distinctive word next to them. Is there any way to search the text with the original title within all those books and save them in a custom column for each book without opening the books one by one and do it manually? I wanted to do this since last year but I didn't find a way. Thanks in advance.

BetterRed · 07-16-2022, 08:34 PM

Is the 'distinctive word' the same in all books, e.g. 'origtitle'?

Have you tried the new Full text searching of all books feature in the latest calibre release to find the books with the 'distinctive word'.

If you do that you could 'tag' those books, put them in a VL etc

What do you want to save in a custom column - the 'original title' perhaps?

BR

cseb · 07-17-2022, 09:34 AM

Thank you for answering!

Yes, it's the same in all the books.

I've tried the full text searching (when I find out the new version included that feature that was the first thing I did), but that only does half of the task. My main library is huge so I put some of the books in another library to test.

Yes, I want to save the original title of each book. Now I'm doing it one by one and only if the book has a different title than the original.

BetterRed · 07-17-2022, 08:45 PM

Good idea to create a test library, copy it somewhere in case it gets broken.

But, it may not be be simple - what you need is something you can run from the command line that will find the tag-word within a calibre library's ebook files, extract the text that follows the tag-word i.e. the original title, and write that along with book identifying data to a CSV file. You could then use the CSV to update the metadata via the Import List plugin.

You may need to convert the books to TXT and use a command line script to do it. Which OS do you use - Windows, MacOS or Linux?

BR

PeterT · 07-17-2022, 09:44 PM

I wonder if a customized version of the ISBN plugin might work.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

BetterRed · 07-18-2022, 04:17 AM

↑ ↑ ↑ ✔

Definitely worth a try --- especially if you know python.

BR

cseb · 07-18-2022, 08:25 PM

Sorry for the late answer BetterRed and thanks for your help.

It's good to know that what I want to do is possible, but I'm not an advanced user nor do I know how to code (though I'm in the path of learning).

I'll look into that PeterT. Thank you.

cseb · 07-18-2022, 08:36 PM

I forgot to say that the information you gave was very useful BR and I'll look into that too.

killo3967 · 10-26-2022, 12:50 PM

Does anyone know if there has been any progress on this issue?

07-16-2022, 05:18 PM	#1
cseb Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2022 Device: Kindle paperwhite 11th gen	How to save a specific text - no metadata - from a book in a custom column I have hundreds of books wich in a specific page have their *original titles* with a distinctive word next to them. Is there any way to search the text with the original title within all those books and save them in a custom column for each book without opening the books one by one and do it manually? I wanted to do this since last year but I didn't find a way. Thanks in advance.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Add Read/Unread metadata from custom column to metadata jacket	allanahk	Library Management	4	11-12-2018 03:10 PM
Simple Text Custom column	theducks	Library Management	7	07-25-2015 06:27 PM
Autopopulate a custom column from specific tags already in place	Rellwood	Library Management	14	05-30-2015 04:48 AM
Bogus error in save template from custom column	rbroberts	Library Management	4	04-18-2014 04:54 AM
Custom yes/no column built from long text column	Philantrop	Library Management	7	03-23-2013 07:44 PM

07-16-2022, 08:34 PM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,576 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Is the 'distinctive word' the same in all books, e.g. 'origtitle'? Have you tried the new Full text searching of all books feature in the latest calibre release to find the books with the 'distinctive word'. If you do that you could 'tag' those books, put them in a VL etc What do you want to save in a custom column - the 'original title' perhaps? BR

07-17-2022, 09:34 AM	#3
cseb Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2022 Device: Kindle paperwhite 11th gen	Thank you for answering! Yes, it's the same in all the books. I've tried the full text searching (when I find out the new version included that feature that was the first thing I did), but that only does half of the task. My main library is huge so I put some of the books in another library to test. Yes, I want to save the *original title* of each book. Now I'm doing it one by one and only if the book has a different title than the original.

07-17-2022, 08:45 PM	#4
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,576 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Good idea to create a test library, copy it somewhere in case it gets broken. But, it may not be be simple - what you need is something you can run from the command line that will find the tag-word within a calibre library's ebook files, extract the text that follows the tag-word i.e. the original title, and write that along with book identifying data to a CSV file. You could then use the CSV to update the metadata via the Import List plugin. You may need to convert the books to TXT and use a command line script to do it. Which OS do you use - Windows, MacOS or Linux? BR

07-17-2022, 09:44 PM	#5
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,168 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	I wonder if a customized version of the ISBN plugin might work. Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

07-18-2022, 04:17 AM	#6
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,576 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	↑ ↑ ↑ ✔ Definitely worth a try --- especially if you know python. BR

07-18-2022, 08:25 PM	#7
cseb Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2022 Device: Kindle paperwhite 11th gen	Sorry for the late answer BetterRed and thanks for your help. It's good to know that what I want to do is possible, but I'm not an advanced user nor do I know how to code (though I'm in the path of learning). I'll look into that PeterT. Thank you.

07-18-2022, 08:36 PM	#8
cseb Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2022 Device: Kindle paperwhite 11th gen	I forgot to say that the information you gave was very useful BR and I'll look into that too.

10-26-2022, 12:50 PM	#9
killo3967 Member Posts: 22 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2020 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Does anyone know if there has been any progress on this issue?

Advert

Advert