Dates in Calibre

[the_callant]

Is there a simple way to automatically add or change a date within calibre. I have created a custom column which gives the date that a book is added to my Calibre Library. I have been manually entering this date when I have added books, so I now have a column where sometimes there is a date, but sometimes it is blank. Is there a way of setting up a script which would check if the field was empty, then copy across the existing date field content if it is empty and automatically set the date added to the todays date when I add the book?
The first question really is can it be done?
If it can is there a prewritten script or where would i look to try and create one?

[itimpi]

Why are you trying to do this? There is already a standard field that is setup whenever a book is added.

[theducks]

The Date column is the Date the record in Calibre was created.
For most people, this is the date a book was added.

I say most because some of us use Calibre track other (dead tree) books or build a wishlist (Using an 'Empty Book')

[the_callant]

Originally Posted by itimpi

Why are you trying to do this? There is already a standard field that is setup whenever a book is added.

There is a date field, but it does not always show the date a file is added. I assume from observations that it only enters a value if no value is present. If there is a value already in the metadata then it uses this.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by the_callant

Is there a simple way to automatically add or change a date within calibre. I have created a custom column which gives the date that a book is added to my Calibre Library. I have been manually entering this date when I have added books, so I now have a column where sometimes there is a date, but sometimes it is blank. Is there a way of setting up a script which would check if the field was empty, then copy across the existing date field content if it is empty and automatically set the date added to the todays date when I add the book?
The first question really is can it be done?
If it can is there a prewritten script or where would i look to try and create one?

There is no automatic "scripting" available in calibre to modify columns. And as far as I can see, there are no easy solutions.

You could possibly do this with by replacing the file import plugins with your own. You would provide a post_import hook that would modify the date field whenever a format was imported.

You could write a user interface plugin that sets that field to "now" if the field is empty. However, this doesn't seem any better than selecting all books with the field empty then using bulk metadata edit to set the field to now.

Of course, you could change calibre itself to do what you want. You would then need to merge your changes into calibre whenever you upgrade.

[the_callant]

Originally Posted by chaley

There is no automatic "scripting" available in calibre to modify columns. And as far as I can see, there are no easy solutions.

You could possibly do this with by replacing the file import plugins with your own. You would provide a post_import hook that would modify the date field whenever a format was imported.

You could write a user interface plugin that sets that field to "now" if the field is empty. However, this doesn't seem any better than selecting all books with the field empty then using bulk metadata edit to set the field to now.

Of course, you could change calibre itself to do what you want. You would then need to merge your changes into calibre whenever you upgrade.

Thank you very much for this response. I thought I might be missing the obvious and there was a simple solution. However, your reply confirms that there is no easy way to do this.

[speakingtohe]

The Date added field always puts in a date when I add a book and it has always been todays date AFAIK. Pretty sure of this as I will add a bunch of books at once and I use the date field to sort by when I want to edit metadata. I didn't think date added was a standard metadata field. The last time I added a lot of books they all had opf files as I was merging libraries and still the date added was the date I added them not what was in the book or the opf file. Published is a different matter.

Either way you should be able to sort on your custom date column or type #custom column name:false in the search bar and use bulk edit to put in the date.

Helen